tocayo

== Spanish == === Etymology === Unknown; first attested in 1739. Attributed by folk etymology to the Latin bridal formula "Ubi tū Gāius ego Gāia" (literally “where you are Gaius, I am Gaia”). More likely a Mexican Spanish term from Classical Nahuatl tōcāyoh (“one who has a name, person of renown”), the possessive form of the noun tōcāitl (“name”), via its possessed form, as in notōcāyoh (“my name-haver, one having my name”); contrast with notōca (“my name”) and notōcāyō (“my fame”); compare synonymous colombroño, ultimately from Latin cōgnōmen (“surname, name”). === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -aʝo Syllabification: to‧ca‧yo === Noun === tocayo m (plural tocayos, feminine tocaya, feminine plural tocayas) namesake (person having the same name) Synonym: (rare) colombroño ==== Descendants ==== → Cebuano: tokayo → Central Bikol: tokayo → Chamorro: kåyu → Haitian Creole: tokay → Ilocano: tocayo → Portuguese: tocaio → Tagalog: tokayo === References === Carlos Montemayor et al. (2009), Diccionario del náhuatl en el español de México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, page 403 === Further reading === “tocayo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025