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Suppose someone's name is Hermione. If I say, "I didn't realize you had/have 'ONE' in your name."

Is this correct English? What I want to say is, " I didn't realize 'ONE' was/is part of your name", but can I use "in your name" to mean that? Because it's literally...in her name?

The dictionary says that "in someone's name" mean 1. formally registered as belonging to or reserved for someone. and 2. on behalf of someone.

But can I use it like this too? As in, "I didn't realize you had/have 'ONE' in your name."?

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  • Yes, you can use it in this way. You could say to a girl who spells her name 'Jayne', "I didn't know you had a 'y' in your name".
    – Kate Bunting
    Dec 16, 2020 at 9:48

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The dictionary showed you the idiomatic use of 'in your name'. Like in this example:

"In the name of Jesus Christ I ...."

Here, the priest (or whoever it be) is speaking on behalf of Jesus Christ. Now, 'in your name' can also mean literally 'in the name'. So there's no problem in telling that:

"I didn't realize you had/have 'ONE' in your name."

Provided there's 'ONE' in that name.

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  • Lee, this is not the sense the questioner was asking about. The example you give means 'on behalf of', which is mentioned in the question.
    – Kate Bunting
    Dec 16, 2020 at 9:51
  • I didn't mean to submit my answer. I accidentally did it. See the edits @Kate Bunting
    – lee
    Dec 16, 2020 at 9:55

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