know (someone) by name
idiom
1
: to know a person well enough to know the person's name
She knows all of her customers by name.
I took her to a restaurant where the owner knows me by name.
The police know him by name.
2
: to know a person's name only
He said he only knew her by name and didn't know much more about her.
Examples of know (someone) by name in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The band that’s on tour, the mighty but fraught Blood, Sweat & Tears, was full of great musicians who most people didn’t know by name.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Mar. 2023
Rivera remains one of the artists who most people probably know by name and his style is as easily parodied as that of Van Gogh and Picasso, who was once thought his peer.
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2023
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Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Mar. 2023
Rivera remains one of the artists who most people probably know by name and his style is as easily parodied as that of Van Gogh and Picasso, who was once thought his peer.
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Know (someone) by name.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know%20%28someone%29%20by%20name. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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