专有名词学研究各种专有名称以及名称的起源，其英文「Onomastics」一词来源于希腊语「ὀνοματολογία」，而ὄνομα 即为「名字」之意。

• 地名学是研究地名的由来、语词构成、含义、演变、分布规律、读写标准化和功能，以及地名与自然和社会环境之间关系的一门学问。
• 人名学研究人名的分类、来源历史、型态改变、地理分布、文化意涵等。

Onomastics or onomatology is the study of the origin, history, and use of proper names. Onomastics originates from the Greek ὀνομαστικός (onomastikós), which translates to "of or belonging to naming," from ὄνομα (ónoma) meaning "name." Toponymy or toponomastics, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of onomastics. Anthroponomastics is the study of personal names. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, with applications such as named-entity recognition, or recognition of the origin of names. An orthonym is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study.