In addition to commenting on the many subkings who ruled under the king of the Lamanites, Mormon further notes that “the name of the king of the Lamanites was Laman, being called after the name of his father; and therefore he was called king Laman. And he was king over a numerous people” (Mosiah 24:3). Did the Lamanites name their kings after their prime hereditary authority figure (Laman), just as the Nephites named their kings after Nephi? (see Jacob 1:11) Or is Mormon oversimplifying his story much in the same way as Jacob did. Notice in Jacob 1:13, Jacob simply states that “the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites.” Perhaps the Lamanite king’s name, “Laman,” is simply a result of Mormon’s editorial use of metonymic naming in his abridgement.
According to comments by Gordon Thomasson mentioned previously in the commentary on Laban (see 1 Nephi 3:3), metonymy or metonymic naming involves “naming by association,” a metophoric process of linking two concepts or persons together in such a way as to tell us more about the latter by means of what we already know about the former… . For example, while David was in flight, he sought food from a man the biblical text names as Nabal, (which means “fool”). It stretches credibility to believe that a man, as an affluent adult Israelite, would carry with him the name of Mr. Fool. But that is his name, according to the text, and his actions are indeed foolish--refusing food to the anointed king and consistently successful warrior, David (1 Samuel 25:25). Nabal is, I believe, a clear example of inspired editorial, after-the-fact, metonymic naming in the Old Testament. [Gordon C. Thomasson, “What’s in a Name? Book of Mormon Language, Names, and [Metonymic] Naming” in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Spring 1994, F.A.R.M.S., p. 15] [See the commentary in Alma 22:27-34]