Fames

[feym] /feɪm/

noun
1.
widespread reputation, especially of a favorable character; renown; public eminence:
to seek fame as an opera singer.
2.
common estimation or opinion generally held of a person or thing; reputation.
verb (used with object), famed, faming.
3.
Archaic. to have or spread the renown of; to make .
/feɪm/
noun
1.
the state of being widely known or recognized; renown; celebrity
2.
(archaic) rumour or public report
verb
3.
(transitive; now usually passive) to make known or famous; celebrate: he was famed for his ruthlessness
n.

early 13c., “character attributed to someone;” late 13c., “celebrity, renown,” from Old French fame “fame, reputation, renown, rumor,” from Latin fama “talk, rumor, report, reputation,” from PIE root *bha- (2) “to speak, tell, say” (cf. Sanskrit bhanati “speaks;” Latin fari “to say,” fabula “narrative, account, tale, story;” Armenian ban, bay “word, term;” Old Church Slavonic bajati “to talk, tell;” Old English boian “to boast,” ben “prayer, request;” Greek pheme “talk,” phone “voice, sound,” phanai “to speak;” Old Irish bann “law”).

The goddess Fama was the personification of rumor in Roman mythology. The Latin derivative fabulare was the colloquial word for “speak, talk” since the time of Plautus, whence Spanish hablar.

I’ve always been afraid I was going to tap the world on the shoulder for 20 years, and when it finally turned around I was going to forget what I had to say. [Tom Waits, “Playboy” magazine interview, March, 1988]