A familiar name to many (3)
I believe the answer is:
tom
'a familiar name' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'to many' is the wordplay.
'many' becomes 'm' ().
'to'+'m'='TOM'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tom that I've seen before include "He is associated with Dick and Harry" , "Male beast" , "Man's name; male cat" , "Boy running off with pig" , "Very small person" .)