The word nämlich has a clarifying or elaborating function in German and can be used in a wider variety of contexts than the English word "namely." While "namely" is rather dry and formal in English, nämlich is used a lot in everyday speech.

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First of all, nämlich can be used to "name" or specify something or someone, introducing additional information. Depending on the context, it can be translated as "namely," "that is," "actually," "in fact," or "specifically."

Im Hintergrund sehen Sie hinter den Bäumen versteckt den Ursprung von Karlsruhe, nämlich das Karlsruher Schloss.

In the background you see, hidden behind the trees, the beginnings of Karlsruhe, namely Karlsruhe Palace.

Captions 6-7, Architektur: der Stadt Karlsruhe

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Die Markgröninger leben ihre Tradition. Schafe sind nämlich allgegenwärtig auf dem charmanten Volksfest.

The residents of Markgröningen live their tradition. In fact, sheep are a constance presence at the charming folk festival.

Captions 22-23, Barfuß unter Schafen: Schäferwettrennen

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Und genau das ist, was wir jetzt brauchen, nämlich Auftritte.

And that's exactly what we need now, that is, performances.

Caption 21, Band-Interviews: The Dufrenes

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The word nämlich can also have the function of providing a reason, equivalent to the English word "because" or the phrase "after all." 

Das muss auch genau auf meinem Ohr liegen, wenn ich die Maske anziehe, sonst verstehe ich nämlich nichts.

It must also rest right on my ear when I put on the mask, because otherwise I won't understand anything.

Captions 57-58, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen

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Ich habe morgen nämlich meinen ersten Arbeitstag in einer Kindertagesstätte.

That's because tomorrow I have my first day at work at a children's daycare center.

Captions 3-4, Deutsch mit Alina: Alltag in der Kita

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Since nämlich can also be used to direct someone's attention to something specific, other possible translations include "you see" or "the thing is."

Das klingt nämlich viel freundlicher, als wenn du mit „Ja“ antwortest.

You see, that sounds much friendlier than if you answer "Yes."

Captions 17-18, Deutsch für Anfänger #1: Die ersten Worte

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Beginnend mit dem Mittelalter wurde nämlich massiv abgeholzt.

You see, beginning in the Middle Ages, there was massive deforestation.

Caption 19, Deutsch mit Eylin Bäume - Part 1

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Further Learning
You'll find many examples of nämlich used in different contexts on Yabla German. When you see it, pay particular attention to its position in the sentence. 

You may know one or both of the words in the title above: der Mut means "the courage" and mutig means "courageous" or "brave." However, there are many nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that contain these words as roots, some of which have nothing to do with courage. Let's have a look.

As you can see, nouns ending in -mut may refer to a mood, emotional state, or feeling:

Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.

Pride comes before the fall. 

Caption 24, Eva erklärt - Sprichwörter

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Was bei vielen Autofahrern für Freude sorgt,

What causes happiness among many drivers,

stiftet Unmut bei den Grünen.

causes discontent among the Greens [Green Party].

Caption 19, Deutsche Autobahnen - Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen

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Die Queen residierte hier bereits und Michael Jackson

The Queen resided here already and Michael Jackson

hielt im Übermut sein Baby aus einem Hotelfenster.

held his baby boisterously out of a hotel window.

Captions 24-25, Berlin - Hotel Adlon feiert 15 Jahre Neueröffnung

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...in spektakulärer Anmut auf die Wasseroberfläche zu klatschen.

...to smack against the surface of the water with spectacular grace.

Caption 8, Evolution - Meeresbewohner

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Notice above that der Hochmut, der Übermut, and der Unmut are masculine, while die Anmut is feminine. You can also look up der Wagemut, der Missmut, die Sanftmut, and die Schwermut. For der Demut, you may more often see the related adjective (note the umlaut!):

Es war jedenfalls demütigend genug.

In any case, it was humiliating enough.

Caption 20, Lerchenberg - Das Wunder

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It's additionally good to know the adjectives ermutigend and entmutigend. These respectively mean "encouraging" and "discouraging."

When it comes to verbs, you may have seen zumuten, vermuten, and anmuten. These verbs each have a number of possible meanings.

Man vermutet, hier ist irgendwas in der Lüftung vom Willy-Brandt-Haus.

One suspects there is something in the ventilation here in the Willy-Brandt-Haus.

Caption 75, heute-show - Die männliche Merkel hat Erinnerungslücken

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Traditionen sind was Schönes

Traditions are something nice

und können für Nichteingeweihte mitunter ganz schön skurril anmuten.

and can occasionally appear quite bizarre to the outsider.

Captions 1-2, Barfuß unter Schafen - Schäferwettrennen

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Petrus muss Dortmund-Fan sein, anders ist kaum zu erklären,

Saint Peter must be a Dortmund fan, there's almost no other explanation

was der Himmel dem FC Bayern und seinen Fans zugemutet hat.

for what the heavens had in store for FC Bayern and its fans.

Captions 1-2, FC Bayern München - Triple-Feier im Dauerregen

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Further Learning
Look up these words using your favorite online dictionary or on Yabla German to understand the full extent of their meanings. Keep in mind that there are other nouns ending in -mut that are unrelated to emotional states, such as das Mammut or der Wermut.

It is pretty unusual in English to have the same word with a completely different meaning occur twice in the same sentence. But as you will learn today, in German it is a fairly commonplace occurence.

Separable verbs often start with prefixes that are identical to prepositions. Here is a partial list of separable verbs that start with prefixes that on their own are prepositions, followed by examples of one of the verbs and the preposition:

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Preposition: ab (from, off, starting, beginning, away)
Separable verbs: abbrennen (to burn down); abgeben (to turn in, to hand over); abkürzen (to shorten); abnehmen (to lose weight, to take something off); abschließen (to finish, to lock something)

Nimm mal die Brille ab! Er hat ganz rote Augen.

Take off the glasses! He has really red eyes.

Caption 31, Pastewka - Cantz fährt betrunken Auto

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Ab nächster Woche geht das Fitnessprogramm wieder los.

Beginning next week, the fitness program will get going again.

Caption 36, Claudia Schiffer - Nach der Babypause

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Using the verb abnehmen and the preposition ab, you can construct a sentence such as the one below. Can you tell from the sentence structure which ab is part of the verb and which is the preposition?

Ab diesem Zeitpunkt nehme ich die Sonnenbrille ab.
From this moment on, I'm taking off my sunglasses.

Preposition: an (at, upon, on, to, towards)
Separable verbs: anerkennen (to recognize); andeuten (to hint at, to suggest); angeben (to indicate, to state, to brag); anklagen (to accuse); anschauen (to watch); anstellen (to hire, to employ); anweisen (to instruct); anwenden (to use); sich anziehen (to dress)

Dieser gibt an, wie die Hühner gehalten werden.

This indicates how the chickens are kept.

Caption 11, Bioeier - Wie funktioniert der Erzeugercode?

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Behindert werden an dieser Stelle weder der Verkehr noch die Fußgänger.

Neither the traffic nor the pedestrians are impeded at this point.

Caption 29, Richter Alexander Hold - Richtig parken

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Er gibt an dieser Stelle an, was er getan hat.
At this point, he states what he has done.

Preposition: auf (onto, upon, on, to, at, up)
Separable verbs: aufatmen (to breathe a sigh of relief); aufbleiben (to stay up, to stay open); aufführen (to perform); aufklären (to inform, enlighten, clear up); auflockern (to liven up); aufnehmen (to record, to take a picture); aufpassen (to look out, to take care); aufräumen (to clean up); aufschlagen (to open up); aufwachsen (to grow up)

Achtung, Luise, pass auf!

Attention, Luise, watch out!

Caption 59, Bretten - Das Peter-und-Paul-Fest

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Sie waren die Schnellsten auf dem Acker.

They were the fastest on the field.

Caption 18, Barfuß unter Schafen - Schäferwettrennen

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The verb aufpassen generally means "to watch out" for something, but combined with the preposition auf and a person, it means "to take care":

Pass auf dich auf, hm?

Take care of yourself, hm?

Caption 16, Lilly unter den Linden - Kapitel 4: Die Grenze

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Further Learning
See if you can come up with some other sentences that contain a separable verb and a preposition that is identical to the verb's prefix and have your teacher check your work. You can also look for more examples of separable verbs used with the same prefixes as prepositions on Yabla German.