What are Eponyms?
Eponyms are words and phrases that originate from a person’s name.
Here’s a select list…
Alice Liddell (1852 – 1934)
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alois Alzheimer (1864 – 1915), German neuropathologist and psychiatrist
Anderson shelter
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley (1882 – 1958), British politician
Apple charlotte
Princess Charlotte (1796 – 1817), daughter of King George IV of England
Appleton layer
Sir Edward Appleton (1892 – 1963), British physicist
Archimedes’ screw
Archimedes (circa 287 – circa 212BC), Greek mathematician and scientist
Atkins’ diet
Robert Atkins (1930 – 2003), American nutritionist
Baffin Bay/Island
William Baffin (circa 1584 – 1622), English navigator
Bailey bridge
Sir Donald Bailey (1901 – 85), English engineer
Barbie doll
Barbara Handler, daughter of the doll’s creator Ruth Handler.
Bartlett pear
Enoch Bartlett (1779 – 1860), American merchant
Baskerville type
John Baskerville (1706 – 75), English printer
Béchamel sauce
Marquis Louis de Béchamel (died 1703), steward of Louis XIV of France
Beef Stroganoff
Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganoff (1772 – 1817), Russian diplomat
Belisha beacon
1st Baron (Isaac) Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893 – 1957), British politician
Bessemer process
Sir Henry Bessemer (1813 – 98), British engineer
Boolean logic
George Boole (1815 – 64), English mathematician
Bowie knife
James Bowie (1799 – 1836), American soldier and adventurer
Bowler hat
William Bowler (1808 – 1878)
Boyle’s law
Robert Boyle (1627 – 91), British physicist and chemist
Bramley apple
Matthew Bramley, 19th century English butcher
Bunsen burner
Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811 – 99), German chemist
Burnham scale
Harry Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham (1862 – 1933), English statesman
Caesarean section
Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman emperor
Caesar salad
Caesar Cardini, Mexican restaurateur
Catherine wheel
St Catherine of Alexandria, Christian martyr
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Richard Cox (1766 – 1845), English horticulturalist
Crohn’s Disease
Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884 – 1983), American gastroenterologist
Davis Cup
Dwight Filley Davis (1879 – 1945), American statesman and sportsman
Davy lamp
Sir Humphry Davy (1778 – 1829), British chemist
Doberman Pinscher
Ludwig Dobermann, 19th century German dog breeder
Doppler effect
Christian Johann Doppler (1803 – 53), Austrian physicist
Douglas fir
David Douglas (1798 – 1834), Scottish botanist
Dow-Jones index
Charles Henry Dow (1851 – 1902) and Edward D. Jones (1856 – 1920), American financial statisticians
Downing Street
Sir George Downing (1623 – 84), English statesman
Down’s syndrome
John Langdon-Down (1828 – 96), English physician
Eggs Benedict
Commodore E. C. Benedict (1834 – 1920), American banker and yachtsman
Eiffel Tower
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832 – 1923), French engineer
Elgin Marbles
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766 – 1841), British ambassador
Eustachian tube
Bartolommeo Eustachio (1524 – 74), Greek philosopher
Falkland Islands
Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland (circa 1610 – 43), English secretary of state
Fallopian tube
Gabriel Fallopius (1523 – 62), Italian anatomist
Fibonacci Numbers
Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci (1170 – 1250), Italian mathematician
Fosbury Flop
Dick Fosbury (born 1947), American athlete
Freudian slip
Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939), Austrian psychiatrist
Gallup poll
George Horace Gallup (1901 – 84), American statistician
Garibaldi biscuit
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807 – 82), Italian patriot and soldier
Gatling gun
Richard Jordan Gatling (1818 – 1903), American inventor
Geiger counter
Hans Geiger (1882 – 1945), German physicist
Gladstone bag
William Ewart Gladstone (1809 – 98), British statesman and prime minister
Gordon Bennett!
Gordon Bennet (1841 – 1918), American newspaper proprietor
Granny Smith apple
Maria Ann Smith (died 1870), Australian gardener
Gregorian chant
Pope Gregory I (circa AD540 – 604)
Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian (AD76 – 138), Roman emperor
Halley’s comet
Edmund Halley (1656 – 1742), British astronomer
Hansom cab
Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803 – 82), English architect
Heath Robinson
William Heath Robinson (1872 – 1944), English artist
Heaviside layer
Oliver Heaviside (1850 – 1925), English physicist
Heimlich Manoeuvre
Dr Henry Heimlich (born 1920), American physician
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle
Werner Heisenberg (1901 – 1976), German physicist
Hippocratic oath
Hippocrates (circa 460 – circa 377BC), Greek physician
Hobson’s choice
Thomas Hobson (1544 – 1631), English liveryman
Hodgkin’s disease
Thomas Hodgkin (1798 – 1866), English physician
Hooke’s law
Robert Hooke (1635–1703), English natural philosopher
Huntingdon’s chorea
George S. Huntingdon (1851 – 1916), American neurologist
Jack Russell terrier
John (Jack) Russell (1795 – 1883), English clergyman
Jacquard loom
Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752 – 1834), French weaver and inventor
Joule’s law
James Joule (1818 – 1889), English physicist
Lobster Newburg
Ben Wenberg, West Indies ship captain
Lonsdale belt
Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale (1857 – 1944), English sportsman
Macadamia nut
John Macadam (1827 – 65), Australian scientist
Mach number
Ernst Mach (1838 – 1916), Austrian physicist and philosopher
Mae West
Mae West (1892 – 1980), American actress
Maginot line
André Maginot (1877 – 1932), French WWII minister of war
mansard roof
François Mansart (1598 – 1666), French classical architect
Melba toast
Dame Nellie Melba (1861 – 1931), Australian soprano
Mercator projection
Gerardus Mercator (original name Gerhard Kremer; 1512 – 94), Flemish geographer
Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn, Chicago saloon-keeper at the end of the 19th century
Möbius strip
August Ferdinand Möbius (1780 – 1868), German mathematician
Molotov cocktail
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890 – 1986), Soviet statesman
Montezuma’s revenge
Montezuma II (1480 – 1520), ruler of the Aztec Empire of Mexico
Moog synthesiser
Robert Arthur Moog (born 1934), American physicist, engineer and electrician
Morse code
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791 – 1872), American artist and inventor
Mount Everest
Sir George Everest (1790 – 1866), English surveyor-general of India
Murphy’s law
Edward Murphy (1918 – 1990), American engineer
Namby-pamby
Nickname of Ambrose Philips (1674 – 1749), English poet
Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821), French emperor
Nissen hut
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman Nissen (1871 – 1930), British mining engineer
Nobel prize
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833 – 96), Swedish chemist, manufacturer and philanthropist
Nosey parker
Matthew Parker (1504 – 75), Anglican churchman
Ockham’s razor
William of Ockham (circa 1285 – 1349), English philosopher and Franciscan
Oedipus complex
Oedipus, character in Greek mythology
Ohm’s law
Georg Simon Ohm (1789–1854) German physicist
Pandora’s box
Pandora (‘all gifts’), in Greek mythology, the first woman
Parkinson’s disease
James Parkinson (1755 – 1824), English physician
Parkinson’s law
Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993), English naval historian
Peach Melba
Dame Nellie Melba (1861 – 1931), Australian soprano
Peter principle
Dr Laurence J. Peter (born 1919), Canadian educator
Planck’s constant
Max K. E. L. Planck (1858 – 1947), German physicist
Plimsoll line
Samuel Plimsoll (1824 – 98), English shipping reform leader
Ponzi Scheme
Carlo Ponzi (1882 – 1949), Italian-born American swindler
Pre-Raphaelite
Raphael (original name Raffaello Santi; 1483 – 1520), Italian painter
Pulitzer prize
Joseph Pulitzer (1847 – 1911), Hungarian-born US newspaper publisher
Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhus (circa 318 – 272 BC), king of Epirus
Pythagoras’ theorem
Pythagoras (circa 570 – 495 BC), Greek mathematician
Queensberry rules
John Sholto Douglas, 8th Marquess of Queensberry (1844 – 1900)
Rhesus monkey
Rhesus, king of Thrace, in Greek mythology
Richter scale
Charles Richter (1900 – 85), American seismologist
Rolls-Royce
Charles Stewart Rolls (1877 – 1910) and Sir Frederick Henry Royce (1836 – 1933), English car manufacturers
Teddy bear
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919), American president
Teddy boy
Edward VII (1841 – 1910), English king
Tommy gun
John Taliaferro Thompson (1860 – 1940), American army general
Venn diagram
John Venn (1834 – 1923), English mathematician and logician
Wellington boot
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769 – 1852), British soldier and statesman
Wendy house
Wendy, girl in the play Peter Pan by Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860 – 1937)
