23 Common Words Named After People

Ever heard of the word eponym? Even if it doesn’t sound familiar, you have no doubt used an eponym during your life at some time. As the Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out, the official meaning of the word eponym is “one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named.” In lamens terms, it’s a common everyday word named after a person. 

These words cover a whole gauntlet of subject matter, from fashion and art to science and surgical procedures. Many eponyms are words we use every day that you probably aren’t aware are actually based on the names of real people. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the history behind these words then you’ve come to the right place. This article dives into the eponym word pool and looks at some of the most common words named after people and the stories behind them. 

23 Common Words Named After People

1. Cardigan

Everyone knows what a cardigan is, but are you aware the simple wool knit gets its name from James Brudenell, the seventh Earl of Cardigan? The British general led the charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War in 1854.

A wealthy aristocratic, Brudenell was always dressed sharp and got a reputation for wearing knitted-wool waistcoats on the battlefield to keep him warm. This quickly caught on with other soldiers and soon people all across Britain started wearing what we now call the modern-day cardigan. 

2. Algorithm

Unless you are a math freak, you’ve probably never heard of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. The Persian mathematician and astronomer is widely regarded as the man who discovered algebra. But how do you get “algorithm” from Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi?

Well, it turns out his surname, al-Khwarizmi, when translated into Latin, roughly comes across as “algorismus.” That in turn is written as “algorisme” in Old French. People believed that “algorisme” came from the Greek word “arithmos,” which means number, and eventually became “algorithm” when translated into English. It’s no wonder the English language is so bastardized these days. 

3. Shirley Temple

This non-alcoholic cocktail was apparently invented by a bartender after its namesake, child actress Shirley Temple. He made her the drink so she could sip on something while her parents got stuck into the harder stuff when at their local bar.

If you’ve ever wondered what goes into a Shirley Temple, it’s ginger ale mixed with a splash of grenadine and garnished with a maraschino cherry. Refreshing. 

4. Boycott

English land agent Charles Cunningham Boycott was living and working in Ireland when a bunch of rich folks employed him to collect rent from Irish farmers working their land. This was during the 1879 famine and many of the Irish couldn’t pay, so Boycott decided to evict them. What he wasn’t ready for was the backlash, with the framers urged on by the Irish National Land League to stop harvesting their crops for Boycott and cut off any contact with him. 

It proved a success and poor old Charles Cunningham Boycott’s last name was soon used as a rallying cry whenever people wanted to stand up against something or someone. 

5. Graham Cracker

These days the Graham cracker is a pretty tasty snack, but back in the 19th century it was the name of Reverend Sylvester Graham. Although he didn’t invent the cracker, the Rev, a Presbyterian minister, encouraged people to eat vegetarian dishes and more whole-grain bread. These whole-grain pieces of bread soon become crackers and were labeled as Graham crackers after the minister. 

6. Saxophone

Appearing on all the biggest 80s hits and mastered by the likes of John Coltrane, King Curtis, Kenny G, and the late, great Clarence Clemons, the saxophone is an incredible instrument that makes every song it features in at least 10% better. The instrument gets its name from its creator, Adolphe Sax, who invented the saxophone in 1846.

7. Caesar Salad

You probably know this is named after a person, but it might not be the human you are thinking of. No, it’s not Julius Ceaser who once led the Roman Empire but a fella by the name of Caesar Cardini, who invented the famous salad. 

Cardini created the Ceaser salad on July 4, 1924, when his restaurant was inundated with customers. Running out of ingredients, he whipped up something with what was available and customers loved it, turning the Ceaser salad into a best seller that would soon be on menus all across the world. 

8. Guppy

The guppy fish gets its name from British naturalist Robert John Lechmere Guppy. He was the first person to discover the guppy and sent a specimen to the British Museum. When they realized it was a new type of fish, they named it in recognition of Guppy. 

9. Dahlia

The colorful flower known as the dahlia is named after 18th-century botanist Anders Dahl. The Swede was very famous among botanists and contributed to several major papers and publications with his research. 

Fun fact: the dahlia is originally from Mexico and is the country’s national flower.

10. Shrapnel

General Henry Shrapnel is credited with inventing the word shrapnel. According to Word Ink, the British Army Officer “invented a type of exploding, fragmenting shell” consisting of “a hollow cannon ball, filled with shot, which burst in mid-air.” The General originally wanted to call it “spherical case ammunition,” but it didn’t catch on as well as shrapnel. 

11. Guy

Although it has nothing to do with him, Guy Fawkes is responsible for the word guy. Fawkes was part of the Gunpowder Plot that attempted to assassinate King James I in 1605. Fawkes and his crew failed and were killed for their treason.

According to The Washington Post, “British children paraded his effigy around on November 5 – a custom that, over the course of decades, made ‘guy’ a sort of slang, first for a poorly dressed person, and then more generally for a man (…of any wardrobe).”

12. Derrick

The word derrick was another name for gallows during the 17th century. It’s believed the gallows were called derrick thanks to an executioner named Derrick, who was famous for lopping off criminal’s heads. The word derick was also used as the name for the hangman who would do the dirty deed. 

13. Sideburns

Sideburns are long tufts of hair men have on the sides of their faces that were extremely popular in the 60s. Before being known as sideburns, they were called burnsides after U.S. Army General Ambrose E. Burnside. He used to have a huge pair of whiskeys on either side of his face that joined to his mustache, with his chin clean-shaven. 

14. Bloomers

During the 1800s women were expected to dress a certain way, normally wearing tight-fitting dresses and corsets. Amelia Bloomer was sick and tired of this type of clothing and made her thoughts clear in the March 1851 edition of women’s magazine Lily, where she wrote “Let men be compelled to wear our dress for a while, and we should soon hear them advocating for change.”

Bloomer started wearing more loose-fitting blouses and baggy pants, known as bloomers, helping more women fight back against male expectations of what they should wear and look like. 

15. Maverick

Maverick has several different meanings. It’s the name of Tom Cruise’s character from Top Gun and is also “(of a person) independent, with unusual opinions,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It’s also the name of an unbranded cow, originating from lawyer Samuel A. Maverick who refused to brand his cattle. 

16. Dunce

When you see or hear the word dunce, you think of someone stupid, so it’s probably safe to say John Duns Scotus would not be happy that the word dunce was named after him. Back in the day old mate Scotus was a famous philosopher well known for wearing pointy hats. 

Unfortunately for Scotus, people started disagreeing with his philosophies during the Renaissance. Those that followed him were called stupid idiots, or dunces. The famous pointy hats he wore were seen as a sign of a person being dumb, hence the dunce hat becoming a thing. 

17. Nachos

The origins of the word nachos is similar to that of the Ceaser salad. An article in the San Antonio Express from May 23, 1954, discussed how a Mexican restaurant in the town of Piedras Negras was low on ingredients. Ignacio Anaya Garcia, also known as Nacho, threw together a dish that become a big hit with customers. That dish is what we now know as nachos. 

18. Gerrymandering 

The term gerrymandering is named after Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. It means dividing a state or country into different electoral districts to give one political party an advantage. Gerry reshaped one of his voting districts in the shape of a salamander (?) as a way to gain more votes. Put Gerry and salamander together and you get gerrymander. That’s also a portmanteau, which is a word combining the meanings of two different words. 

19. Nicotine 

The tobacco plant nicotiana tabacum and the compound that comes from it, nicotine, are both named after Jean Nicot, a French ambassador to Portugal. In 1561, Nicot sent nicotine seeds back to Paris and his name soon become synonymous with the main ingredient found in cigarettes. 

20. Leotard

Jules Leotard was a popular French acrobat and trapeze artist during the 1800s. He used to wear a tight-fitting one-piece bodysuit people began calling a leotard. This piece of clothing is now worn by dancers and performers the world over and still bears Leotard’s name. 

21. Wellington Boot

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, wanted his local shoemaker to construct a waterproof shoe from his well-worn 18th-century Hessian boot. The result was the Wellington boot, which takes its name from the Duke. This wasn’t the only time Wellesley had something named after him, with a hat, coat, and trousers also inspired by his name. 

22. Casanova

Depending on your view of the word, a casanova can either be a charming gent who manages to bed a lot of women, or a sex pest who is more concerned about his body count than the feelings of those he dates.

Whatever camp you fall into, the word itself has an interesting backstory. It comes from Giacomo Jacopo Girolamo Casanova de Seignalt, an adventurer who wrote a memoir about all the women he had sex with. 

23. Bluetooth

This one is a bit out of leftfield but bear with us. As you are probably aware, Bluetooth technology allows us to speak hands-free on a mobile device, listen to music on headphones, and do all sorts of other wonderful things. The name Bluetooth comes from Harald Bluetooth, but he wasn’t the man responsible for creating the tech.

Harald Bluetooth was actually a Viking king of Denmark in the 900s. He was known for bringing parts of Norway and Denmark together to form one great nation, which is a representation of the different countries that shared ideas and technology to create Bluetooth. Incredible right?