Eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or thing for whom or for which something is named, or believed to be named. For example, Elizabeth I of England is the eponym of the Elizabethan era.
Many genericized trademarks such as aspirin,heroin and thermos are based on their original brand eponyms.
The adjectives derived from eponym, which include eponymous and eponymic, similarly refers to being the person or thing after whom something is named, as "the eponymous founder of the Ford Motor Company" refers to founder's being Henry Ford. Recent usage, especially in the recorded-music industry, also allows eponymous to mean "named after its central character or creator".
History
Time periods have often been named after a ruler or other influential figure:
One of the first recorded cases of eponymy occurred in the second millennium BC, when the Assyrians named each year after a high official (limmu).
In ancient Greece, the eponymous archon was the highest magistrate in Athens. Archons of Athens served a term of one year which took the name of that particular archon (e.g., 594 BC was named for Solon). Later historians provided yet another case of eponymy by referring to the period of Fifth-century Athens as The Age of Pericles after its most influential statesman Pericles.
