"What is an Eponym?"
A word derived from the name of a person, place, or thing.
Naming Names - A Guide to Eponyms in Creative Writing
An eponym is a word that is derived from the name of a person, place, or thing.
Although frequently seen in the naming of airports, streets, and institutions- eponyms are also commonly used in creative writing. For example when we say: 'Achilles' heel' to refer to someone's greatest weakness, or 'Orwellian' to denote a situation of extreme government control over citizens.
As a literary device, the use of eponyms can lend a story a sense of history, and add depth and authenticity to a character's backstory or setting. Additionally, creative writers can create entirely new eponyms to add to their fictional creations- thereby enriching their world-building and generating a sense of place or culture.
The use of eponyms can lend a story a sense of history, and add depth and authenticity to a character's backstory or setting. Here are some famous examples:
By Ralph Ellison, the eponymous main character is not named throughout the novel, being referred to only as 'the Invisible Man', a term that has become synonymous with anonymity and invisibility in contemporary culture.
In Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita', the protagonist is not the titular character but rather a man named Humbert Humbert whose name has become synonymous with an unreliable narrator and a term often used to describe a person struggling with obsessive desires.