A person whose name is the source of the name of
something.
Examples:
Rudolph Diesel is the eponym of the diesel engine
General Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), a Civil war general
whose trademark was a bushy beard that extended only along the
jawline, is the eponym of the word sideburns
Note: The term eponym is also sometimes used to refer to a
word that is derived from a person's name.