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I am writing an essay about (among other things) Gutenberg's printing press and Project Gutenberg. I want to say something along the lines of "Gutenberg's press was so popular that current things are named after him." I tried the following. Am I using namesake correctly?

As evidenced ahead, Gutenberg’s invention was so popular that he is still a popular namesake.

I want to keep namesake in there because I think it sounds cool.

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2 Answers

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From the wikipedia page it appears that your usage is a bit off. But you can keep it in there with a small modification:

As evidenced ahead, Gutenberg’s invention was so popular it is still common to see his namesake.

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I like it. thanks. – Puddingfox May 2 '11 at 5:54
No problemo. :D – BBischof May 2 '11 at 5:55
Namesake is normally used for another person. eg. "Bush's presidency reminded us of his namesake Washington." Eponymous would be better - as in Tim's answer – mgb May 2 '11 at 15:02
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You might like to use 'eponym' though strictly that refers to the use of a name as a word: 'Project Gutenberg is named after the eponymous printer'. Still pretty cool.

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