Namesake

No, not the amazing book or movie. I have yet to see it.

I don't think people realize how many words in English are derived from proper nouns. Studying for the National Vocabulary Competition, I stumbled across a bunch of words that I never would have guessed are from names of people or places:

bedlam: a state of confusion, from the Hospital of St. Mary Bethlehem in London, which served as an insane asylum.

maudlin: another corruption of, yes, Magdalene; the word, meaning tearful or sentimental, evokes an image of Mary crying.

procrustean: ignoring individual difference. Online Etymology Dictionary says it comes from Procrustes (1583), mythical robber of Attica who seized travelers, tied them to his bed, and either stretched their limbs or lopped of their legs to make them fit it. The name in Greek is Προκρούστης Prokroustes "one who stretches," from προκρούειν prokrouein "to beat out, stretch out," from προ pro- "before" + κρούειν krouein "to strike."

κρούειν is actually a cognate with Russian крусить krusit, Lithuanian kruszù "to smash, crush," Latvian krausīt "to trample," and Old Slavic kruchŭ "crumb." I would assume, therefore that procrustean shares its root with the Yiddish word קרישקע krishke, meaning a crumb or a bit of food, comes from this root as well. (If you were wondering, crust comes from a similar, but unrelated Germanic root - see here on page 62)
In the context of a well-known Yiddish folksong:

לאָמיר אַלע זינגען אַ זמרל,
לחם איז ברױט, בשׂר ודגים וכל מטעמים.
זאָג זשע מיר רבניו, לחם איז װאָס?
בײַ די נגידים , איז לחם אַ פֿרישינקע בילקעלע!
אָבער בײַ אונדז קבצנים, אױ, דלפֿנים, אױ, אבֿיונים
.איז לחם אַ דאַרינקע קרישקעלע, נעבעך

Lomir ale zingen a zemerl,
Lekhem iz broyt, boser v'dogim v'khol matamim.
Zog zhe mir rebenyu, lekhem iz vos?
Bay di n'gidim, iz lekhem a frishinke bilkele!
Ober bay undz kabtsonim, oy delfonim, oy evyoynim
Iz lekhem a darinke krishkele, nebekh.

Let's a sing a song,
Bread, meat, fish and delicacies.
Tell me, what is bread?
The elite eat fresh rolls.
But for us poor beggars,
Bread is a exiguous crumb.