Online Etymology Dictionary

Eustachian tube (n.): so called for Italian physician Bartolomeo Eustachio (d.1574), who discovered the passages from the ears to the throat. His name is from Latin Eustachius (see Eustace).
frijoles (n.): Mexican kidney beans, 1570s, from Spanish frijoles (plural) "beans," from Latin phaseolus, phaselus "kidney bean," from Greek phaselos a name for a kind of bean.
jewfish (n.): 1670s, from Jew (n.) + fish (n.). A guess at the name from 1690s suggests it is so called for being a "clean" fish according to Levitical laws.
Isold: fem. proper name, French Isolt, Iseut, of Germanic origin, literally "ice-rule," from *is "ice" (see ice (n.)) + *waltan (see wield).
page (v.1): "to summon or call by name," 1904, from page (n.2), on the notion of "to send a page after" someone. Related: Paged; paging.
Kenelm: masc. proper name, Old English Cenhelm, from cene "brave, bold" (see keen (adj.)) + helm "helmet" (see helmet (n.)).
waterboard (n.): 1610s (n.), "gutter," from water (n.1) + board (n.1). Waterboarding as the name of a type of torture is from 2005, but the practice is older.
chummy (adj.): 1874, from chum (n.1) + -y (2). Related: Chumminess. Previously it was a noun, a common name for a chimney sweep, as a corruption of chinmey.
cicerone (n.): "a local guide in Italy," 1726, from Italian cicerone, from Latin Ciceronem, from the name of the great Roman orator (see Ciceronian). Perhaps in reference to the loquacity of the guides.
catecholamine (n.): type of hormone, from catechol (1880), from catechu, 17c. name for an astringent substance used in medicines, dyeing, etc., which apparently is from Malay kachu.
daedal (adj.): 1580s, "skillful, cunning," from Latin daedalus, from Greek daidalos "skillful, cunningly wrought." Also an Englished form of the name Daedalus from Greek mythology (1610s).
Dana: fem. proper name; in U.S. little used before c. 1925, then in top 100 for girls born from 1963 to 1984.
Danielle: fem. proper name, from Daniel. In U.S., little used before c. 1940, and in top 20 for girls born from 1984-1994.
Darfur: region in Sudan, named for its people, from Arabic dar, literally "house" + Fur, ethnic name of the indigenous African population.
Copernicus: Latinized form of name of Mikolaj Koppernigk (1473-1543), physician and canon of the cathedral of Frauenburg. His great work was "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium."
Cyrene: ancient Greek colony in Libya; the name is of unknown origin. Cyrenaic referred to the philosophy ("practical hedonism") of Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435-c. 356 B.C.E.).
dusty miller (n.): common name for auricula, 1825, so called from the powder on the leaves and flower; millers, by the nature of their work, being famously dusty.
Medicare: name for a state-run health insurance system, 1962, originally in a Canadian context, from medical + care (n.). U.S. use is from 1965.
Dramamine: proprietary name of an anti-nausea drug, 1949. Said to have been originally developed as an anti-allergy drug at Johns Hopkins.
Charles: masc. proper name, from French Charles, from Medieval Latin Carolus, from Middle High German Karl, literally "man, husband" (see carl).
clunky (adj.): "blocky, ungraceful," by 1968 (when it was the name of a style of women's shoe), from clunk + -y (2). Related: Clunkily; clunkiness.
Bethany: Biblical village, its name in Hebrew or Aramaic is literally "house of poverty," from bet "house of" (construct state of bayit "house") + 'anya "poverty."
lovey: affectionate pet name, 1731, from love (n.) + -y (3). Extended form lovey-dovey attested from 1819 (n.), 1847 (adj.).
Louisiana: named 1682 by French explorer la Salle for Louis XIV of France. The name originally applied to the entire Mississippi basin.
Pallas: Greek goddess' name, literally "little maiden," related to pallake "concubine," and probably somehow connected to Avestan pairika "beautiful women seducing pious men."
Gethsemane: name of a garden on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem [Matt. xxvi:36-46], from Greek Gethsemane, from Aramaic gath shemani(m) "oil-press."
titanic (adj.): "gigantic, colossal," 1709, from titan + -ic. The British passenger liner R.M.S. Titanic sank April 15, 1912, and the name became symbolic of the destruction of supposedly indestructible.
grumpy (adj.): 1778, from grump + -y (2). Related: Grumpily; grumpiness. Scottish variant grumphie also was used as a generic name for a pig.
Siam: name of Thailand before 1939 and from 1945-48, from Thai sayam, from Sanskrit syama "dark," in reference to the relative skin color of the people.
snoopy (adj.): 1895, from snoop (n.) + -y (2). The cartoon dog of that name in the "Peanuts" newspaper comic strip debuted in 1950.
Houston: city in Texas, U.S., founded 1836 and named for first president of Texas, Sam Houston. The family name is from the barony of Houston in Lanark.
Amsterdam: principal city of the Netherlands; the name is a reference to the dam built on the Amstel river. Prevalence of dam in Dutch place names reflects the geography of Holland.
Erasmus: masc. proper name, Latin, literally "beloved;" related to Greek erasmios "lovely, pleasant," from eran "to love" (see Eros). Related: Erasmian.
ell (n.2): name of the letter -L- in Latin; in reference to a type of building, 1773, American English; so called for resemblance to the shape of the alphabet letter.
Estonia: often said to be from a Germanic source akin to east, but perhaps rather from a native name meaning "waterside dwellers." Related: Estonian.
Samaria: from Greek Samareia, from Aramaic Shamerayin, ultimately from Hebrew Shomeron, from Shemer, name of the owner who sold the site to King Omri (see I Kings xvi:24).
Seattle: city founded 1853, named for Seatlh (c. 1790-1866), native chief who befriended white settlers. His name is in the Salishan tongue.
pierrot (n.): stock character in French pantomime, in English, "a buffoon," from French Pierrot, diminutive of Pierre; considered a typical name of a French peasant.
Stalin: Russian, literally "steel," assumed name of Soviet Communist Party and Soviet Union leader Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (1879-1953). Also see Molotov.
initial (n.): "initial letter of a name or surname," 1620s, from initial (adj.) in a specialized sense "standing at the beginning of a word, sentence, etc." (1620s).
Maecenas: "a generous patron of literature or the arts," 1560s, from name of Gaius Clinius Maecenas (died 8 B.C.E.), Roman patron of Horace and Virgil.
luteous (adj.): "orange-yellow," 1650s, from Latin luteus "golden-yellow, orange-yellow," from lutum, the name of a plant used in dying yellow, of unknown origin.
Lysander: masc. proper name, from Greek Lysandros, literally "releasing men," from comb. form of lyein "to release" (see lose) + -andros "man" (see anthropo-).
Menominee: also Menomini, Algonquian people of Wisconsin, from Ojibwa (Algonquian) Manoominii, literally "wild rice people," from manoomin "wild rice." Not their name for themselves.
Nessie: colloquial name of the "Loch Ness monster," 1945. The loch is named for the river Ness, probably from an Old Celtic word meaning "roaring one."
Numidia: ancient region in North Africa, roughly corresponding to modern Algeria, Latin, named for its inhabitants, the Numidians, whose name is related to nomad (n.).
docksider (n.): 1969 as "person who frequents docks," 1974 as the name of a type of shoe, "a cheaper version of the topsider;" from dock (n.1) + side (n.).
Posturpedic (n.): trademark name (Sealy, Inc., Chicago, U.S.A.) for a brand of mattress, filed in 1951; from posture (n.) + second element from orthopedic.
solmization (n.): "act of using certain syllables to name tones of a music scale," 1730, from French solmisation, from solmiser, from sol + mi, two of the syllables so used (see gamut).
raw-head (n.): name of a nursery specter or "scare-child," usually coupled with bloody-bones, early 16c., from raw (adj.) + head (n.).