Overnight, when I was half asleep, I heard mention on some BBC radio show of the origin of the word maverick. Now the word refers to an unbranded head of cattle (more specifically, an unbranded calf or yearling, according to Google), or a person who is apart from the herd and who follows his own ideas. But someone said on the radio show that the word comes from the name Samuel A. Maverick, a Texas rancher in the 1800s who did not brand his cattle. I had to look this up this morning to see if that was really true, but that is what Google indeed says.
Another word I was curious about: moggie (or moggy), used to refer to a cat. Apparently, this is an old word, but I don't recall seeing it until fairly recently. (I think I never noticed the word until I started to read Jerry Coyne's blog whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com; he is fond of cats, and he uses that word). Google tells me that a moggie is a cat, especially one without a pedigree or one that is unremarkable. The word comes from the name Maggie, a nickname for Margaret, and dates to the late 1700s.