"Mae West" could be considered a member of the class of "individuals or things which are or appear to be top heavy"

Still it seems contrived to me. Consider this: if the life vest were not named after Ms. West, would you lump them together on a test asking you to group items by category?

The word is not as close as some other could be; if there is no word for the process of making an eponym there should be. If it's not eponomasia whatever it is is the word we are looking for.