Why is this book called The Namesake?

Webster's defines "namesake" as "one who is named after another or for whom another is named." For instance, anyone with Jr. in his name is a namesake of his father.

Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, who emigrate to America from India, name their son Gogol in honor of the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. When he was younger, Ashoke survived a train wreck, and the only thing he was able to salvage from his belongings was a tattered copy of Gogol's novel The Overcoat. Ashoke wasn't necessarily a huge fan of Gogol. They couldn't take the baby home from the hospital without a name, and Gogol was the first one that popped into Ashoke's head.

Therefore, the namesake of the title is Gogol Ganguli. The novel centers around his search for self as a first-generation American with a strange Russian name.