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I also go with the theory of the name Eponine relating back to Epona, the Horse Goddess. Eponine as a character was a bit of a "free" girl, although her acting as a sexual being is only really alluded to. I've taken the name to mean "horse-like", the suffix -ine also appearing in words like feline (cat-like), leonine (lion-like),etc. This meaning also goes pretty well with her description in the novel. She's supposed to be tall, and thin, though long-faced and coarse. Not a pretty girl, and sort of coltish in appearance. I believe the author mentions early in the book that her mother read a lot of romance novels, and got the name from one of those, so perhaps from a description of how someone moved, in an "eponine" (horse-like) manner.