Aptronym

An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner.

History

The Encyclopædia Britannica attributes the term to Franklin P. Adams, a writer who coined it as an anagram of patronym , to emphasize "apt". ^[1]

According to Frank Nuessel, in The Study of Names (1992), an aptonym is the term used for "people whose names and occupations or situations (e.g., workplace) have a close correspondence." ^[2]

In the book What's in a Name? (1996), author Paul Dickson cites a long list of aptronyms originally compiled by Professor Lewis P. Lipsitt, of Brown University. ^[3] Psychologist Carl Jung wrote in his book Synchronicity that there was a "sometimes quite grotesque coincidence between a man's name and his peculiarities". ^[4]

Nominative determinism is a hypothesis which suggests a causal relationship based on the idea that people tend to be attracted to areas of work that fit their name.

Notable examples

• Jules Angst, Swiss professor of psychiatry, who has published works about anxiety (angst) ^[5]
• Michael Ball, English footballer ^[6]
• Colin Bass, British bassist in the rock band Camel ^[5]
• Lance Bass, bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC ^[7]
• Mickey Bass, American bassist and musician ^[8]
• Layne Beachley, Australian former world champion surfer ^[9]
• Alexander Graham Bell, developer of the telephone ^[10]
• Bert "Tito" Beveridge, founder of Tito's Vodka ^[11]
• Ian Bishop, Church of England bishop ^[12]
• Doctor Willard Bliss, physician who treated President James A. Garfield ^[13]
• Sara Blizzard, meteorologist and television weather presenter for the BBC ^[5]
• John Blow, English pipe organist at Westminster Abbey ^[14]
• Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter ^{[15] [16]}
• Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America (Bowser is a character from a flagship Nintendo franchise, Super Mario ) ^[17]
• Gary Bowser (no relation to Doug), member of the Team Xecuter hacking group, convicted for selling Nintendo Switch piracy devices ^[18]
• Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain, neurologist ^[19]
• Rosalind Brewer, executive at Starbucks and a former director at Molson Coors Brewing Company ^{[20] [21]}
• Christopher Coke, Jamaican drug lord and cocaine trafficker ^[22]
• Margaret Court, Australian tennis player ^[6]
• Thomas Crapper, British sanitary engineer ^{[6] [23]}
• Kutter Crawford, baseball pitcher (cutter) ^[24]
• Ed Currie, a world-record holding chili pepper breeder ^[25]
• Mark De Man, Belgian football defender (marking an opposing player) ^[26]
• Karina DePiano, pianist who toured with Taylor Swift ^[27]
• David Dollar, American economist ^{[28] [29]}
• Carla Dove, American ornithologist who specializes in bird strikes ^[30]
• Josh Earnest, the third press secretary for the Obama administration ^[31]
• Rich Fairbank, American billionaire and CEO of the Capital One bank, which holds the Fairbanking Mark for offering fair banking products ^{[32] [33]}
• Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder, father-and-son baseball players (fielder) ^[34]
• Jeff Float, American swimmer ^[35]
• Bob Flowerdew, British gardener and TV/radio presenter ^[36]
• Amy Freeze, American meteorologist ^[37]
• Kenneth Gainwell, American college and professional football running back ^[38]
• William Headline, former Washington bureau chief for CNN ^[39]
• Mike Hookem, former UKIP fisheries spokesperson and former MEP who was involved in a brawl outside the European Parliament in 2016 ^[40]
• James Hedges, hedge fund manager ^{[41] [42] [43]}
• Fielder Jones, baseball player ^[44]
• Igor Judge, English judge and Lord Chief Justice ^{[45] [46]}
• John Laws, English judge and Lord Justice of Appeal ^[47]
• Richard and Mildred Loving, plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia , which legalized interracial marriage throughout the United States ^[48]
• Bernie Madoff, American fraudster and financier, who "made-off" with the money from his investment scheme ^[49]
• George McGovern, American politician and senator in the federal government ^{[50] [51] [52]}
• Ken Miles, English race car driver and inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America ^[53]
• Chris Moneymaker, American poker player and 2003 World Series of Poker champion ^[54]
• Marion Moon, mother of Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the Moon ^[55]
• Eugenius Outerbridge, inaugural chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; namesake of the Outerbridge Crossing, the outermost bridge between New York and New Jersey ^[56]
• Chris Pincher, British politician involved in a groping scandal ^{[57] [58]}
• Gabe Pressman, American journalist ^[59]
• Eugene Profit, former American football player and current CEO of Profit Investment Management ^[60]
• Francine Prose, American novelist ^[61]
• Jonathan Quick, American professional ice hockey goaltender noted for his quick style of play ^[62]
• Immanuel Quickley, NBA point guard known for his speed ^{[63] [64]}
• Corona Rintawan, Indonesian physician who led Muhammadiyah's command center for the COVID-19 pandemic ^[65]
• Bob Rock, Canadian music producer best known for his works with rock acts such as Metallica and Aerosmith ^[66]
• Philander Rodman, father of Dennis Rodman, who fathered 26 children by 16 mothers ^[67]
• Mat Sadler, English football manager who played for and now manages Walsall, nicknamed "The Saddlers" ^{[68] [69] [70]}
• Daniel Elmer Salmon, American veterinarian
• Tennys Sandgren, American tennis player ^[71]
• Marilyn vos Savant, American columnist who has been cited for having the world's highest-recorded IQ (savant) ^[72]
• Toby Savin, English football goalkepeer (saving) ^{[73] [74]}
• Max Schreck, German actor known for playing Count Orlok in the horror film Nosferatu ("Schreck" is the German word for "fright" or "scare") ^[75]
• Kayla Sims, American YouTuber and Twitch streamer, best known for playing The Sims 4 ^[76]
• Anna Smashnova, Soviet-born Israeli tennis player ^[77]
• Daniel Snowman, British historian and author of book on polar explorations ^[40]
• Larry Speakes, acting White House Press Secretary for the White House under President Ronald Reagan ^[78]
• Lake Speed, American NASCAR driver ^[79]
• Scott Speed, American racecar driver who has raced in a variety of motorsport, including Formula One and Formula E ^{[80] [81] [82]}
• Margaret Spellings, eighth United States secretary of education ^[28]
• Vania Stambolova, Bulgarian sprinter and hurdler, who stumbled over a hurdle at the 2012 Olympics ^[83]
• Marina Stepanova, Russian hurdler ^[77]
• Bernard Herbert Suits, scholar and authority in the field of games and gaming ^[84]
• George Francis Train, entrepreneur who was heavily involved in the construction of the eastern portion of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States ^[16]
• Eugène Terre'Blanche, South African white nationalist (Terre'Blanche translates to "white land" in French)
• Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, American education professional with a dissertation on uncommon African-American names in the classroom ^{[85] [86]}
• Katie Volynets, American tennis player ^[87]
• Garlich von Essen, secretary general of the European Seed Association ("essen" is the German word for "eat") ^[40]
• Jeremy Wade, British biologist, angler and fisherman. Known for hosting the television series River Monsters
• Keith Weed, president of the Royal Horticultural Society ^[88]
• Anthony Weiner, American politician involved in sexting scandals ^{[37] [89]}
• Emily Wines, American wine professional and board chair of the Court of Master Sommeliers ^[90]
• John Minor Wisdom, American judge ^[91]
• William Wordsworth, English poet and advocate for the extension of British copyright law ^{[92] [93] [6]}
• Early Wynn, baseball pitcher, member of the 300 win club ^[94]
• Tiger Woods, American professional golfer; a wood is a type of golf club ^[6]
• Sue Yoo, attorney ^[28]
• Mary Yu, associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court who officiated the state's first same-sex marriage ^[95]

Inaptronyms

Some names are very inappropriate for what the person does, being called inaptronyms by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post . ^[96]

• Rob Banks, British police officer ^[97]
• Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four") ^[98]
• Frank Beard, an American musician who, until c. 2013, was the only member of rock band ZZ Top without a beard ^[99]
• Don Black, white supremacist ^[5]
• Peter Bowler, cricketer (in fact, primarily a batsman) ^[5]
• Samuel Foote, a British actor who lost a leg in a horseriding accident in 1766, and made jokes on stage about "Foote and leg, and leg and foot" ^[100]
• Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer known for his strength ^{[101] [102] [103]}
• Matt Gobush, spokesperson for Al Gore during his campaign for the 2000 presidential election, which Gore eventually lost to rival George W. Bush ^{[104] [105]}
• Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer known for his speed ^[106]
• Colleen Lawless, an American lawyer and judge ^[107]
• Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food for the Poor ^[108]
• I.C. Notting, ophthalmologist, Leiden University ("I see nothing") ^[109]
• Danielle Outlaw, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner ^[110]
• Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate. Upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin" ^{[5] [97]}
• Bob Walk, baseball pitcher ^[111]

See also

• -onym
• Nominative determinism, the hypothesis that a person's name can have a significant role in determining key aspects of their job, profession or even character

References

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External links

• Aptonyms-wiki (based on the extinct Canadian Aptonym Centre )
• Noah, Timothy. "Charol Shakeshaft, Topped! A Yellow Pages of aptronyms". Slate . Retrieved 12 April 2021.