Person's name related to their profession
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, German 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]
- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone[9]
- Bert "Tito" Beveridge, founder of Tito's Vodka[10]
- Sara Blizzard, meteorologist and television weather presenter for the BBC[5]
- John Blow, English pipe organist at Westminster Abbey[11]
- Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter[12][13]
- Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America (Bowser is a Nintendo character)[14]
- Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain, neurologist[15]
- Rosalind Brewer, executive at Starbucks and a former director at Molson Coors Brewing Company[16][17]
- Christopher Coke, drug lord and cocaine trafficker[18]
- Margaret Court, Australian tennis player[6]
- Corona Rintawan, Indonesian physician who leads Muhammadiyah's command center for the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic[19]
- Thomas Crapper, sanitary engineer[6][20]
- Mark De Man, Belgian football defender[21]
- Josh Earnest, the third press secretary for the Obama administration[22]
- Rich Fairbank, billionaire and CEO of the Capital One bank, which holds the Fairbanking Mark for offering fair banking products[23][24]
- Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder, baseball players (fielder)[25]
- Bob Flowerdew, gardener and TV/radio presenter[26]
- Amy Freeze, American meteorologist[27]
- William Headline, Washington Bureau Chief for CNN[28]
- Igor Judge, English judge and Lord Chief Justice[29][30]
- John Laws, English judge and Lord Justice of Appeal[30]
- Richard and Mildred Loving, plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage throughout the United States[31]
- Auguste and Louis Lumière, pioneering 19th century filmmakers (lumière means "light" in French)[32]
- Chris Moneymaker, American poker player and 2003 World Series of Poker champion[33]
- 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.[34]
- Josh Outman, baseball pitcher[35]
- Francine Prose, American novelist[36]
- Jonathan Quick, American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League[37]
- Bob Rock, Canadian music producer best known for his works with rock acts such as Metallica and Aerosmith[38]
- Philander Rodman, father of Dennis Rodman, who fathered 26 children by 16 mothers[39]
- Tennys Sandgren, American tennis player[40]
- Marilyn vos Savant, American columnist who has been cited for having the world's highest-recorded IQ (savant)[41]
- Larry Speakes, acting White House Press Secretary for the White House under President Ronald Reagan[42]
- Scott Speed, an American racecar driver who has raced in a variety of motorsport, including Formula One and Formula E[43][44][45]
- Bernard Herbert Suits, scholar and authority in the field of games and gaming[46]
- George Francis Train, entrepreneur who was heavily involved in the construction of the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad across the United States[13]
- Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, American education professional with a dissertation on uncommon African-American names in the classroom[47][48]
- Walter Washington, first African American mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Anthony Weiner, American politician involved in sexting scandals[27][35]
- John Minor Wisdom, American judge[8]
- William Wordsworth, English poet and advocate for the extension of British copyright law[49][50][6]
- Early Wynn, baseball pitcher, member of the 300 win club[51]
- Tiger Woods, American professional golfer; a wood is a type of golf club[6]
- Sue Yoo, attorney[52]
Inaptronyms
Some aptronyms are ironic rather than descriptive, being called inaptronyms by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post.[53]
- Rob Banks, a British police officer[54]
- Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four")[55]
- Frank Beard, an American musician who, until c. 2013, was the only member of rock band ZZ Top without a beard[56]
- Don Black, white supremacist[5]
- Peter Bowler, cricketer (in fact, primarily a batsman)[5]
- Samuel Foote, a comic actor who lost a leg in a horseriding accident in 1766, and made jokes on stage about "Foote and leg, and leg and foot"[57]
- Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food for the Poor[58]
- I.C. Notting, ophthalmologist, Leiden University[59]
- Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Commissioner[60]
- Larry Playfair, NHL defenseman known for his fighting[61]
- Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate. Upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin"[5][54]
- Bob Walk, baseball pitcher[62]
