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]
• Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone^[9]
• Bert "Tito" Beveridge, founder of Tito's Vodka^[10]
• Ian Bishop, Church of England bishop^[11]
• Doctor Willard Bliss, physician who treated President James A. Garfield^[12]
• Sara Blizzard, meteorologist and television weather presenter for the BBC^[5]
• John Blow, English pipe organist at Westminster Abbey^[13]
• Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter^[14][15]
• Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America (Bowser is a character from a flagship Nintendo franchise, Super Mario)^[16]
• Gary Bowser (no relation to Doug), member of the Team Xecuter hacking group, convicted for selling Nintendo Switch piracy devices^[17]
• Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain, neurologist^[18]
• Rosalind Brewer, executive at Starbucks and a former director at Molson Coors Brewing Company^[19][20]
• Jake Butt, American college and professional football tight end^[21]
• Christopher Coke, 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, ornithologist who specializes in bird strikes^[30]
• Josh Earnest, the third press secretary for the Obama administration^[31]
• Rich Fairbank, 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, 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]
• Auguste and Louis Lumière, pioneering 19th century filmmakers (lumière means "light" in French)^[49]
• Bernie Madoff, American fraudster and financier, who “made-off” with the money from his investment scheme^[50]
• Ken Miles, inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America^[51]
• Chris Moneymaker, American poker player and 2003 World Series of Poker champion^[52]
• 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^[53]
• Chris Pincher, British politician involved in a groping scandal^[54][55]
• Eugene Profit, former American football player and current CEO of Profit Investment Management^[56]
• Francine Prose, American novelist^[57]
• Jonathan Quick, American professional ice hockey goaltender noted for his quick style of play^[58]
• Corona Rintawan, Indonesian physician who led Muhammadiyah's command center for the COVID-19 pandemic^[59]
• Bob Rock, Canadian music producer best known for his works with rock acts such as Metallica and Aerosmith^[60]
• Philander Rodman, father of Dennis Rodman, who fathered 26 children by 16 mothers^[61]
• Tennys Sandgren, American tennis player^[62]
• Marilyn vos Savant, American columnist who has been cited for having the world's highest-recorded IQ (savant)^[63]
• Toby Savin, English football goalkepeer (saving)^[64][65]
• Kayla Sims, American YouTuber and Twitch streamer, best known for playing The Sims 4^[66]
• Anna Smashnova, Soviet-born Israeli tennis player^[67]
• Daniel Snowman, historian and author of book on polar explorations^[40]
• Larry Speakes, acting White House Press Secretary for the White House under President Ronald Reagan^[68]
• Scott Speed, American racecar driver who has raced in a variety of motorsport, including Formula One and Formula E^[69][70][71]
• Margaret Spellings, eighth United States secretary of education^[28]
• Vania Stambolova, Bulgarian sprinter and hurdler, who stumbled over a hurdle at the 2012 Olympics^[72]
• Marina Stepanova, Russian hurdler^[67]
• Bernard Herbert Suits, scholar and authority in the field of games and gaming^[73]
• George Francis Train, entrepreneur who was heavily involved in the construction of the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad across the United States^[15]
• Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, American education professional with a dissertation on uncommon African-American names in the classroom^[74][75]
• Katie Volynets, American tennis player^[76]
• Garlich Von Essen, employee of the European Seed Association ("essen" is the German word for "eat")^[40]
• Anthony Weiner, American politician involved in sexting scandals^[37][77]
• Emily Wines, American wine professional and board chair of the Court of Master Sommeliers^[78]
• John Minor Wisdom, American judge^[79]
• William Wordsworth, English poet and advocate for the extension of British copyright law^[80][81][6]
• Early Wynn, baseball pitcher, member of the 300 win club^[82]
• Tiger Woods, American professional golfer; a wood is a type of golf club^[6]
• Sue Yoo, attorney^[28]

Inaptronyms

Some names are very inappropriate for what the person does, being called inaptronyms by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post.^[83]

• Rob Banks, British police officer^[84]
• Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four")^[85]
• Frank Beard, an American musician who, until c. 2013, was the only member of rock band ZZ Top without a beard^[86]
• 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"^[87]
• Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer known for his strength^[88][89][90]
• Matt Gobush, spokesperson for Al Gore during his campaign for the 2000 presidential election, which Gore eventually lost to rival George W. Bush^[91][92]
• Colleen Lawless, an American lawyer and judge^[93]
• Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food for the Poor^[94]
• I.C. Notting, ophthalmologist, Leiden University^[95]
• Danielle Outlaw, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner^[96]
• Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate. Upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin"^[5][84]
• Bob Walk, baseball pitcher^[97]

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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3. Dickson, Paul (1996). What's in a Name? Reflections of an Irrepressible Name Collector. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster. ISBN 0-87779-613-0.
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External links

 

Look up aptronym, aptonym, or euonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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