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, inventor 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]
Inaptronyms
Some names are very inappropriate for what the person does, being called inaptronyms by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post.[95]
- Rob Banks, British police officer[96]
- Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four")[97]
- Frank Beard, an American musician who, until c. 2013, was the only member of rock band ZZ Top without a beard[98]
- 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"[99]
- Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer known for his strength[100][101][102]
- Matt Gobush, spokesperson for Al Gore during his campaign for the 2000 presidential election, which Gore eventually lost to rival George W. Bush[103][104]
- Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer known for his speed[105]
- Colleen Lawless, an American lawyer and judge[106]
- Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food for the Poor[107]
- I.C. Notting, ophthalmologist, Leiden University ("I see nothing")[108]
- Danielle Outlaw, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner[109]
- Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate. Upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin"[5][96]
- Bob Walk, baseball pitcher[110]
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
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.