Aptronym

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".
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."
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. Psychologist Carl Jung wrote in his book Synchronicity that there was a "sometimes quite grotesque coincidence between a man's name and his peculiarities".
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)
Michael Ball, English footballer
Colin Bass, British bassist in the rock band Camel
Lance Bass, bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC
Mickey Bass, American bassist and musician
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone
Bert "Tito" Beveridge, founder of Tito's Vodka
Doctor Willard Bliss, physician who treated President James A. Garfield
Sara Blizzard, meteorologist and television weather presenter for the BBC
John Blow, English pipe organist at Westminster Abbey
Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America (Bowser is a character from a flagship Nintendo franchise, Super Mario)
Gary Bowser (no relation to Doug), member of the Team Xecuter hacking group, convicted for selling Nintendo Switch piracy devices
Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain, neurologist
Rosalind Brewer, executive at Starbucks and a former director at Molson Coors Brewing Company
Jake Butt, American college and professional football tight end
Christopher Coke, drug lord and cocaine trafficker
Margaret Court, Australian tennis player
Thomas Crapper, British sanitary engineer
Kutter Crawford, baseball pitcher (cutter)
Ed Currie, a world-record holding chili pepper breeder
Mark De Man, Belgian football defender (marking an opposing player)
Karina DePiano, pianist who toured with Taylor Swift
David Dollar, American economist
Carla Dove, ornithologist who specializes in bird strikes
Josh Earnest, the third press secretary for the Obama administration
Rich Fairbank, billionaire and CEO of the Capital One bank, which holds the Fairbanking Mark for offering fair banking products
Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder, father-and-son baseball players (fielder)
Jeff Float, American swimmer
Bob Flowerdew, gardener and TV/radio presenter
Amy Freeze, American meteorologist
Kenneth Gainwell, American college and professional football running back
William Headline, former Washington bureau chief for CNN
Mike Hookem, former UKIP fisheries spokesperson and former MEP involved in a brawl outside the EU parliament
James Hedges, hedge fund manager
Fielder Jones, baseball player
Igor Judge, English judge and Lord Chief Justice
John Laws, English judge and Lord Justice of Appeal
Richard and Mildred Loving, plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage throughout the United States
Auguste and Louis Lumière, pioneering 19th century filmmakers (lumière means "light" in French)
Bernie Madoff, American fraudster and financier, who “made-off” with the money from his investment scheme
Ken Miles, inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Chris Moneymaker, American poker player and 2003 World Series of Poker champion
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
Eugene Profit, former American football player and current CEO of Profit Investment Management
Francine Prose, American novelist
Jonathan Quick, American professional ice hockey goaltender
Corona Rintawan, Indonesian physician who led Muhammadiyah's command center for the COVID-19 pandemic
Bob Rock, Canadian music producer best known for his works with rock acts such as Metallica and Aerosmith
Philander Rodman, father of Dennis Rodman, who fathered 26 children by 16 mothers
Tennys Sandgren, American tennis player
Marilyn vos Savant, American columnist who has been cited for having the world's highest-recorded IQ (savant)
Kayla Sims, American YouTuber and Twitch streamer, best known for playing The Sims 4
Anna Smashnova, Soviet-born Israeli tennis player
Daniel Snowman, historian and author of book on polar explorations
Larry Speakes, acting White House Press Secretary for the White House under President Ronald Reagan
Scott Speed, American racecar driver who has raced in a variety of motorsport, including Formula One and Formula E
Margaret Spellings, eighth United States secretary of education
Vania Stambolova, Bulgarian sprinter and hurdler, who stumbled over a hurdle at the 2012 Olympics
Marina Stepanova, Russian hurdler
Bernard Herbert Suits, scholar and authority in the field of games and gaming
George Francis Train, entrepreneur who was heavily involved in the construction of the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad across the United States
Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, American education professional with a dissertation on uncommon African-American names in the classroom
Anthony Weiner, American politician involved in sexting scandals
John Minor Wisdom, American judge
William Wordsworth, English poet and advocate for the extension of British copyright law
Early Wynn, baseball pitcher, member of the 300 win club
Tiger Woods, American professional golfer; a wood is a type of golf club
Sue Yoo, attorney
Inaptronyms
Some names are very inappropriate for what the person does, being called inaptronyms by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post.
Rob Banks, British police officer
Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four")
Frank Beard, an American musician who, until , was the only member of rock band ZZ Top without a beard
Don Black, white supremacist
Peter Bowler, cricketer (in fact, primarily a batsman)
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"
Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer known for his strength
Colleen Lawless, an American lawyer and judge
Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food for the Poor
I.C. Notting, ophthalmologist, Leiden University
Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Commissioner
Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate. Upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin"
Bob Walk, baseball pitcher
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)
Names
Semantics
Types of words
Word play