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Aptronym "refers to a name that is

Aptronym "refers to a name that is aptly suited to its owner"...Ms. Banks who works in finance, Dr. Beach the marine biologist, Art Wolfe the nature photographer, that sort of thing. See also nominative determinism. (thx robert)

Reader Comments
19 comments
Dan says:

Don't forget the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, who happened to be an accountant before winning the biggest poker tournament in the world.

» by Dan on Oct 19, 2005 at 12:48 PM
Tom Dolan says:

I know a dentist named Dr. Chu and an Ob-Gyn named Dr. Guie (pronouced goo-ey). No joke.

» by Tom Dolan on Oct 19, 2005 at 12:59 PM
Del Shimandle says:

A friend of mine has a Sharpei named "B flat."

» by Del Shimandle on Oct 19, 2005 at 01:11 PM
Jason Rossitto says:

Would it be obnoxious to point out that you've misspelled it? Oops, too late.

Aptronym.

» by Jason Rossitto on Oct 19, 2005 at 01:17 PM
tat says:

The director of the museum of photography in charleroi is called Cannone (pronounced Canon).

» by tat on Oct 19, 2005 at 01:28 PM
jkottke says:

Would it be obnoxious to point out that you've misspelled it?

Fixed, thanks.

» by jkottke on Oct 19, 2005 at 01:32 PM
Joshua Works says:

I've always wondered what the word was, and have wanted to compile a list (with evidence... letterhead or whatnot). I'm aware of a urologist named Dr. Peaster and a DDS, Eric Wisdom.

» by Joshua Works on Oct 19, 2005 at 02:44 PM
Nonchalant Savant says:

When I was a kid, my dentist's name was Dr Pickus. I hated him.

My wife had an office visit with a surgeon named Dr Hatchett. After HE made a joke about it, we opted to
see someone else.

» by Nonchalant Savant on Oct 19, 2005 at 03:09 PM
Fenton says:

Seinfeld reference:

A librarian named "Bookman"

An ice cream man named "Cone"

» by Fenton on Oct 19, 2005 at 03:11 PM
ben says:

My high school had an English teacher named Mrs Read, a guitar teacher named Harry Strum, and the swimming coach was Coach Kramp.

» by ben on Oct 19, 2005 at 03:15 PM
Overworm says:

Does Madonna qualify?

» by Overworm on Oct 19, 2005 at 04:20 PM
lia says:

The head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines my entire life was Cardinal Sin, I shit you not. He was an asshole.

» by lia on Oct 19, 2005 at 05:17 PM
MattNotHaughey says:

Check out John Train's book Remarkable Names of Real People and its sequel. Most are just odd names, but others fall into this category.

Excerpts are here.

» by MattNotHaughey on Oct 19, 2005 at 09:12 PM
slickvague says:

a loan officer named Helen Hunt?

as in, "looking for a loan? Go to Helen Hunt, her door is down to the left"

» by slickvague on Oct 19, 2005 at 09:53 PM
Ivan says:

See also this collection (mostly in Spanish).

» by Ivan on Oct 19, 2005 at 11:41 PM
John Dowdell says:

Herb Caen (historical SF Chronicle columnist) called these "namephreaks".

» by John Dowdell on Oct 21, 2005 at 07:51 PM
Patrick Madden says:

Thank you for solving a lifelong quest to know how to categorize my junior high teachers: Mrs. Stout, who taught cooking; Mr. Swet, who taught woodshop; Mrs. Law, who taught math; Mr. Echo, who taught band; and perhaps even Mrs. Dancy, who taught, alas, art.

» by Patrick Madden on Oct 22, 2005 at 10:37 AM
Meg says:

My Chiropractor here in London is called Dr Back. Seriously.

» by Meg on Oct 23, 2005 at 05:41 PM
Steph Mineart says:

My cardiologist is named Dr. Valentine.

» by Steph Mineart on Oct 27, 2005 at 06:13 PM

 
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.

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This entry was published on October 19, 2005 at 12:30 pm.

Tags for this entry:  language  aptonym  artwolfe 

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