Aptronym

An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner (e.g. their occupation). The word "euonym" (eu- + -onym), dated to late 1800, is defined as "a name well suited to the person, place, or thing named". Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post coined the word inaptonym as an antonym for "aptonym".

An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner (e.g. their occupation). The word "euonym" (eu- + -onym), dated to late 1800, is defined as "a name well suited to the person, place, or thing named". Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post coined the word inaptonym as an antonym for "aptonym". ==History== The Encyclopædia Britannica says that the term was allegedly invented by columnist Franklin P. Adams, who coined the word "aptronym" as an anagram of patronym, to emphasize "apt". The Oxford English Dictionary reported that the word appeared in a Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary in 1921, defined as "a surname indicative of an occupation: as, Glass, the glazier". Psychologist Carl Jung wrote in his 1960 book Synchronicity that there was a "sometimes quite grotesque coincidence between a man's name and his peculiarities". In the 1966 book What's in a Name?, Paul Dickson, among other peculiar types of surnames, has a section on aptronyms which includes a list of aptronyms selected from his large collection. The latter originated from the one received from professor Lewis P. Lipsitt of Brown University and further expanded with the help of Dickson's friends, mostly from newspapers and phone books. Some newspaper columnists collect aptronyms as well. ===Inaptonyms=== Kevin Admiral, United States Army general Rob Banks, British police officer Grant Balfour, baseball pitcher ("ball four") Frank Beard, 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) Jimmy Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Corps pilot who led the first major bombing raid on Japan during World War II, was referred to as "...a man whose exploits utterly belie his name" by the Baltimore Sun, and according to the New York Times "...should be named Doomuch". However, the chief of the Japanese Army's press section, trying to downplay the raid, stated "We have the pleasure of conferring upon him the title 'Did Little'... ...We may expect the next commander which Roosevelt is likely to appoint as his successor will be Colonel 'Do Nothing'." Samuel Foote, 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 Matt Gobush, spokesperson for Al Gore during his campaign for the 2000 presidential election, which Gore eventually lost to rival George W. Bush Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer known for eluding defenders Colleen Lawless, American lawyer and judge Gouverneur Morris, American senator Neversink, a town in New York state that was submerged by the Neversink Reservoir in 1953 Gary Oldman, English actor, is 13 days younger (21 March 1958) than English musician Gary Numan (8 March 1958, pronounced "new man") Danielle Outlaw, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Larry Playfair, ice hockey player known for fighting Jaime Sin, Catholic prelate; upon being made a cardinal in 1976, he gained the further inaptronymic title of "Cardinal Sin" Sam Sung, Apple Inc. employee. Batman bin Suparman, Indonesian man who was imprisoned in 2013 on theft and drug possession charges (Batman and Superman both being crime-fighting superheroes) Bob Walk, baseball pitcher ==See also== Autological word -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 Occupational surname ==References== ==External links== Aptonyms-wiki (based on the extinct Canadian Aptonym Centre)

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378358105 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.