Aptronym

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.

• 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]
• Doctor Willard Bliss, physician who treated President James A. Garfield[11]
• Sara Blizzard, meteorologist and television weather presenter for the BBC[5]
• John Blow, English pipe organist at Westminster Abbey[12]
• Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter[13][14]
• Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America (Bowser is a character from a flagship Nintendo franchise, Super Mario)[15]
• Gary Bowser (no relation to Doug), member of the Team Xecuter hacking group, convicted for selling Nintendo Switch piracy devices[16]
• Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain, neurologist[17]
• Rosalind Brewer, executive at Starbucks and a former director at Molson Coors Brewing Company[18][19]
• Jake Butt, American college and professional football tight end[20]
• Christopher Coke, drug lord and cocaine trafficker[21]
• Margaret Court, Australian tennis player[6]
• Thomas Crapper, British sanitary engineer[6][22]
• Kutter Crawford, baseball pitcher (cutter)[23]
• Ed Currie, a world-record holding chili pepper breeder[24]
• Mark De Man, Belgian football defender (marking an opposing player)[25]
• Karina DePiano, pianist currently touring with Taylor Swift[26]
• David Dollar, American economist[27][28]
• Carla Dove, ornithologist who specializes in bird strikes[29]
• Josh Earnest, the third press secretary for the Obama administration[30]
• Rich Fairbank, billionaire and CEO of the Capital One bank, which holds the Fairbanking Mark for offering fair banking products[31][32]
• Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder, father-and-son baseball players (fielder)[33]
• Bob Flowerdew, gardener and TV/radio presenter[34]
• Amy Freeze, American meteorologist[35]
• Kenneth Gainwell, American college and professional football running back[36]
• William Headline, former Washington bureau chief for CNN[37]
• Mike Hookem, former UKIP fisheries spokesperson and former MEP involved in a brawl outside the EU parliament[38]
• James Hedges, hedge fund manager[39][40][41]
• Fielder Jones, baseball player[42]
• Igor Judge, English judge and Lord Chief Justice[43][44]
• John Laws, English judge and Lord Justice of Appeal[44]
• Richard and Mildred Loving, plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage throughout the United States[45]
• Auguste and Louis Lumière, pioneering 19th century filmmakers (lumière means "light" in French)[46]
• Bernie Madoff, American fraudster and financier, who “made-off” with the money from his investment scheme[47]
• Ken Miles, inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America[48]
• Chris Moneymaker, American poker player and 2003 World Series of Poker champion[49]
• 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[50]
• Eugene Profit, former American football player and current CEO of Profit Investment Management[51]
• Francine Prose, American novelist[52]
• Jonathan Quick, American professional ice hockey goaltender[53]
• Corona Rintawan, Indonesian physician who led Muhammadiyah's command center for the COVID-19 pandemic[54]
• Bob Rock, Canadian music producer best known for his works with rock acts such as Metallica and Aerosmith[55]
• Philander Rodman, father of Dennis Rodman, who fathered 26 children by 16 mothers[56]
• Tennys Sandgren, American tennis player[57]
• Marilyn vos Savant, American columnist who has been cited for having the world's highest-recorded IQ (savant)[58]
• Kayla Sims, American YouTuber and Twitch streamer, best known for playing The Sims 4[59]
• Anna Smashnova, Soviet-born Israeli tennis player[60]
• Daniel Snowman, historian and author of book on polar explorations[38]
• Larry Speakes, acting White House Press Secretary for the White House under President Ronald Reagan[61]
• Scott Speed, American racecar driver who has raced in a variety of motorsport, including Formula One and Formula E[62][63][64]
• Margaret Spellings, eighth United States secretary of education[27]
• Vania Stambolova, Bulgarian sprinter and hurdler, who stumbled over a hurdle at the 2012 Olympics[65]
• Marina Stepanova, Russian hurdler[60]
• Bernard Herbert Suits, scholar and authority in the field of games and gaming[66]
• George Francis Train, entrepreneur who was heavily involved in the construction of the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad across the United States[14]
• Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, American education professional with a dissertation on uncommon African-American names in the classroom[67][68]
• Anthony Weiner, American politician involved in sexting scandals[35][69]
• John Minor Wisdom, American judge[8]
• William Wordsworth, English poet and advocate for the extension of British copyright law[70][71][6]
• Early Wynn, baseball pitcher, member of the 300 win club[72]
• Tiger Woods, American professional golfer; a wood is a type of golf club[6]
• Sue Yoo, attorney[27]

• -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

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

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