Aptronym

Aptronym, a word allegedly coined by United States newspaper columnist Franklin P. Adams, refers to a name that is aptly suited to its owner. Fictional examples of aptronyms include Mr. Talkative and Mr. Worldly Wiseman in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

Examples

Real-life people can also have aptronyms. Some notable examples:

• Tiger Woods, one of the best PGA Tour golfers of all time
• Tony Snow, Press Secretary for the George W. Bush White House
• Margaret Spellings, Education Secretary for the George W. Bush White House
• Sally Ride, astronaut
• William Wordsworth, poet
• Margaret Court and Anna Smashnova, tennis players
• John Tory, leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party
• Mihael Polymeropolous, geneticist
• Learned Hand, judge
• Bill Medley, singer, one half of The Righteous Brothers
• E. Spencer Parsons, clergyman (dean of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago)
• Larry Speakes, presidential spokesman under President Ronald Reagan
• Chuck Long, former NFL quarterback for the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams
• Willie Thrower, former NFL quarterback
• Joe Strummer, guitarist for The Clash.
• Norbert J. Ore, Chairman of the Institute of Supply Management manufacturing group
• Chris Moneymaker, winner of 2003 World Series of Poker
• George Best, one of the best footballers in history
• Austen Tayshus (i.e., "ostentatious"); the stage name of the flamboyant and menacing Jewish Australian comedian Alexander 'Sandy' Gutman.
• Layne Beachley, Austrlian world champion surfer
• Steve Shutt, former NHL left-winger for the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, NHL Goal-scoring leader in 1976-1977
• Scott Speed, Formula One driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso
• Mack Strong, NFL fullback
• Tim Duncan, basketball player
• Mike Massey, world champ at massé and other trick shots in pool
• Joe Theisman, professional American Football player and runner-up for 1970 Heisman Trophy

Other Examples

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. A sampling from the list:

• James Bugg, exterminator
• Dan Druff, barber
• Rev. James R. God, minister of the Baptist Church in Congress, South Carolina
• Priscilla Flattery, Environmental Protection Agency publicist
• Bill Headline, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for CNN
• C. Sharpe Minor, an organist
• U.S. Navey, member of the United States Marine Corps
• Qutein Jammer NFL Corner back

Some aptronyms are ironic rather than descriptive. The former Archbishop of Manila, Jaime L. Sin known as "Cardinal Sin," is a notable example. Dickson's book also lists a Rev. Richard Sinner of Fargo, North Dakota.

In the television show Seinfeld, during an episode in which Jerry had been fined by the New York Public Library for failing to return a book, the Library's enforcement officer's name was Lt. Bookman.

Other issues

Aptronyms may be called "aptonyms" by other writers. San Francisco columnist Herb Caen used the term "namephreaks". Washington Post columnist Bob Levey prefers the term PFLNs, or Perfect Fit Last Names.

There does not yet seem to be a standard terminology for this linguistic curiosity.

References

• "aptronym." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 30 Mar. 2005. [1]
• Dickson, Paul. What's in a Name? Reflections of an Irrepressible Name Collector. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996. ISBN 0-87779-613-0

See also

• Nominative determinism, which has a similar meaning
• -onym

External links

• List of 125+ Aptonyms
• Aptronyms in the Wizard of Id
• "Charol Shakeshaft, Topped!", a list of reader-submitted aptronyms by Slate's Timothy Noah.