Aptronyms
Wednesday, May 30th by CarlaWhat do the poet William Wordsworth, Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, and tennis champion Margaret Court have in common?
Their names are strikingly appropriate, considering their professions.
While terms such as Nominative Determinism, namephreaks, PFLN (Perfect Fit Last Names), and aptonym also describe this felicity of names, aptronym, a term coined by columnist Franklin P. Adams, appears to have the most usage.
Other aptronyms include these:
- golfer Tiger Woods
- astronaut Sally Ride
- White House spokesman Larry Speakes
- humorist and math professor Tom Lehrer (”Lehrer” is the German word for “teacher.”)
- Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
When President
Bush named Tony Snow the new White House Press Secretary, was an aptronym created? That’s a discussion for another blog.
What aptronyms have you encountered?
