le Centre canadien des aptonymes (CCA)
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SITE GUIDE

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What is an Aptonym?

Some Examples

List of  180+ Aptonyms

Index of nearly 100 Contributors

Interesting Links

Aptonyms in The Wizard of Id

Bibliography

Webmaster

What is an Aptonym?

According to linguist Frank Nuessel (see The Study of Names), an aptonym is the term used for "people whose names and occupations or situations (e.g., workplace) have a close correspondence." The name "aptonym" is a compound word which consists of the adjective "apt" (from Latin via Middle English) meaning "exactly suitable, or appropriate". The second part of this word comes from the Greek "onuma" ('name').

An alternate term is aptronym, attributed to Franklin P. Adams, as discussed in the book, What's In a Name, by Paul Dickson. In Chapter 4. he writes "I have held with aptronyms as the name for this phenomenon rather than aptonyms, which is favoured by a number of newspaper columnists who collect them.

Bob Levey, who writes fairly regular Washington Post columns on the phenomenon, calls them PFLNs, or Perfect Fit Last Names. One can search the Washington Poston-line archives for details (access to the full texts requires payment).

Professor Lewis P. Lipsitt of Brown University wrote to Dickson: "I might also mention that I have a very large collection of instances where persons' names and either their occupations or preoccupations are in synchrony." There is an interesting online article "Is Work Calling Your Name?" about Professor Lipsitt and his theories.

Some Examples

David Bird	Ornithologist
Nita House	Real estate agent
Scott Constable	Policeman
Helen Painter	Artist
Raymond Strike	Union leader
Sonia Shears	Hairdresser
Dr. Knapp	Anesthesiologist
Jim Playfair	Hockey coach

List of 180+ Aptonyms

Here is our genuine, homegrown list, compiled with the assistance of friends.  Pick a letter!

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Interesting Links

• Visit the French and Italian versions of this page, demonstrating the universal nature of aptonyms.

• We invite you to read the article Why Mr. Storm Studies Weather, which discusses a theory of the origins of aptonyms.

• Read the interesting story of the name Ima Hogg.

• The British magazine New Scientist had a "thread" in its letter column on the topic of nominative determinism,  their term for aptonym.  Go to their search engine and type the words "nominative AND determinism" to fetch the material.

 • Carolyn Brown (née Heia) has provided a list of Intriguing Names, some of which belong to people she knows.

• Here is another aptonym site: Like a Glove.

• Somewhere, I found this List of Experts, but the names are made-up aptonyms, not genuine.

• I have started a List of Unusual Names that are real, but not aptonyms, following the example set by John Train.

• Here is another list: The Worst Names of the Century.

• Roger Harris has contributed another List of Unusual Names  that are real, but not aptonyms.

• A page devoted to medical practitioners.

• Read some sample material from Paul Dickson's book What's in a Name?.

• Ever wonder about the story behind the graffiti "Kilroy was here"?

• Words: Woe and Wonder is brought to you by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

• The Canadian site The Electric Eclectic has a huge list of word links, including this page!

• What's in a Name? is a web site well worth visiting.
 

Bibliograhy

The bibliography is not exhaustive, but a pretty good start.  Help us build it!

Contributors

Everyone is cordially invited to contribute to this list by sending any interesting names found in newspapers, directories, and various other publications to David Chapman. If possible, indicate date and publication to give your example greater authenticity. Please state your name, state or province, and country in order to be included in the index of contributors.

Also, please send us information about similar sites on the internet, or any interesting book references you may find.

Webmaster

This site was createdby  David Chapman, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with much assistance from  André Bougaïeff, Département de français, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, who created and maintains the French and Italian pages.

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