Aptronym "refers to a name that is aptly suited to its owner"...Ms. Banks who works in finance, Dr. Beach the marine biologist, Art Wolfe the nature photographer, that sort of thing. See also nominative determinism. (thx robert)
I know a dentist named Dr. Chu and an Ob-Gyn named Dr. Guie (pronouced goo-ey). No joke.
A friend of mine has a Sharpei named "B flat."
Would it be obnoxious to point out that you've misspelled it? Oops, too late.
Aptronym.
The director of the museum of photography in charleroi is called Cannone (pronounced Canon).
Would it be obnoxious to point out that you've misspelled it?
Fixed, thanks.
I've always wondered what the word was, and have wanted to compile a list (with evidence... letterhead or whatnot). I'm aware of a urologist named Dr. Peaster and a DDS, Eric Wisdom.
When I was a kid, my dentist's name was Dr Pickus. I hated him.
My wife had an office visit with a surgeon named Dr Hatchett. After HE made a joke about it, we opted to
see someone else.
Seinfeld reference:
A librarian named "Bookman"
An ice cream man named "Cone"
My high school had an English teacher named Mrs Read, a guitar teacher named Harry Strum, and the swimming coach was Coach Kramp.
Does Madonna qualify?
The head of the Catholic Church in the Philippines my entire life was Cardinal Sin, I shit you not. He was an asshole.
Check out John Train's book Remarkable Names of Real People and its sequel. Most are just odd names, but others fall into this category.
Excerpts are here.
a loan officer named Helen Hunt?
as in, "looking for a loan? Go to Helen Hunt, her door is down to the left"
See also this collection (mostly in Spanish).
Herb Caen (historical SF Chronicle columnist) called these "namephreaks".
Thank you for solving a lifelong quest to know how to categorize my junior high teachers: Mrs. Stout, who taught cooking; Mr. Swet, who taught woodshop; Mrs. Law, who taught math; Mr. Echo, who taught band; and perhaps even Mrs. Dancy, who taught, alas, art.
My Chiropractor here in London is called Dr Back. Seriously.
My cardiologist is named Dr. Valentine.
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.
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Dan48 19 200512:48PM
Don't forget the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, who happened to be an accountant before winning the biggest poker tournament in the world.