What's in a name? 10 cases where moniker maketh man

The New Scientist gave it the name nominative determinism - the idea that there is a link between people's names and their occupation.

In their book Yes!, Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini cite the classic piece of research that supports the idea that nominative determism really exists. A study of the rolls of the American Dental Association shows that more people called Dennis become dentists than you would expect if the choice of profession were purely random.

And now we have the exquisitely named Bernard Madoff, making off with his client's cash.

Here are my top 10 examples of nominative determinism.

1. Theodore Hee. Mr T. Hee was responsible for most of the early comic storylines for Walt Disney films.

2. Cardinal Sin. The classic example, I think. Jamie Sin was an Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church of the Philippines. Wikipedia helpfully notes: "His name should not be confused with "cardinal sin", which is synonymous for the seven deadly sins".

3. Judge Judge. In July of this year Sir Igor Judge was appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

4. Amy Freeze. Fox News Chicago's Chief Meteorologist could hardly have chosen a different profession. Save, perhaps, setting pay for Government employees.

5. Patty Turner. The inevitable name of the wife of McDonald's CEO Frank Turner.

6. Governor Blagojevich. The man responsible for introducing Americans to the British slang term "blag" which as the dictionary puts it means "To rob, steal [origin unknown]"

7. Dr Fred Grabiner. This is what the internet is for. A forum on appropriate names yields this brilliant moniker for a gynaecologist.

8. J. W. Splatt and D. Weedon. The New Scientist campaign was spurred on by the discovery of these two authors of an article on incontinence in the British Journal of Urology (vol 49, pp 173-176, 1977).

9. Usain Bolt. Surely his surname influenced the career of the world's fastest man? The same cannot be said of Marina Stepanova. This is the ideal name for an elite hurdler. But she earned her first titles under her maiden name of Marina Makeyeva, so her name can't have influenced her choice of career. Perhaps, though, it influenced her choice of husband.

10. Paige Worthy. Nominative determism has also fascinated the Freaknonomics blog ever since they discovered this fact checker for Good magazine.

Comments

[John H]

I remember a joke going round at the time when the Irish bishop Eamonn Casey had to resign after it turned out he had an illegitimate child. The story goes he flew out to the Philippines, seeking both time away from media attention and the opportunity for absolution from the country's leading clergyman.

Hence the opening words of his confession: "Bless me Sin, for I have fathered".

[FOD]

There's an astronomy professor in Edinburgh University named.....Alan Heavens.

http://www.roe.ac.uk/~afh/

[David]

One of those ripped off by Bernie Madoff was a Mr Merkin, who heads a charity supplying wigs to alopecia sufferers.

[Rish]

Justice Judge, surely?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Igor_Judge

[David Moss]

"WH Smith, the embattled newsagents group, is hoping that a pledge to quickly replace its chairman, Richard Handover ..."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wh-smith-tries-to-head-off-revolt-with-plan-to-replace-handover-574398.html

[Peter T]

At secondary school I remember that we had an RE teacher called Mr Shepherd and an English teacher called Mr Page - so maybe there's something in it!

[Patrick Gamble]

Two of the doctors who were heavily involved in originally promoting HRT were called Rutter and Studd.

[Jerry]

I'd like to submit the All Black Andrew Hore - his surname is entirely appropriate as he plays hooker.

[jonathan]

Wasnt major major in Catch 22?

[Antoni Sergot]

A friend who graduated with me from medical school has the surname Doctor, hence making his name Dr. Doctor!

[Andy]

the BBC have a journalist Jonah Fisher, I first saw broadcasting from onboard the Greenpeace boat chasing Japanese whalers

[Anu]

Dan Druff for a barber, Felicity Foote for a dance teacher, and James Bugg for an exterminator -- all real monikers. More famously, we have William Wordsworth, the poet; Margaret Court, the tennis champion; Sally Ride, the astronaut; Larry Speakes, the White House spokesperson, Jim Kiick, the football star; and Lorena Bobbitt ("bob it") the you-know-what-er.

[Hicks]

Arsene Wenger, Arsenals's manager

[mikemorgan]

i remember working for sainsbury> and the meat manager was called mr.slaughter...how bizarre!

[david]

I heard of a marriage of a Mr Young and a Miss Innocent

[Patrick]

McMaster University has an engineering professor named Dr. Gordon Irons. One of his titles is "Dofasco Professor of Ferrous Metallurgy"

[sidney, ny]

A psychiatrist in England, in Bristol, I think, an expert on medicines, is called David Nutt.

[Mark]

My doctor is Dr Heal.

All true. In UK footie exotically named players do better. Proof Man U pick Edwin van der Sar and not Ben Foster. Spurs paid far too much for a tyro player - because his name was Giovanni dos Santos.
If Christiano Ronaldo's name was Bert Smith he wouldn't get a look in.

[Daniel]

In my first media sales job my team's surnames consisted of: Allfree, Toogood, Smart and Crook.

[Paolo Bagarino]

Nominative determinism is part of the human condition. The Romans said 'Nomen omen" ... "your name tells you your future". So here's a double-barreled n.d ... the Sligo (IRL) firm of solicitors: "Argue and Phibbs"

Don't believe me? Click the link

[Emma]

As reported in The Times (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4040435.ece), the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on knife crime is Assistant Commissioner Alf Hitchcock.

[jr]

how about the co founder of party gaming ...Mr Anurag Dikshit.

[Iain McGarry]

Was there not recently a certain Wolfgang Wolf in charge of .....Wolfsburg in the German bundesliga?

[Jon Fox]

The chief of Italian police at the moment is called Sig. Manganelli which translates as... Mr Truncheons!

[Tyrexito]

One spanish comicstrip serie dedicated to this kind of real names:

http://blogs.publico.es/mauroentrialgo/tag/como-su-propio-nombre-indica/

[Steve Sowerby]

Mr Madoff seems to have the answer to 'What's in a name?'. It should be interesting to see how that story unfolds.

[Pavel]

I think the minitser of tourism in Gibraltar is called JJ Holliday

[Tomm]

Not forgetting the poor ex Watford footballer called Shittu. Surely somebody should have told him early on.......

[George]

The two headmasters I had during my time at primary school were Mr. Kane & Mr. Marks...

[Dave]

You can't beat the estate agent there used to be in Buxton called "Fiddlers". A more apt name you will not find.

[Elaine]

What about that policewoman in Tasmania, Lauren Order?

[Mark Griffiths]

I know a doctor called Dr Wassim Matta

[Jonathan]

The pretiest teacher at school was called Mrs Crush.

[David Alvey]

Wolfgang Wolf, manager of Wolfsburg football club in Germany earlier this decade.

[dave]

I was at college with a Ms Sturdy who played rugby and a Mr Grey I can't recall much about; have a pal named Large - 20st - and know a poor chap whose benefits proved cruelly inadequate to the cost of heroin. Out after Christmas: Mr Crook.

[Robey Jenkins]

My wife recalls a client who owned a chain of restaurants, named Chris P. Duck.

[Kevin]

Doolittle and Dalley, Estate Agents in Kidderminster

[Alex Shore]

Sara Blizzard, you guessed it, the east midlands very own regional weather forcaster.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/bbcweather/forecasters/sarablizzard.shtml

[sweetalkinguy]

I used to work for the Port of Bristol Authority. I had to get payment from firms who extracted and discharged into the Floating Harbour (or 'arbol as they called it in Brissle). At Bristol Waterworks, the official in charge was Mr Waterfull, and his deputy was Mr Weir.

[Clare]

There was that British couple who named their kid Drew Peacock. Let's hope the poor mite doesn't live up to that one...

[Adam Brown]

Slightly unrelated but funny all the same: My house mate had a teacher called Mr Shaw-Twilly.

[Adrian]

There is a firm of Solicitors in Leamington Spa - Wright Hassell; At least you know what you're in for!

[frank]

When my son was at primary school, the teacher with special responsibility for Health and Safety was Miss Apps.

[Frank Upton]

In West Midlands Police there used to be a Constable Sergeant and a Sergeant Constable. There was also a tax inpsector called Mr D Prest.

[Ben Battye]

There is a local Dentist in Wimborne, Dorset called Dr Fang.

[Marion Shew]

When I worked for a bank one of my clients who was an undertaker was Mr D'eath pronounced Dee-R-th and another was Peter Enis (P Enis)what was his mother thinking!!

[Marion Shew]

Oh and my firefighter friend is called Chris Peacock!! YES Really!!

[Wille]

There is a solicitors firm on Queeensway in central London (W2) who bears the name "Shady Solicitors"..

[Jan-Paul]

undertakers in South Africa called Human & Pitt

[Phil]

The British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAPS)

[G. Minzie]

Your definition of the word Blag is wrong as it has nothing to do with stealing but could be used to gain goods by ill gotten means. In my neck of the woods in Manchester Blag means:

1) To lie
2) Make up a false excuse
3) To make up as you go along

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blag

[Ari]

Here in Holland i had two teachers Mr Haan (cock/rooster) and Miss Kip (hen) and, yes, they married!
Also unforgettable is the spokesman for the organisation of airline pilots, his name: Benno Baksteen (brick).

[Tim Collins]

I have two to add; My wife had a gynacologist in Sydney called Dr Fanner and my 4th class teacher Mr. Ross Try used to delight in saying at the end of the last term, "If at first you don't succeed........

[George Douglas]

I am a former Police Cadet & Constable in the Met in London. I had a colleague who was "Cadet Pleece" and another called "Cadet Constable". After completing their training and being posted onto division as fully fledged PC's they were then known as PC Pleece and WPC Constable, still makes me chuckle.

[Terry Ire]

Wasn't there a Urologist named Richard Tapper?

[K. Reau]

There is a local Urologist named Dr. Richard Tapper, MD.

[Janey Dear]

My Dentist is Miss Thomas - fair enough. The senior partner in the practice is Dr Payne...

[azhar]

know a gynaecologist called mr studd

[glynis kidd]

There used to be a well known printing firm in Belfast N.I.
called Reid and Wright

[hermann gilool]

There used to be a policeman in the Bedfordshire force of the 1980s called Robin Banks.

[Jimmy]

In Sligo there is a firm of solicitors called " Argue and Phibbs" no joking !!!

[john C]

the boyfriend of a jeweler I know is gynocologist names Dr. Richard Peeze... True story!

[Ian]

My lawyers here in Michigan are called Crooke & Cheatham

[Jeff Horton]

What about the Conservation Director at the RSPB ( Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) ... Dr Mark Avery!

[Richard Head]

People being nasty have called me 'Dick' on occasion.
Overall, I am told it's not true!

[LJ Davies]

With some of the ideas about higher education currently floating around, perhaps we should add Ed Balls to this list.

[AN]

A girl I went to school with was named Alison Young, we called her Ali, she later married a guy called Mark Gator.

[Laura Alexander]

Here in Canada we're not so subtle...the name of my first gynaecologist being Dr. Fish...!

[Dave]

In town we have a podiatrist named Dr. Treadwell.

But the one that takes the cake was in the yr 2000 the FDA Drug evaluation director who covered the certification of Viagra was Janet Woodcock.

[Trevor in Oz]

chappie over here who supplies the meat is Ted Bones (T-bone)
lad at school was called Peter Brain
attendance list for 5 years, every day, got a chuckle.. P. Brain poor boy..

[Mike H]

A school colleague of mine who is Head of RE is a Mrs Pope.

[J Bands]

My last name is Bands and I'm a sound engineer ;)

[Dion Per Sona]

Yet corporate Treasurer Young Boozer was not only spic and span, but alert.

The "Bobbit" name worked very well in French, however, where it was pronounced Beau Bite...

[Richard Barrett]

The man called Irons would be a good pro-am golf partner for Tiger Woods, who in any case deserves mention for an apt surname.
Richard Barrett, Calgary

[John]

In South Australia there was a well known Undertaker, Mr. Berry.

[Terry Baker]

On a plane flying out of Salt Lake City, a Mormon missionary with the name tag : Elder Berry

[Andrew]

I used to live next door to a Mr Honda who worked for Toyota.

[William Aku]

And for a football crazy nation to leave out the famous Alan Ball. I am so miffed.

[Thomas Mansell]

I have been collecting examples of "nominative determinism" for over a year in a Facebook group called "The Gavin Tempest Brigade": http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5741409658.

[Paul]

There is a village in Bradford called Idle, and it has its own working mens club called.... Idle Working Mens Club

[Jason]

A dentist's name in Geelong, Australia was Dr Blood. Never got the nerve to make an appointment with him when I lived there.

[Simon]

There's a village in Shropshire called "Knockin" and yes, it does have a shop.

There's also a hardware store in Shrewsbury called "Knobs & Knockers".

[Jonathan, Chicago]

A guy at work was called Chris P Bacon - presumably he should have opened a sandwich shop.

[Mr Junior]

In the Movie "Dumb and Dumber", Jim Carrey plays the rolle of Lloyd Christmas. As we all know he fall in love with Mary Swanson. Had the got married her name would have been "Mary Christmas"

[Joseph]

In Holland there was an accounting firm called ''NUS & Associates''. I remember having to phone up several of these people as a tax inspector for questions. Without laughing you then had to ask for either mr. P. Nus, mr. A. Nus or their sister mrs. V. Nus

[Philip Watt]

My name is Philip Watt. When you consider the company Philips and Watt the measurement of power you might find it funny to know that I am a lighting designer !

[Helen]

Dr. Randall W. Toothaker
Associate Professor
College of Dentistry
University of Nebraska Medical Center

[Bill Harding]

My father was at school with a bloke called Oswald Balls. At registration the teacher called out: "O Balls!"

[Dominic]

I recall a Times front page story about the Belgian police paedophile ring written by a reporter called Roger Boyes.

[Colin Larcombe]

I went to a school with a girl called Justine Bardon. So far so good. Her mother remarried and took the husbands name ; Case. She was known by all as Justine Case.

One morning the headmistress ( a Thatcher look alike) announced to the whole school at assembly that Justine had won a prize.
She said "And 1st prize goes to Justine ... BARDON-CASE"

I will never forgive her for making us miss our moment of mirth.

[Matt]

2 twins at school; Andrew and Peter Nurse. At registration, to distinguish the two, the form tutor would call out A. Nurse and P.Nurse.

[Mr Blogger]

What about the guy who chopped off his penis in a restaurant called Zizi ("penis" in French slang)? Does that count?

[Gavin]

Sir Reg Empey, M.P

[john]

A personal favourite is the physician Billy Rubin, specialising in blood disorders.

[John Stobart]

A law firm in Leamington Spa is called - Wright Hassall...

[PhD]

Dr. Richard Fukumoto
Coroner
Orange County, CA.

True...

[karl]

In my city you can find adverts for a private clinic for drug addicts run by one Dr.Ganja - unfortunately the advert doesn't state his full name.

[Michael]

what about 'Rick O'Shea' the great irish squash player??

[Nath]

As a kid I used to go to a dentists called Crosby, Nash and Cuts.