Attn: @geneweingarten.bsky.social The ultimate aptonym. So perfect it’s not really even funny. A man named “Seabird” (his given name on his birth certificate) who studies… seabirds. ocean.si.edu/contributors... - ThreadSky

petersagal.bsky.social • 61 days ago

Attn: @geneweingarten.bsky.social The ultimate aptonym.
So perfect it’s not really even funny. A man named “Seabird” (his given name on his birth certificate) who studies… seabirds.

https://ocean.si.edu/contributors/seabird-mckeon

Comments

runnerlily.bsky.social•60 days ago

Many aptonyms face the problem that the name guides life choices, whether subtly or overtly. Peed Plumbers in Northern VA, for example (yes, really). Did that family just submit (consciously or un-) and go in that direction?

geneweingarten.bsky.social•60 days ago

Peter, well done. But I must mention that I have scanned his CV, and he is also an expert in poison frogs.

angeliakeith.bsky.social•60 days ago

Hi 👋

stoopidgood.bsky.social•60 days ago

I knew a guy in high school with the last name of Seaman. He joined the Navy and became Seaman Seamen.

smbdemocracy.bsky.social•61 days ago

I keep a list of such names. Lorena Bobbitt, for instance.

robsco69.bsky.social•61 days ago

if her name was Dixie...

smbdemocracy.bsky.social•60 days ago

Huh? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_and_Lorena_Bobbitt

nyebodnye.bsky.social•60 days ago

There was this guy in the book Catch 22. Cant remember his name 🤔

webgiant.bsky.social•60 days ago

The only way I can come close to this is finding out that Dr. Larry Brilliant eradicated smallpox.

webgiant.bsky.social•60 days ago

Come to think of it, I think I learned it on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me." Small world indeed!

maxjtelford.bsky.social•60 days ago

Ben Hatchwell... Reproductive strategies in birds.

s-m-ha.bsky.social•60 days ago

My childhood dentist: Dr. Luce (loose)

steve36893.bsky.social•60 days ago

I knew a guy from Seattle named Seahawk Be Hawk.

thatoldbear.bsky.social•60 days ago

Damn this trumps the time I met a haematologist named "Dr Blood" 😂

paulmoo66.bsky.social•60 days ago

My urologist a few years back was called Dr Dick.

dpbsmith.bsky.social•60 days ago

There's a lot of that. The neurologist Walter Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain comes to mind.

whileyhughes.bsky.social•60 days ago

Thanks for adding a new word to my vocabulary

iansmcleod.bsky.social•61 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism - A term I first heard watching Stephen Fry host "QI"

quantum-man.bsky.social•61 days ago

That's the term I was looking for!

iansmcleod.bsky.social•61 days ago

I immediately remembered the term but was ignorant of it's recent coining (and delightful Wikipedia page). It helpfully distinguishes the term Peter used, "aptonym", as referring only to a coincidental correspondence between name and occupation. Nominative Determinism is a theory of causation.

quantum-man.bsky.social•61 days ago

And cool to find another person that enjoys QI

nyebodnye.bsky.social•60 days ago

a other one here (I collect them) ✋

tommyowens.bsky.social•60 days ago

How about an inaptonym? I work with satellite remote sensing and the scientist who studies our land obsevation products is named Skye.

phenominalp.bsky.social•60 days ago

Nominative Determinism

leemstradamus.bsky.social•60 days ago

He understood the assignment!

bakojackdaddy.bsky.social•60 days ago

There was a gynecologist in DC named Dr Harry C. Beaver.

kcghostwriter.bsky.social•60 days ago

bakojackdaddy.bsky.social•60 days ago

Truth. https://doctor.webmd.com/doctor/harry-beaver-b85f6d36-3dbe-4e25-aa11-6dde6fa8efc1-overview

kakehres.bsky.social•60 days ago

Goddammit ... I just had my gall bladder removed and it hurts when I laugh.

bakojackdaddy.bsky.social•60 days ago

I know a good doctor…

flyingmonkey67.bsky.social•60 days ago

There used to be a doctor in Westport, CT whose last name was Doctor. And when I worked at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, the aquarium President was named Jennifer Herring.

terry815.bsky.social•60 days ago

I met a psychiatrist named Dr. Blank

davidlevine.bsky.social•61 days ago

This is a nice Sunday evening gem. Thanks Peter!

rickincanadia.bsky.social•60 days ago

My ornithology prof. was named David Bird.
😬🦠😷💉💉💉💉💉💉💉🇨🇦🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

partoftheproblem.bsky.social•60 days ago

Amazing

bpell2.bsky.social•60 days ago

I knew a botany professor named (for real) Dr Flora (Univ of Akron in the 1970s)

bodeganacho.bsky.social•60 days ago

I had a chiropractor named Dr. Payne

thoughtprovocateur.bsky.social•60 days ago

It makes one wonder if how parents raise a child has effects on them as an adult.

deblooze.bsky.social•60 days ago

Then there was our hair cutter, now retired.

Surname: Combs 🪮🙂✂️

pamriley.bsky.social•60 days ago

One of my friends sister was named Ann Olive Branch Another one became a nurse and when she got married she became Nurse Blood

wizardofsnacks.bsky.social•60 days ago

When I grew up the fire chief was named burns and the weatherman’s last name was sprinkle. Turns out this was a fluke and the world is usually only as charming as a gravel parking lot