What is the correlation between people's names and their professions?

[jtbell]

You probably know someone who has a name that's especially pertinent to his/her profession. For example, Charlotte NC has a TV weatherman named Larry Sprinkle. Here's one that I found just now when visiting my investment company's web site.

 

[Evo]

You probably know someone who has a name that's especially pertinent to his/her profession. For example, Charlotte NC has a TV weatherman named Larry Sprinkle. Here's one that I found just now when visiting my investment company's web site.

Lol.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Usain Bolt

 

[arildno]

A couple of names from Norway:

For many years, the executive director at the light bulb factory OSRAM was Mr. Lampe (and yes, "Lampe" is "Lamp"..

We also had in Oslo, a dentist with the name Røskeland (the verb "røske" means to "pull forcefully"...

 

[Ben Niehoff]

For a short amount of time I lived in Fayetteville, NC, and somewhere along the road to the airport at Raleigh was a sign on the side of a building that read

"Robert A. Buzzard, Attorney at Law"

I don't know if it was a joke or not.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Apparently it wasn't a joke!

http://www.bainlawyers.com/attorney-profiles/robert-a-buzzard

 

[AlephZero]

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is Mr Judge. (Well, actually he's now Lord Judge, but he was born plain Mr.)

There is a plant breeder and nurseryman in the UK called Alan Bloom. And his wife is Flora Bloom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bloom

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

In the town where I grew up there was a dentist named Dr. Comfort.

 

[Curious3141]

Names can be apt or "anti-apt". The latter occurs when the name, taken literally, embodies a concept that runs counter to the personality.

I always thought the most awesome example of an anti-apt name was "Cardinal Sin". The late Filipino Archbishop, that is.

Then there are people like Scott Speed, the American racing driver. I guess he raced in F1, making his name sort of apt. But he wasn't quite fast enough to last.

I have a friend and former med school classmate who's named Doctor, and who's a doctor. So she's Doctor Doctor, sort of like Major Major (Major Major) in Catch 22. But there's a story behind her curious name - her grandfather (or great grandfather, I forget which) saved a lot of people in his native village by instituting clever public health measures against cholera. So his family got the honorary appellation "Doctor", and the name stuck through the generations. I guess the prod of tradition was strong enough for her to pursue a medical career as well. Hence, not really accidental in this case.

 

[Borek]

What about Endurance Abinuwa and Endurance Ojokolo?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Don't forget Albert Einstein who actually turned out to be a genius.

 

[Jim Kata]

Dick Cheney, Dick Army, Dick Nixon

 

[lisab]

Dick Cheney, Dick Army, Dick Nixon

My dentist's first name is Dennis.

 

[arildno]

Postman Pat and Dennis the Dentist. Yup, sounds right..

 

[jtbell]

Here's a fictional character: on the old Mary Tyler Moore TV show (I think it was on that show, anyway), there was a guy who did TV reports about gardening: Pete Moss the Plant Man.

There used to be a woman in my church named Fern Moss, but I don't think she had a job related to her name.

 

[daveb]

There was a weatherman in Los Angeles named Dallas Raines several years ago. Don't know if he's still around.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Dr. Ken Hurt, DDS

http://www.toothwranglers.com/

 

[jtbell]

"Robert A. Buzzard, Attorney at Law"

I don't know if it was a joke or not.

I hope he pronounces his name "Boo-ZARD".

 

[Ibix]

The Feedback column in the back of the New Scientist had a long-running thread on this. They christened the phenomenon "Nominative Determinism".

 

[AlephZero]

there was a guy who did TV reports about gardening: Pete Moss the Plant Man.

There are a couple of regular panellists on BBC radio and TV gardening programs with suspicious looking names:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Flowerdew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippa_Greenwood

 

[jtbell]

While reading a financial forum just now, I found about Crummey trusts, named after D. Clifford Crummey, the first person to set one up.

 

[berkeman]

This news story was killing me driving home tonight. Some politicians just should not take a stand against public nudity...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/09/us-ordinance-california-idUSTRE7884UV20110909

.

 

[mishrashubham]

Professor John C Wingfield studies birds (and out in the 'field' at that).

http://biosci3.ucdavis.edu/FacultyAndResearch/FacultyProfile.aspx?FacultyID=376