this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
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Nominative Determinism

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Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work.

This is a community for posting real-world examples of names that by coincidence are funny in context. A link to the article or site is preferable, as well as a screenshot of the funny name if it's not in the headline. Try not to repost, and keep it fun!

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The president of charity Food For The Poor was called Robin Mahfood (feddit.uk)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by smeg to c/nominativedeterminism
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Source article, sadly he retired in 2020

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[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nomative determinism strikes again.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Did you check the community this is in?

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 12 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What are the chances this sub is perfectly named?

[–] Klicnik@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago

The name of the sub seems to have determined the content.