Nominative Determinism

485 readers

1 users here now

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!

founded 7 months ago

MODERATORS

smeg

I know just the woman for the business director position (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world to c/nominativedeterminism

3 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 3 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] poplargrove@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago

Light yellow text on white. Design must be headed by Sam NotADesigner.

[–] Aggravationstation 2 points 7 months ago

Are you sure that's not the Stonks guy in a wig?

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de 2 points 6 months ago

That's waste of a rare, powerful surname. Why Melanie when there's Rose, Monica or Meggie? (Unless she has two older sisters, of course.)