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A person's name that is regarded as amusingly appropriate to their occupation.
‘he began collecting aptronyms when he saw an ad for a flower shop operated by Flora Gardner’
‘while Maryland lacks a ‘Judge Judge’, there are many attorneys here with aptonyms’
‘For the third summer in a row, we are profiling our local aptonyms.’
‘Had John Eglinton been an onomastician, he might have noted that Stephen's surname was an aptonym.’
‘Here's an amusing list of medical aptronyms, where you can read about Dr. Aikenhead (allergist), Dr. Yankum (dentist) and Dr. Ow (pain management.)’
‘A reporter at the Wall Street Journal did a piece on aptonyms recently and noted that in a 2002 academic paper researchers found that people were more likely to choose professions with names that are similar to their own first names.’
‘Some people pay attention to aptonyms because they appear to provide evidence that a person's name may indicate a person's professional destiny.’
‘My lifetime personal best aptonym was the medical director of Seattle Children's Hospital when I was in pediatric training there.’
‘I know how much you like aptonyms, so I just thought I'd pass on that my company has a smart grid expert named Ken Van Meter.’
‘Dickens, too, stoops to more than one aptonym: the Cherybul brothers are cheery and Peddle and Pool are solicitors.’
‘I used to collect aptonyms if I saw an interesting one in print.’
‘In the old days, aptonyms weren't coincidences; they were professional labels.’
‘By golly, I've found yet another brilliant aptonym - this time in the world of wine and food blogging.’
Origin
1920s: from apt + -onym, probably on the pattern of patronym.