Maddenation
Aptronym (charactonym)
On and off throughout my life, I have wondered if there were a term to describe (or to corral) how several my Memorial Junior School teachers had names to match their professions. Most tenuous was Mrs. Dancy, who taught art (hey, they’re kind of related), but there were also Mrs. Law, who taught math; Mr. Swet, who taught woodshop; Mrs. Stout, who taught cooking; and Mr. Echo, who taught band. This fact lent a kind of fairytale air to the school, or at least it casts that dreamy glow on my memory of the place.
A few weeks ago, I thought I had a good start with charactonym, which came in my A Word A Day email:
charactonym (KAR-ik-tuh-nim) noun
A name of a fictional character that suggests the personality traits of that character.
Example: Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan’s novel The Rivals. She was known for misusing words with humorous results. From mal- (bad) + apropos (fitting).
But then, just today, when checking in with Kottke, I found what I was looking for: the word aptronym, which was apparently coined by a guy named Franklin P. Adams, and which will do very nicely, I think.
Then, when I went back to check on the “charactonym” email, I saw that it, too, had mentioned aptronym:
A related word is aptronym, a name that’s especially suited to one’s profession, e.g. Sally Ride, the astronaut.
But the example was not too good, and I missed it. In any case, I can rest easy now, having solved another of life’s mysteries. Rejoice with me.
Patrick • Words • 10/22/05 • 1 comments
Comments
Dad • 10/23/05 • 9:28 AM:For years, a woman names Mary Ann Madden ran the “New York Magazine Competition” for which readers would submit various types of witty responses to mostly literary requests. For example, she asked people to provide the first sentence to an obviously bad novel, or any number of other silly exercises.
One contest, without using the word, asked for aptronyms, In talking about it with Jim Hayden, who lived in New York at the time, I mentioned Justin Case as a good name for a lawyer. Jim later submitted the name, but changed his profession to insurance salesman. I think it got honorable mention.
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