Sunday, December 12, 2004
Aptronyms
American journalist and radio personality Franklin P. Adams (1881-1960) invented the term aptronym to mean a name that suits the nature or occupation of the bearer. I would have expected aptonym, but the epenthetic r was supposedly influenced by patronym. You get aptronym from patronym by switching the first two letters. There are many lists of aptronyms, but it is sometimes difficult to determine which names on these lists are genuine and which are made up. Here are two genuine aptronyms:
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- Eiichi Goto, name of a computer scientist. The term goto is a keyword in some computer languages.
- Wlodzimierz Stozek, name of a mathematician. The Polish word for cone (a geometrical solid) is stozek.
