The Joy of Nominative Determinism
Can the alignment of names and occupations involve more than mere coincidence? When I was in secondary school, our music teacher was called Mr Doe. We also had an art teacher named Mr Drewitt. As 13-year-olds, we found this amusing, though we regretted that Mr Hopkins was not a PE teacher and that Mr Cave taught history instead of geology.
A geography teacher at a nearby school was named Mr Forecast, and he actually taught meteorology classes. There are many more examples of fitting surnames, such as a surgeon named Dr Blood, a sailor called Mr Boatman, and a Lord Chief Justice called Sir Igor Judge.
While these examples entertain us, can such correspondences be anything beyond coincidence? In the Middle Ages, surnames often derived from occupations—Baker, Butcher, Carpenter, Weaver, and so on. But in modern times, could a surname actually influence a person’s career choice?
Surprisingly, there is a serious claim supporting this idea. The concept of nominative determinism suggests that people might be subconsciously attracted to professions, interests, or activities linked to their family names.
"Nominative determinism is the notion that people are subconsciously drawn to professions, interests and activities which relate in some way or other to their own family names."
Author’s summary: The hypothesis of nominative determinism argues that people’s surnames may subtly influence their professional paths, beyond simple historical coincidence.