10 Funny Cases of Nominative Determinism

A lawyer named Soo Yu, a gastroenterologist named Daniel Butt, and a sprinter named Aaron Farr. What do these people have in common? They may all be examples of the phenomenon called nominative determinism.

Psychiatrist Carl Jung first suggested that people are drawn to professions that fit their name, and since then, the idea has intrigued medical professionals and psychiatrists for years. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology argued that people’s names did, in fact, influence their decisions in almost all aspects of their lives. So, while some people may not know it, their names could be their destiny.

Regardless of whether people consciously gravitate toward professions or hobbies that match their name, there are certainly many funny examples of it.

Related: 10 Things That Were Weirdly Renamed Because of a War

10 Tito Beveridge

In 2001, a new vodka brand won the double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. From there, Tito’s Handmade Vodka exploded in America and Canada, and in 2022, it became the leading vodka brand in America.

In 2014, the company ran into rough waters after being sued for false advertising. They alleged that the brand couldn’t call itself “handmade” because it was distilled in a large industrial complex and not bottled by humans. Luckily, the lawsuits were dismissed in 2016, and Tito’s has since continued to grow in popularity.

But there was never any doubt that the brand would succeed. How could it not, with a founder named Bert “Tito” Beveridge? Now, here’s a man who was born to create a new drink.^[1]

9 Sigmund Freud

This one might not make sense to many, but if you speak German, you’ll understand what’s coming.

Sigmund Freud, often hailed as the founder of psychoanalysis (a method of treating mental disorders that focuses on the unconscious mind and repression), was born in what was then the Austrian Empire. In German, “Freude” means “pleasure” or “joy.” Much of Freud’s studies revolved around the idea that humans are driven by the need to be gratified of needs, wants, and urges. This theory was called the “pleasure principle,” bringing us back to his surname.

Freud’s pleasure principle is one of his most famous contributions to psychology, but certainly not the only one. The man who brought us the phrase “Freudian slip” also thought that all young boys wanted to have sex with their mothers. Do with that what you will.^[2]

8 Sunny Hostin

Though she started her career as a federal prosecutor, Asunción Cummings Hostin switched to television by becoming a political commentator for Court TV. While there, she started going by the nickname “Sunny.”

She bounced around a few channels for years until she was finally offered a permanent position as a co-host for ABC’s morning talk show The View. In addition to receiving several Daytime Emmy Awards for her work, Hostin continues to live up to her name by anchoring true crime series “Truth About Murder with Sunny Hostin” and podcast “Have You Seen This Man?”

It’s too bad that the Emmys don’t have a Best Host category—she’d be a shoo-in.^[3]

7 Ed Currie

The Carolina Reaper was the hottest chili pepper in the world until 2023 when it was surpassed by Pepper X. Both peppers were bred and created by the founder and president of PuckerButt Pepper Company, Ed Currie.

Currie was interested in peppers his whole life but didn’t get serious about the food until the early 2000s when he started growing his own out of his yard. From there, he focused on making them as hot as possible for three reasons: “I like a challenge, It can be used medicinally… and if I can get it hotter, the economies of scale are greater.”

Guinness World Records recognized Currie in 2013 and 2023, boosting PuckerButt’s visibility but not fixing that oddball name. What a shame, especially with “Currie Industries” right there!^[4]

6 Igor Judge

Former Chief Justice of England and Wales Igor Judge was born in Malta in 1941, back when the island off the coast of Italy was still under British rule. He was interested in history and studied the subject at Cambridge before being called to the bar at the age of 22. He quickly rose through the judicial ranks before becoming, you guessed it, a judge of the High Court.

Though this naming coincidence is funny, the title didn’t last his whole career. The judge had his sights set on a bigger future, and after 30 years of serving as a judge (and getting knighted!), Judge became the Lord Chief Justice in 2008, a role that is essentially a representative of the judiciary to Parliament.

Judge died in 2023, 10 years after his retirement. His obituary notes that his surname did not influence his career choice.^[5]

5 Keith Weed

What better name for the president of Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society than Keith Weed?

This may be a case of nominative determinism, the theory that people gravitate toward things that reflect themselves—or their names. Weed leaned into his name by dropping some even more great coincidences: His mother’s maiden name was Hedges! “If a Weed gets together with a Hedges, I think they’re going to give birth to the president of the RHS,” Weed jokes.

Weed’s fame led the RHS to look into more cases of nominative determinism within its ranks. And they found quite a bit. According to one study in 2018, one in eight members of the RHS’s staff had a name associated with nature. There was a Moss, Heather, Berry, Shears, some Roses, and a Gardiner.^[6]

4 Daniel Snowman

In 2015, a Rhode Island College professor of physical sciences went viral thanks to a USA Today article promoting his interview. In it, the professor details the best kind of snow to use to make a solid snowman, the correct ratios to aim for, and other physics tips for making your kid’s new friend look as human-like as possible. While it’s a great interview, it’s not what the USA Today reporter was focused on. The professor’s surname was Snowman.

Daniel Snowman’s interview with Smithsonian Magazine inspired multiple other articles from American news outlets pointing out the funny coincidence. Snowman has actually penned multiple books, including one about polar exploration.^[7]

3 Thomas Crapper

This guy would not survive in a modern middle school.

Thomas Crapper is best known for founding the Crapper & Co. plumbing company. He was not, as many people believe, the inventor of the modern toilet. Flush toilets actually date all the way back to the 16th century, so Crapper had nothing to do with that. He did, however, help popularize flush toilets in England throughout the 19th century by educating the people about the importance of being sanitary.

So, does “crap” as slang for poop come from Crapper? Surprisingly, it does not. “Crap” was being used as slang for human excrement as early as 1846, meaning Crapper’s coworkers might have been laughing at his unfortunate name.

Though “crap” doesn’t come from the sanitary engineer, the phrase “going to the crapper” probably did. The story goes that when U.S. soldiers were in England during World War I, they saw toilet cisterns stamped with “T Crapper.” When they came home, they started using “crapper” as slang for bathroom, and the nickname stuck.^[8]

2 Usain Bolt

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the title “fastest man in the world” went to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. What are the odds?

It is low enough that some have their doubts it’s organic. In 2021, an article from Essentially Sports came out accusing Bolt of slightly changing his name in order to lean into the coincidence. While it’s true that Bolt’s official full name is a bit longer, Usain St. Leo Bolt, it doesn’t change the fact that “Bolt” is indeed the runner’s official surname.

Bolt loved sports as a child, especially cricket and football. Though he tried to continue in these sports throughout high school, his cricket coach noticed his speed and urged him to try track and field, which Bolt excelled in. So really, we have him to thank for one of the most famous instances of aptronyms in history.^[9]

1 Doctor Willard Bliss

This takes parental expectations to a whole new level. Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss was born in 1825. No, you didn’t read that wrong—his given name was Doctor. According to a newspaper article from 1881, the physician who named the young Bliss suggested naming him after himself, Dr. Willard, and that’s what they did. They probably expected that this unusual name would encourage their son to grow up and make some serious money. He did end up being a doctor, but his legacy is not so clean.

If you know anything about U.S. President James Garfield (which you probably don’t), it likely has something to do with his assassination. Garfield was shot in July 1881 but famously took two and half months to actually die.

Why the long timeline? You can most likely thank Dr. Bliss for that one. Bliss spent his early years as a doctor in Washington, D.C. (no pun intended) blissfully until his reputation was ruined due to his support of homeopathic medicine. In an effort to reinstate his legitimacy in the nation’s capital, he rejected the next big movement in Victorian-Era medicine—antiseptic methods, such as washing your hands and medical equipment.

So, while operating on Garfield, Bliss probed the wound with unsterilized fingers and instruments, which most historians today agree is what led to Garfield’s condition worsening. Then, while trying to extract the bullet, Bliss only succeeded in pushing it in further and upsetting the patient. After Garfield’s death, Bliss was widely blamed for malpractice. Even the man who shot the president argued at his trial, “The doctors killed Garfield; I just shot him.”^[10]