Names Can Influence You
People tend to work at something reflecting their name e.g. a hotel manager Warmbath, dog show judge Woof, eye surgeon Dr. Iball. New Scientist calls it “nominative determin-ism”, subconscious force at work. The magazine received a paper on incontinence sub-mitted by J.W. Splatt and D. Weedon. Editors drew attention to this and were inundated with mail. Britain’s weather office had a Flood, Frost, Thundercliffe and Weatherall. U.S. counterpart, David Storm.
An early English example was gross in several ways, fat Francis Grose, a Carew b 1730- 31 penned a Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785 et seq. We still see quotes from that work. In 1999 Bill Ditto was a physicist running the applied chaos lab at Geor-gia Tech. B. C.’s banana obsessed Ann Banana was televised on Wayne Rostad’s On the Road Again. Kate Frame of Vancouver was chosen late ‘98 from 1,000 applicants to preserve art treasures in five of Britain’s historic palaces. In Pembroke. Ont., Gregory Paul Splinter was founding president of a lumber mill, his father Don the manager. Alison Woodley belongs to Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society. Professor David M. Bird was director, avian science & conservation centre, McGill.
Russell Ash and Brian Lake in Bizarre Books, say authors are no less so, beginning with Jane Arbour’s The Cypress Garden. In this vein, G. M. Flood did Sewage Treatment & Disposal, John Goodbody an Illustrated History of Gymnastics. Others: Paula Gosling’s Running Duck and Norman Knight’s Chess Pieces. Grace of God by A. Lord, Riches & Poverty by L.G. Chiosa Money, Rev. E. L. D. Pepper’s Spices from the Lord’s Garden, and The Preacher by W. Chappell provide us elevated topics.
Save for Catalogue entry Moore, one neglected area is the appealing name in surveys so dear to marketers. London Zoo had pictures of warm ‘n’ fuzzies shown visitors and, for a second round, labelled them. Diana Monkey rose to sixth place from 18th, Royal Python to 24th from 48th. Any name with pigeon, bat or fox as part of it plummeted as deemed pests. The pretty Southern Tomato Frog tumbled once its label was known; ugly Pallid Gerbil climbed. In public appeals for aid, impact of some name must be factored in.
Another influence may be at work although no research has been undertaken so far by onomasticians on where one’s name shows up in the alphabet. Anecdotal evidence seems to favour those with surnames between A and M. Being at the back of the line likely means you get wetter waiting in the rain but in other circumstances you’ll have more time to think. By the time a teacher got round to quizzing a W, I had the right answer ready. See also Ekenames.
Surnames are heirlooms – not mere words. Late Edward MacLysaght
It is with literature, as with law or empire – an established name is an estate in tenure, or a throne in possession. Edgar Allan Poe 1809-49
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