What’s in a name?

The phrase was coined by technology magazine New Scientist. According to ex-editor Roger Highfield, his publication had received a couple of examples of names matching jobs in the mid-1990s: "Then," he said, "came an article in The Psychologist, in which Jen Hunt of the University of Manchester stated: 'Authors gravitate to the area of research which fits their surname.' Hunt cited an article on incontinence in the British Journal of Urology by J W Splatt and D Weedon." Following the first law of magazine journalism – three mentions of anything constitutes a trend – a New Scientist columnist devised the term 'nominative determinism' to describe this phenomenon. In 2002, it went mainstream when a trio of learned gentlemen from the State University of New York – with nothing better to do – wrote a paper called 'Why Susie Sells Seashells by the Seashore'. They asserted that most people hold positive associations about themselves and prefer things that are connected to them. The authors called this "implicit egotism" and conducted a series of studies into it. They concluded that people are disproportionately likely to opt for careers whose labels resemble their names. For instance, people called Dennis or Denise are, apparently, over-represented among dentists. Of course, this isn't a universal rule – there is a real dentist in Nebraska with the Christian name Randall. His surname? Toothaker. After what I'll dub the scintillating seashells study, the floodgates opened and further examples of nominative determinism came thick and fast, many from the medical profession. People pointed out that Lord Brain was a noted neurologist. A US urologist had the unfortunate moniker – at least, in this context – of Dr Cockburn. And Professor Nutt was head of the psychiatry faculty at a top UK university. But other professions didn't escape unscathed. Duke Ellington's piano teacher was Marietta Clinkscales. And who wouldn't be delighted to employ a firm of solicitors from Leamington Spa called Wright Hassall? I have come across a few examples of nominative determinism myself. I saw an exhibition seminar a while ago where Mr Drinkwater talked authoritatively, and at some length, about potable water. Companies are not immune to nominative determinism. As my colleague, Max Gosney, has pointed out, there is a company called Tube and Bracket that supplies... that's right, tubes and brackets. However, there are also cases of what might be called "nominative anti-determinism". Famously, Cardinal Sin was a former Archbishop of Manila. And, last year I was contacted by Ms Icy Wu who was kind enough to invite me to the China Electric Heating Exhibition. Finally, shadow manufacturing minister Iain Wright – who made an appearance at our recent Best Factory Awards – may be Wright, but he comes from the political Left and some of his policies are (arguably) wrong. Do you have any more examples of nominative determinism in the manufacturing sector?