Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work.
This is a community for posting real-world examples of names that by coincidence are funny in context. A link to the article or site is preferable, as well as a screenshot of the funny name if it's not in the headline. Try not to repost, and keep it fun!
See I get why people have surnames like fisher and pilch but surnames like herring suggest they dveloped some sort of system where different fishermen had to focus on one particular species. Would suck to be the guy who is assigned 'carp.'
Salmon makes sense because maybe a river or lake fisher would be known by the salmon they sell.
But they did focus on one particular species, when fish were more abundant.
I'm not an expert but Old Joe Herring could perhaps have dibs on a particular herring-hiding shoal, and maybe his nets are knotted in a finer gauge than those made and used by Herbert Cod over by the reef. Whereas Charlie Tuna heads out to the deep and uses a hook and really strong line.
Or maybe Old Joe actually brings in mostly carp, but he LOOKS like a herring.
