Unusual Surnames.....

DavidWW · Post by **DavidWW** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 7:57 pm

The phenomenon involving the human compulsion to take up a profession described by his or her surname has long been recognised and is know as Nominative Determinism.

A look at http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf108/sf108p14.htm is well worthwhile, plus many of the other 1,000 hits that a Google on "Nominative Determinism" produces!

See TS, see 'ra hings ye learn, but! $\:D/$

Davie

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:46 am

My Dentist in Singapore was Dr. Chew, just down the road from where we lived was a gardening service owned by Ho Yu Soon.

In Kenya the U.N. had a fraud officer called Shamp Poo (Honest).

JimmyH · Post by **JimmyH** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 12:28 am

Are you sure these names didn't come from the Terry Wogan show?
And by the way HK, I think that John Hill is a fine upstanding name that anyone would be proud to have [even though they call themselves Jimmy and their daughters are Upra, Doonra & Owra]
JimmyH

Post by **HeatherH** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:24 am

The John was fine,I couldn't believe they had christened a child Rocky .
HK (Also recently known as Guest)

Dz · Post by Dz » Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:57 am

HeatherK wrote:The John was fine,I couldn't believe they had christened a child Rocky .

There are worse things than naming someone "Rocky Hill".
The American habit of choosing a nickname that is a portion of the true given name - with a "y" or "ie" tacked onto the end - reached a low point with a guy I knew at Lowry AFB in Denver: Rocket Larson. His parents went a long way to ensure he'd be called "Rocky" - a quarter-century before the film of the same name.

(My daughter, Veronica, has been "Ronnie" all her life - yet she was always called "Vera" by the Germans when we lived there...)

.

Post by **HeatherH** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:31 am

Very true ,as the mother of Mandy,Meggie and Robbie I should know.But worse would be their other names:Nuggie,Boo and Spud.One of the benefits of Heather is you can't shorten it.You can mangle it though.
Hedder K

sporran · Post by **sporran** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:02 am

Hello all,

when I worked at HP, one of my team had occasion to speak to a chap in the USA called Chuck de Rock.

On a tangent, the tannoy at Amen Corner used to entertain us with calls for Paris Christodoulou, Audrey Cameron de Serrano, and Stephanie de Redenat-Strange (knew them all). One day, after a succession of such calls, "John Smith" was heard, and the huge open-plan area burst out into applause and cheers.

Paris worked in the stores, and used to go round the building with a trolley delivering incoming goods: yes, he was a "Greek bearing gifts".

Enough for one day.

Regards,

John

MaryB · Post by **MaryB** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:55 am

In my work we get some weird names - alas because of my job I am not permitted to post these names due to the DPA

mesklin · Post by **mesklin** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:43 am

From the time of the Crofters War of 1843, comes the name of one of the top British Civil servants...

Sir Edward Pine Coffin.

Just the person you want to meet when faced with War, Famine, Pestilence and Death - the 5th Civil servant of the Apocalypse!

[He was actually very sympathetic to the plight of the Crofters, so not a bad guy.]

Dave

HeatherV · Post by **HeatherV** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:59 am

HeatherK wrote:Very true ,as the mother of Mandy,Meggie and Robbie I should know.But worse would be their other names:Nuggie,Boo and Spud.One of the benefits of Heather is you can't shorten it.You can mangle it though.
Hedder K

Heather,

I spend a ton of time on the phone at my job .. here are a few more
varations:

"edder", "ether", "heater"

Best Regards,

Heatherv

TalkingScot.com

Unusual Surnames.....

Re: names

It's the parents I blame!