Eleanor Catton – and cats

I work for a magazine, whose offices are located somewhere in the English-speaking world. Some months ago I mentioned the word aptronym in the magazine. An aptronym is a name that is apt for the person who bears it, usually because of the connection between that person and their career. The examples I mentioned included crime writer Karen Slaughter, New York meteorologist Amy Freeze and the Sydney-based veterinarian Dr Melissa Catt, who treats only cats.

The connection between the name and the interests or the physical characteristics of the person with that name could be coincidental, but I wonder if some strange subconscious process has occurred, creating an affinity between that person and the thing denoted or connoted by their name. In a previous blog post I mentioned a woman whose surname was Grey, and how she bristled when a colleague said that she couldn't stand the "drab, grey walls" in the office. Ms Grey said she didn't think they looked too bad. I also mentioned a woman called Glenda Browne, who, whenever I saw her, always wore clothes in a shade of brown. 

The connection between Dr Melissa Catt and her feline customers is clear. But I've also noticed that people with names that contain the word 'cat' – usually at the beginning of the name – also seem to have a strong affinity with cats. ABC Sydney radio broadcaster Angela Catterns is an example. She has frequently said on her radio programs how much she loves cats.

So when I heard that the young New Zealander Eleanor Catton had won the 2013 Man Booker Prize, I felt very strongly that she would also be a feline fan. But how to quickly confirm this without writing an email to her and asking her a leading question? I didn't have to wait long. I checked out her Twitter account (twitter.com/eleanorcatton) a few months ago and discovered that on 17 September 2013 she wrote the following:

So there's your proof that she's not just your average cat owner, but a besotted fan of the feline. But do her parents share and would her father's ancestors have shared this attraction to cats? Does the name 'Catton' subconsciously work an inveigling magic upon the minds of those who own it, causing them to have an affinity for this creature? Or could a genetic factor be at work here? Were the Cattons so called because they worked with cats and the affinity was somehow inherited? 

It would be fascinating to find out if a psychological researcher or an onomastician (a person who studies names) has carried out any research into the connection between a name and the things in the world that it denotes or connotes. Do bearers of certain names feel a stronger connection than other people with the thing in the wider world that their name denotes or suggests?  So, for example, do people with the surnames Catt or Catterns or Catton feel more positively towards cats? If a person with that name became estranged from their family, would they feel more antipathy to cats than their family members who are still very much a part of the Catt, Catton or Catterns clans?

One thing before I end: check out photos of the Australian actor Paul Chubb, and of Australia's Chief Scientist, Dr ian Chubb. I wouldn't say that thse two famous Chubbs are particularly overweight, but their faces do indicate a certain jowly jolliness.