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NOMINATIVE determinism is the name given by the late C. R. Cavonius, of the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors in Dortmund, Germany, to the notion that names influence occupations (17 December 1994). He was inspired by Jen Hunt, who wrote in The Psychologist that "Authors gravitate to the area of research which fits their surname" (5 November 1994). She had cited an article on incontinence in the British Journal of Urology by A. J. Splatt and D. Weedon (vol 49, p 173).
Since then, the phenomenon has garnered mentions in science blogs, magazines and newspapers – and, inevitably, randomnesses such as the column in The Times from 23 January this year, in which Caitlin Moran discussed "the nominative determinism breaks of having ...
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