Sports and Surnames

Sports come in many kinds with venues, equipment and scoring; surnames come in many more. Common ground is our goal – if only in name. Namely, are there sports terms with surnames the same. Easy example: “Ball” is a common name and an article of sports. Another example, the sport of “Curling” sees the player send a “Stone” down an ice “Sheet” toward “House” (the target) where team mates can use a “Broom” to curve the path. Remarkably, all these terms are surnames. Similarly, a “Sailor” may “Row” a boat on the “Lake.” Each is a surname. Rowing is of course a sport.

Lots of sports, venues, equipment, and outcomes are also surnames. We made a list. Verification can be found on the WordNet.com dictionary. Many of the surnames will surprise you, but some are unusually rare such as one in 100,000 names. A score or outcome in many sports is called a “point,” which as the surname “Point” ranks 39,599^th in popularity.

Among the sports there are duplicate terms in our categories. For example, the surname “Ball” is also as a noun part of the equipment of many, many sports. The aspects or terms of sports includes players, events, venue, equipment, outcome

Sports (35): Archery, Baccarat, Baseball, Basketball, Boating, Bowling, Boxing, Bridge, Canoe/Kayak, Chess, Climbing, Croquet, Curling, Equestrian, Fencing, Fishing, Football, Gin Rummy, Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey, Karate, Lacrosse, Marbles, Racing, Rodeo, Rowing, Skiing, Soccer, Surfing, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Tug of War, Volley Ball. Dozens of other sports use similar equipment with similar scoring.

Now for the surnames...

Player/Event (44): Archer, Axe, Back, Boatman, Bowler, Bowling, Bowman, Boxer, Bridge, Chess, Cowboy, Cross, Curling, Dancer, Dash, Diver, Fielder, Fisher, Fly, Hopper, Huddle, Hunt -er, Hurdle, Jump, Leap, Lob, Pitcher, Polo, Race -r, Roper, Row, Runner, Sailor, Shank, Slice, Spearman, Spike, Spinner, Striker, Striker, Swimmer, Tennis, Walker, Wing.

Venue (26): Alley, Arena, Bar, Beach, Beam, Board, Bunker, Corral, Court, Field, Grass, Hard, Hill, Lake, Lawn, Mountain, Peak, Plane, Range, Ring, Rink, River, Sheet, Table, Track, Trail.

Equipment (55): Arrow,Ball, Base, Basket, Belt, Bishop, Board, Bolt, Bow, Box, Broom, Cap, Car, Card, Card, Chute, Corner, Cue, Dance, Dart, Foot, Hammer, Hand, Head, Hoop, Horse, House, King, Knight, Line, Mallet, Marble, Net, Oar, Pin, Pole, Queen, Quiver, Rapier, Rope, Shell, Ship, Shoe, Shoe, Skeet, Skiff, Spear/Javelin, Sport, Stick, Stirrup, Stone, Swing, Sword, Train, Trump.

Outcomes (15): Bottom, Count, Fall, Last, Lose, Loss, Medal, Place, Point, Score, Show, Straight, Tier, Top, Win.

Time (8): Clock, Dart, Pace, Pass, Quick, Speed, Race, Round.

Altogether, with a total count of 147, sports terms and surnames are far more intertwined more than we thought.

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