Ananym
An ananym is a word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type of anagram. There is a long history of names being coined as ananyms of existing words or names for entities related to the thing named by the ananym.
Examples
Click on a label to change the sorting.Ananym | Derived from | Explanation | Type | References |
20461 Dioretsa | asteroid | asteroid with retrograde orbit | astronomy | |
Livic | civil | trade newspaper, "a reflection of Civil Engineering" | work | |
Rekkof Aircraft | Fokker | Rekkof aircraft are based on Fokker designs | business | |
yrneh | henry | A unit of measurement for reciprocal electrical inductance. | electricity | |
daraf | farad | a unit of elastance equal to the reciprocal farad. | electricity | |
mho | ohm | A unit of electrical conductance which is the reciprocal of an ohm. Now known by its official SI name "siemens" although mho is still sometimes used. | electricity | |
Trebor | Robert | Source of the names of Trebor confectionery, Robert Trebor, and probably Trebor the composer | name and product | |
Trebor and Werdna | Robert and Andrew | Characters in computer game named after its programmers. | work | |
Seltaeb | Beatles | Beatles' merchandising company | business | |
Llareggub | "bugger all" | In Under Milk Wood | work | |
Harpo Productions | Oprah | Oprah's media company | business | |
Senim Silla | "all is mines" | "mines" is AAVE for "mine". | name | |
Navi | Ivan | Apollo program joke by Grissom | astronomy | |
Dnoces | Second | Apollo program joke by Grissom | astronomy | |
Regor | Roger | Apollo program joke by Grissom | astronomy | |
Erewhon | "nowhere" | A utopia. The digraph <wh> is not reversed. Many names within the book are also ananyms. | work | |
elgooG | reverse-spelling search engine | business | ||
Xallarap | parallax | Converse microlensing effect | term | |
Ebbot | Tobbe | Tobbe is the usual hypocoristic of Torbjörn, his real given name. | name | |
로꾸거 | 거꾸로 | Backwards for Korean for "backwards" | work | |
semordnilap | palindrome | A semi-palindrome | term | |
Xvid | DivX | A competitor | product | |
Trugoy | yogurt | He likes yogurt | name | |
Posdnuos | "Sound-Sop" | High school DJing nickname | name | |
MAPS | spam | reverse backronym | product | |
Alucard | Dracula | Borne by various characters derived from Dracula | work | |
Nimda | admin | The computer worm assumed admin-like powers. | product | |
Nogard | Dragon | Character in Alan F. Beck art series The Adventures of Nogard & Jackpot | name | |
Emirp | Prime | An emirp is a prime number that results in a different prime when its digits are reversed. | term | |
Adanac | Canada | Team is Canadian | organization | |
Nujabes | Jun Seba | His real name | name | |
Essiac | Rene Caisse | Its inventor | product | |
"Revilo" | Oliver Christianson | His real name | name | |
Adanac | Canada | Location | placename | |
"Airegin" | Nigeria | Composer Sonny Rollins is African American | work | |
Yarg | Gray | Couple who provided the recipe | product | |
Soma Records | Amos Heilicher | Owner | business | |
Nomad | Damon | Founder member | organization | |
Gnip Gnop | ping pong | Reminiscent of the other tabletop game | product | |
Trebloc, Mississippi | Colbert | Local family, whose name is found in many places; the reversal was "to avoid further repetition". | placename | |
"Nagirroc" | Corrigan | Owner's surname | placename | |
Strebor | Roberts | Founder/owner? | business | |
Ridan | Nadir | Named after another horse | name | |
Niloak Pottery | kaolin | Material used in products | business | |
Rellim Farm | Miller | Founder | business | |
Yellek, Ontario | Kelley | Trainmaster at the passing point | placename | |
Nomar | Ramon | His father's name | name | |
OAT | TAO | reverse backronym of its former name | organization | |
Kroz | Zork | Homage to older computer game | product | |
Ani Lorak | Karolina | Her real forename | name | |
Sevas Tra | "art saves" | work | ||
Azed | Deza | Crossword compiler named after Spanish inquisitor | name | |
Tesremos | Somerset | His middle name | name | |
Sualocin | Nicolaus | Niccolò Cacciatore's name Latinized and reversed | astronomy | |
Rotanev | Venator | Niccolò Cacciatore's name Latinized and reversed | astronomy | |
Senrab | Barnes | After Senrab Street, after Barnes Street | organization | |
Xamax | Max | Founder, backwards and forwards | organization | |
C. W. Ceram | K. W. Marek | Surname Latinised and reversed | name | |
Allerednic | Cinderella | A "riches to rags" tale as opposed to Cinderella's rags to riches. Used by Jonathan Gershuny of high-achieving women whose careers stall after marriage. | term | |
Llamedos | sod 'em all | in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels | placename | |
Nevaeh | Heaven | feminine name | name | |
Гярб вечнълс | Слънчев бряг | Bulgarian alphabet ananym | placename | |
Namyats | Sam Stayman| Stayman | Bridge convention invented by Stayman, who also invented the Stayman convention. | term | |
Adaven | Nevada | ghost town | placename | |
Etnaviv | Vivante | open-source driver for Vivante GPU | product | |
Lima | Mali | open-source driver for ARM Mali GPU | product | |
Namor | Roman | Comic book character whose creator wrote down noble-sounding names backwards and thought Roman/Namor looked the best | name | |
Eivets Rednow | Stevie Wonder | Music album named from its artist | work | |
Yen Sid | Disney | The powerful sorcerer in Fantasia, whose apprentice Mickey Mouse causes mayhem after borrowing his master's hat. | name |