It is a neologism for a person's surname or first name that has some relation to their appearance, their occupation, their history. Sometimes it appears as 'aptonym', or its interpretation 'characteronym', although in Spanish there is already 'ipsónimo' which has a broader meaning but perfectly includes proper nouns. The origin is in the English aptronym, a play on the word patronym ("patronymic") with apt ("fit, with aptitude for something"). See inaptronym .
