Stigler's law of eponymy

Stigler's law of eponymy states simply that no discovery in science is ever named for its primary originator. There are many examples of this throughout science, including the biomedical sciences.

Examples

• Crohn disease
• Conn syndrome
• foramen of Monro
• Job syndrome
• Plummer–Vinson syndrome
• Rotter nodes
• Valsalva maneuver

Exceptions

• the Seldinger technique was named after Sven-Ivar Seldinger and seems to be a rare example of something being named after its actual originator

History and etymology

Stephen M Stigler (fl. 2020), an American economist at the University of Chicago, first posited his law in an article in 1980 . He was the first to admit that this "law" was self-consistent in that other individuals had previously stated similar sentiments!