# Why do we refer to realtors as "Realtors"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166 "2016-10-20T19:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TXSlug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@TXSlug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXSlug)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/1 "2016-10-20T19:25:08Z")
How did realtors convince everyone that they are actually “Realtors”? As far as I’m aware, we don’t treat any other professionals (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.) as worthy of proper nouns. And, no offense to realtors, but they hardly seem like the most likely candidates for such an honorific. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/2 "2016-10-20T19:30:56Z")
[Previous thread that probably answers your questions.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=535060&highlight=Realtors) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/3 "2016-10-20T21:01:32Z")
Real estate brokers who are member of the National Association of Realtors, who coined the term realtor in 1916 and patented it in 1949, are the only people legally entitled to call themselves Realtors… Just as anyone selling ice cream from a push cart cannot call himself a Good Humor Man. The word “realtor” is not valid in Scrabble, because it is recognized as a trade name. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/4 "2016-10-20T22:21:15Z")
A trade name only–huh. I wonder how long that will last. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/5 "2016-10-20T22:28:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > A trade name only–huh. > > I wonder how long that will last. 100 years and counting. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/6 "2016-10-20T22:46:23Z")
Prior to retiring the NAR was a client… As supplier, and it you valued he relationship, you pronounced the name correctly. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/7 "2016-10-20T22:51:00Z")
We don’t have them over here - we call them Estate Agents. Properly they are Real Estate Agents but the ‘real’ got dropped somewhere. They are considered only slightly more honest and trustworthy than politicians and bankers. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/8 "2016-10-21T00:14:52Z")
Many refer to them as [Realators](http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/commentary/article/2012/01/glad-be-real-tor). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/9 "2016-10-21T01:50:06Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Real estate brokers who are member of the National Association of Realtors, who coined the term realtor in 1916 and patented it in 1949, Registered trademark, not patent. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/10 "2016-10-21T02:08:29Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > We don’t have them over here - we call them Estate Agents. Properly they are Real Estate Agents but the ‘real’ got dropped somewhere. They are considered only slightly more honest and trustworthy than politicians and bankers. Nitpick: they were never “real estate agents” in BrE; they were estate agents or land agents, and their role was to manage a landowner’s landed estate - collecting rents, inspecting properties, negotating renewals of leases, dealing with tenants, that kind of thing, on behalf of the landlord. They would also act in the sale of land out of a larger estate, or in the sale of an entire estate, when that arose. In the late nineteenth century they moved increasingly into the business of acting in the sale of land, responding to the decline of the landed estates, and the rise of home ownership. “Real estate”, as distinct from personal estate, was a term used by lawyers. It became attached to the estate agency profession in the 19th century in AmE, but never really in BrE. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/11 "2016-10-21T02:18:01Z")
In the U.S., 1. All Realtors are real estate agents. 2. Not all real estate agents are Realtors. So it is best to use the generic term “real estate agent” rather than “Realtor.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/12 "2016-10-21T02:37:56Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Many refer to them as [Realators](http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/commentary/article/2012/01/glad-be-real-tor). Like nearly everyone I’ve ever heard say the word. I was in my early thirties before I heard someone say real-tor and I wondered why they were saying it that way. It still sounds ridiculous to me. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/13 "2016-10-21T03:03:35Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Many refer to them as [Realators](http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/commentary/article/2012/01/glad-be-real-tor). Drives me batsh!t. I proofread something for someone where she spelled it “realitor,” in the same paper where she spelled liaison, convalesce, cauliflower, fuchsia, and turmeric all correctly. The mind boggles. ETA: My mother, who is a linguist, tried to explain to me that to pronounced vowels in a row are unusual in English, so words that have then tend to get mispronounced: “Realitor,” “Vetiman,” “Nucular,” “Rooned” (for ruined). Probably why Sarah Palin says “dill” when she means “deal.” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/14 "2016-10-21T03:44:59Z")
It’s worse than that. It’s not Realtor, it’s [REALTOR®](http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/handouts-for-customers/for-buyers/7-reasons-work-realtor) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/15 "2016-10-21T04:20:27Z")
Trademark or no, it seems pompous to me. Brag about your membership in the National Association of Realtors if you must, but expecting capitalization of your job title (if it doesn’t actually precede your name, like “Judge Smith,” “Doctor Jones” or “President Obama”) is just annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/16 "2016-10-21T07:11:19Z")
> [@TXSlug](#): > > And, no offense to realtors, but they hardly seem like the most likely candidates for such an honorific. Sometimes a brand is too successful for its owner’s good. It has very little to do with the brand’s worthiness. It’s not like Q-Tip brand cotton swabs were so great and wonderful that we bestowed that name on all cotton swabs as an honor. It just…happened. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/17 "2016-10-21T07:27:18Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > . . . the only people legally entitled to call themselves Realtors… Just as anyone selling ice cream from a push cart cannot call himself a Good Humor Man. If my real estate agent is not a Realtor, should I even care? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/18 "2016-10-21T08:11:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Trademark or no, it seems pompous to me . . . It seems synthetic and clumsy, which is a bit of a clue that it’s a trademark. The _-or_ suffix is usually used to construct an agent noun out of a verb: An actor acts An assessor assesses A doctor teaches (originally) A professor professes (originally) A conqueror conquers An administrator administers An auditor audits This pattern holds good even where it’s not obvious. An author initiates things or sets things in motion, from the latin _augere_. (“Inaugurate” is related.) A rector rules. A tutor watches over someone (from _tueri_, to guard). A pastor feeds or gives pasture. And so forth. But a realtor . . . reals? Realts? Realises? The Latin root is _res_, which is not a verb, or a word suggestive of action of any kind. It means “thing”, which is about as inert a meaning as you could find. So “realtor” looks like something put together by somebody who wants to sound vaguely official but has absolutely no feel for language. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/19 "2016-10-21T11:56:36Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The Latin root is _res_, which is not a verb, or a word suggestive of action of any kind. It means “thing”, which is about as inert a meaning as you could find. > > So “realtor” looks like something put together by somebody who wants to sound vaguely official but has absolutely no feel for language. So if you wanted an Anglo-Saxon derivative, you’d call them a “thingmonger”. Sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166/20 "2016-10-21T13:04:49Z")
I call 'em real estate agents or sleazebags, depending on mood and context. The term “Realtor” is used because of aggressive marketing by their lobby, reinforced by newspapers who needed the advertising money and wouldn’t have dreamed of offending the real estate people. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Trademark or no, it seems pompous to me. Brag about your membership in the National Association of Realtors if you must, but expecting capitalization of your job title (if it doesn’t actually precede your name, like “Judge Smith,” “Doctor Jones” or “President Obama”) is just annoying. Agreed. Protectionist crap like this (another example is the insistence of marketers that “Champagne” be capitalized and used only to describe the output of a particular wine region) should be mocked. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-refer-to-realtors-as-realtors/769166.md?page=2)