Misnomer

 WORD OF THE DAY

misnomer / noun / miss-NOH-mer

Definition
1: the misnaming of a person in a legal instrument
2a: a use of a wrong or inappropriate name
2b: a wrong name or inappropriate designation

Examples
“The librarian of the Oregon Grotto, which is a bit of a misnomer because it’s focused on southern Washington, is the official keeper of approximately 600 tightly protected cave maps that reveal the secret locations of every documented cave in the region.”
 — Kate Robertson, The Guardian (London), 29 Mar. 2022

Spring/Summer 2023 collection was sunny, optimistic, and breezy—no doubt lead by its hero piece, the signature nightgown, a misnomer for the flowy, bohemian housedress that put the brand on the map.
— Lauren Caruso, Harper's BAZAAR, 12 Aug. 2022

Did You Know?
What’s in a name? Well, in some cases, a name will contain an error, a misunderstanding, or a mislabeling.
Historians have long noted that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire.
The Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed’s Hill.
And the Pennsylvania Dutch are in fact of German ancestry.
For such cases, we have the term misnomer, which can refer both to the use of an incorrect or inappropriate designation (as in “it’s a misnomer to call an orca a ‘killer whale’”) or to the designation itself.
Regardless, there’s no mistaking the source of misnomer: it comes from the Anglo-French verb mesnomer (“to misname”) and ultimately has its roots in nomen, the Latin word for “name.”