She said this:.

Marva Watkins in Chicago, Illinois, writes: What is your real last name?

Marilyn responds: It's "vos Savant," which was my mother's maiden name and is my own legal name. (My mother's maiden name is just as real as my father's boyhood name.) My maternal grandfather was Giuseppe vos Savant. Coincidentally, he married a woman named Maria Savant, my maternal grandmother. Growing up, I never thought about "Savant" being a word, too. I'm sure that people with the name "Miller" don't think about it, either! By the way, my mother changed her surname to my father's surname when she got married, which was traditional at the time. I use her name, and my brother uses his name.

https://parade.com/418148/marilynvossavant/marilyns-surname/

Nominative Determinisn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism

The "smartest person in the world" tag is a marketing push. It works with her name. It wouldn't work as well if she was named Marilyn Smith.

> The "smartest person in the world" tag is a marketing push.

It reflects some broad understandings of the 1980s and what we valued.

She wears a suit with shoulder pads. Dates Michael Douglas.

Again, it was the 1980s. That's how we rolled. Also, Falling Down.

Perhaps Bill Ackman was right about impact of a person’s name. I doubt it, but it’s an interesting observation.

like the surname "mason" or "farmer"

Per Wikipedia:

Marilyn vos Savant was born Marilyn Mach on August 11, 1946, in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents Joseph Mach and Marina vos Savant.

... so only 50% coincidence.

Fittingly it looks like informed choice.