Mononymous persons
Encyclopedia
The West
The structure of persons' names has varied across time and geography. In some communities, individuals have been mononymous; that is, each person has received only a single name. AlulimAlulim
Alulim was the first king of Eridu, and the first king of Sumer, according to the Sumerian King List, presumably making him the first recorded king in the world...
, first king of Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
, is one of the earliest names known; Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
, an ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
, is another. Later, Biblical names were typically mononymous, as were names in the surrounding cultures of the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
. Ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
names also followed the pattern, with second names only used to avoid confusion, as in the case of Zeno the Stoic and Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound".- Life...
.
A notable departure from this custom occurred among the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, who by the Republican
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
period and throughout the Imperial
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
period used multiple names: a male citizen's name comprised three parts, praenomen
Praenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
(given name), nomen
Roman naming conventions
By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...
(clan name) and cognomen
Cognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
(family line within the clan) — the nomen and cognomen being virtually always hereditary. Post-antiquity most of them are, however, mononymous in most contexts: examples are Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
(Marcus Tullius Cicero), Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
(Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus), Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
(Publius Vergilius Maro), Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
(Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) or Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
(Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis).
In other cultures the following can be named: Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and, further afield, Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
and Jugurtha
Jugurtha
Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a King of Numidia, , born in Cirta .-Background:Until the reign of Jugurtha's grandfather Masinissa, the people of Numidia were semi-nomadic and indistinguishable from the other Libyans in North Africa...
.
During the early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, mononymy slowly declined, with northern and eastern Europe keeping to the tradition longer than the south; an example is Edeko
Edeko
Edeko was for some time the chief of the Skirs. He was the father of Odoacer, who became magister militum in the Roman Army and king of Italy....
, the eastern chieftain whose son ruled Italy as Flavius Odoacer. By the end of the period, however, surnames had become commonplace: Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside or Edmund II was king of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. His cognomen "Ironside" is not recorded until 1057, but may have been contemporary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut...
, for example, ruled England, Brian Boru
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
was over-king of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Kenneth MacAlpin had united Scotland, and even in Scandinavia surnames were taking hold.
The Americas
When Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
arrived in the Americas most people had mononyms, a custom that survived as late as the 19th century (e.g., Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
, 1829–1909). Examples are Auoindaon
Auoindaon
Auoindaon was the native chief of the Wyandot at Quieunonascaranas, a settlement in Wendake near modern-day Midland, Ontario.In 1623, when he agreed to the building of a cabin for the Recollets at what was to be known as Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, Auoindaon became convinced that the Europeans...
(Canada, flourished 1623), Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
(United States, 1595-1617), Guamá
Guamá
Guamá was a Taíno rebel chief who led a rebellion against Spanish rule in Cuba in the 1530s.After the death of Spanish governor Diego de Velázquez there was a series of indigenous uprisings...
(Cuba, died 1532), Anacaona
Anacaona
Anacaona , also called the Golden Flower, was a Taíno cacica , sister of Bohechío, chief of Jaragua, and wife of Caonabo, chief of the nearby territory of Maguana, two of the five highest caciques who ruled the island of Hispaniola when the Spaniards settled there in 1492...
(Dominican Republic, 1464–1504), Moctezuma (Mexico, 1398–1469), Lempira (Honduras, died 1537), Gurutina (Costa Rica, fl. 1522), Diriangen
Diriangen
Diriangen was the legendary tribal leader of the Chorotegas who can rightfully be called the first resistance fighter of the Nicaragua. He fought against the Spanish in the 1520s, keeping them at bay for a time...
(Nicaragua, fl. 1520), Urracá
Urracá
Urracá was an indigenous Guaymí chieftain or cacique who fought effectively against the Spanish conquistadors. Captured at one point by conquistadors, Urracá managed to escape a Spanish bound ship and rejoin his own people, and continue leading the fight against the Spanish until his death in 1531...
(Panama, died 1531), Tamanaco
Tamanaco
Tamanaco was a native Venezuelan chief, who as leader of the Mariches and Quiriquires tribes led during part of the 16th century the resistance against the Spanish conquest of Venezuelan territory in the central region of the country, specially in the Caracas valley...
(Venezuela, died 1573), Petecuy (Colombia, fl. 1536), Atahualpa
Atahualpa
Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa , was the last Sapa Inca or sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire, prior to the Spanish conquest of Peru...
(Peru, 1497–1533), Taparica (Brazil, born c. 1465), Ancafilú (Argentina, died 1823), Lautaro (Chile, 1534–1557).
Post-medieval uses
Since the medieval period, mononyms in the west have almost exclusively been used to identify notable people who already had surnames. These nicknameNickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s were either adopted by the persons themselves or conferred by contemporaries.
France
Some French authors have shown a preference for mononyms. In the 17th century, the dramatist and actor Jean Baptiste Poquelin (1622–73) took the mononym stage nameStage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
"Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
".
In the 18th century, François-Marie Arouet took the mononym "Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
", for both literary and personal use, in 1718 after his imprisonment in Paris' Bastille
Bastille
The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of...
, to mark a break with his past. The new name combined several features. It was an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
for a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ized version of his family surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
, "Arouet, l[e] j[eune]"; it reversed the syllables of the name of a family château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
, "Airvault"; and it has implications of speed and daring through similarity with French expressions such as "voltige", "volte-face" and "volatile". "Arouet", on the other hand, would not serve the same purpose, given that name's associations with "roué" and with an expression that meant "for thrashing."
The 19th-century French author Marie-Henri Beyle used many pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
s, most famously the mononym "Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
", adapted from the name of the little Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n town of Stendal
Stendal
Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...
, birthplace of the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art...
, whom Stendhal greatly admired.
In the 20th century, a fourth French writer, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (author of Gigi
Gigi
Gigi is a 1944 novella by French writer Colette. The plot focuses on a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with the wealthy cultured man named Gaston who falls in love with her and eventually marries her....
, 1945), used her actual surname as her mononymous pen name, "Colette
Colette
Colette was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette . She is best known for her novel Gigi, upon which Lerner and Loewe based the stage and film musical comedies of the same title.-Early life and marriage:Colette was born to retired military officer Jules-Joseph...
".
Other European countries
The German writer, mining engineer and philosopher, Georg Friedrich Philipp Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772-1801), became famous as NovalisNovalis
Novalis was the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg , an author and philosopher of early German Romanticism.-Biography:...
.
The 19th-century Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87), better known by his mononymous pen name Multatuli (from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
multa tuli, "I have suffered [or borne] many things"), became famous for the satirical novel, Max Havelaar (1860), in which he denounced the abuses of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
in the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
(now Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
). In 2002 Multatuli was proclaimed by the Society for Dutch Literature to have been the most important Dutch writer of all time.
The 20th-century British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Hector Hugh Munro became known by his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
, "Saki
Saki
Hector Hugh Munro , better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy...
".
In 20th-century Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, the theater-of-the-absurd playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, novelist, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, photographer and philosopher Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz after 1925 often used the mononymous pseudonym "Witkacy", a conflation of his surname (Witkiewicz) and middle name
Middle name
People's names in several cultures include one or more additional names placed between the first given name and the surname. In Canada and the United States all such names are specifically referred to as middle name; in most European countries they would simply be regarded as second, third, etc....
(Ignacy).
In the Soviet Union, both Lenin and Stalin are assumed names, for similar reasons. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov adopted the pen name Lenin while publishing anti-Tsarist propaganda in the 1910s, and was generally known as Lenin (or sometimes V.I. Lenin) after rising to power in the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. Iosef Besarionis dze Jughashvili assumed the pen name Stalin, from the Russian word for "steel", and was also generally known by this name after the revolution.
A number of visual artists, such as Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Tintoretto
Tintoretto
Tintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
and Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
, are commonly known by mononyms. The modern Russian artist Erté formed his mononymous pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
from the initials of his actual name, as did the Belgian comics writers Hergé
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
and Peyo
Peyo
Pierre Culliford , known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist, perhaps best known for the creation of The Smurfs comic strip.-Biography:...
.
Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto was a Venitian urban landscape painter or vedutista, and printmaker in etching famous for his vedutes of European cities . He was the pupil and nephew of Canaletto and sometimes used the latter's illustrious name, signing himself as Bernardo Canaletto...
, who is now ranked as an important and original painter in his own right, traded on the mononymous pseudonym of his uncle and teacher, Antonio Canal (Canaletto
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...
), in those countries—Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Germany—where his famous uncle was not active, calling himself likewise "Canaletto." Bellotto remains commonly known as "Canaletto" in those countries to this day.
Mononymity was represented in photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, from that art's infancy, by Nadar
Nadar (photographer)
Félix Nadar was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon , a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist. Some photographs by Nadar are marked "P. Nadar" for "Photographie Nadar" .-Life: born in April 1820 in Paris...
(Gaspard-Félix Tournachon).
North America
The American writer of non-fiction and fiction, Rodney William Whitaker (1931–2005), is best known for some novels that he wrote under the mononym pen namePen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
, "Trevanian
Trevanian
Rodney William Whitaker was an American film scholar and writer who wrote several successful novels under the pen name Trevanian. Whitaker also published works as Nicholas Seare, Beñat Le Cagot and Edoard Moran...
". The Armenian-Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh
Yousuf Karsh
Yousuf Karsh, CC was a Canadian photographer of Armenian heritage, and one of the most famous and accomplished portrait photographers of all time.-Biography:...
was commonly known as "Karsh of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
".
Royalty
MonarchMonarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s and other royalty
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
, for example Napoleon, have traditionally availed themselves of the privilege
Privilege
A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...
of using a mononym, modified when necessary by an ordinal or descriptor (e.g., Queen Elizabeth II). While many European royals have formally sported long chains of names, in practice they have tended to use only one or two and not to use surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
. In Japan, the emperor and his family have no surname, only a given name, such as Hirohito
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
, which in practice is rarely used: out of respect and as a measure of politeness, Japanese prefer to say "the Emperor" or "the Crown Prince." In India, the first six Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
emperors were known by just one name, adopted by each emperor upon his accession.
Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s have traditionally adopted a single name on their election.
Countries where mononyms are normal
The western style of having both a family name (surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
) and a given name (Christian name or forename) is far from universal.
- Surnames were only introduced in TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
after World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918... - It is very common in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, especially in the south, for people to have only one name. - Mononyms are also common in Indonesia, especially on Java, both for members of the ruling class such as SukarnoSukarnoSukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
and Suharto and for commoners such as RossaRossa (singer)Rossa Roslaina Sri Handayani , popularly known mononymously as Rossa, is an Indonesian singer.-Career:...
.
In Asia
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and China itself), mononyms are rare. A notable exception pertains to the Emperor of Japan
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
. Mononyms are, however, common as stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s in the Japanese entertainment industry, usually when the performer's legal name is not publicly known; e.g., Ayaka
Ayaka
is a Japanese female singer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009.-2006:...
, Becky, Gackt
Gackt
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer....
, hide
Hide (musician)
, better known by his stage name hide , was a popular Japanese musician. He was primarily known for his work as lead guitarist of the heavy metal band X Japan from 1987 to 1997...
, Hyde, Mana
Mana (musician)
Mana is a Japanese musician and fashion designer, best known for his role as leader and guitarist of the visual kei band Malice Mizer. His clothing label, Moi-même-Moitié, helped popularize Japan's Gothic Lolita fashion movement. Mana is currently working on his solo project Moi dix...
, Miyavi
Miyavi
, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese visual kei musician. His work as guitarist for Dué le Quartz and his successful solo career have established him as an accomplished musician in the Japanese music scene.- Early life :...
, Tsunku
Tsunku
, better known professionally as , is a prolific Japanese record producer, songwriter, and vocalist.He is best known for having two major roles in the Japanese music landscape: first as the lead singer of the popular rock group Sharam Q, and now as the producer, primary composer, lyricist and main...
, and Yui
Yui (singer)
, stylized as YUI, is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, and radio personality. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she played live at various locations in her home town before being noticed by Sony Music Japan when she was 17 and released her debut single months later...
. Also, Japanese baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro Suzuki
, usually known simply as is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for hits with 262...
is widely known in both Japan and North America simply as "Ichiro".
In Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
a few musicians are also known by mononyms, e.g., Janice
Janice Vidal
Janice M. Vidal, often credited mononymously as "Janice", is an award-winning female Cantopop, Hong Kong English pop, Jazz and R&B singer based in Hong Kong. She is the twin sister of singer Jill Vidal....
, Jin
Jin (rapper)
Jin Au-Yeung , who performs under the stage name MC Jin, is a Hong Kong hip hop rapper, songwriter, and actor. Growing up in the Miami, Florida area, and later living in New York City, he decided to reside permanently in his motherland, Hong Kong...
, and Justin Lo
Justin Lo
Justin Lo is a singer-songwriter, actor and record producer working in Hong Kong and China.-Biography:Lo was born in Syracuse, New York, and moved to Hong Kong with his parents when he was two years old. He studied at St Paul's Co-educational Primary School and St. Paul's Co-educational College....
(who uses the Chinese mononym, "側田"). In Korea, singers such as BoA
BoA
Boa Kwon , commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA, which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music"....
, Rain and Shoo
Shoo (singer)
Yoo Soo-Young , more commonly known as Shoo , is a South Korean singer, actor, and a member of the pop group S.E.S.. Although Korean, she lived in Japan for most of her early life. She got her start in the group by trying out in auditions for SM Entertainment...
are known by their mononyms.
A single name remains common usage in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, with revered statesmen such as Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
and Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
being referred to as "Bapu" and "Panditji" respectively. Mayawati
Mayawati
Mayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...
, current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
has chosen to use only one name. A professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, renowned for his research into photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
, uses the mononym "Govindjee"; he rejected most of his familial names in rebellion against the caste system in his native land. Several Indian film personalities such as Sridevi, Rekha and Rajnikanth
Rajnikanth
Rajinikanth is an Indian film actor, media personality, and cultural icon. He made his debut as an actor in the National Film Award-winning motion picture Apoorva Raagangal , directed by K. Balachander, whom the actor considers his mentor....
are known by their mononyms.
The people of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
popularly refer to the founding father of the country Mohammad Ali Jinnah as Quaid-e-Azam which in Urdu means ("Great Leader").
The people of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
call Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
Bongo-bondhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
("Friend of Bengal," in Bengali) because of his contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Mononyms are also common in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, especially on Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, both for members of the ruling class such as Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
and Suharto and for commoners such as Rossa
Rossa (singer)
Rossa Roslaina Sri Handayani , popularly known mononymously as Rossa, is an Indonesian singer.-Career:...
.
Single names still also occur in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. Most Afghans
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
have no surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
.
In Thailand, people usually address each other in informal situations by nicknames (chue-len or Thai: ชึ่อเล่น "play-name"). Given by parents or relatives in early childhood, these nicknames are typically one syllable (or worn down from two syllables to one). They may often be nonsense words or humorous, and usually have no relation to the person's actual name, although in some cases may be diminutive forms of their first name, like "Nok" for "Noknoi" which means respectively bird and little bird, the first used as nickname and the second being the first name. All Thais have such a name, even the royal family, and they are freely used in everyday life.
Surnames were introduced in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, as part of his westernizing and modernizing program, by that country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
. His own surname, Atatürk, which was bestowed by the Turkish parliament, means "Father Turk."
In the West
In the West, mononymity, as well as its use by royals in conjunction with titles, has been primarily a privilege of famousCelebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
persons such as prominent writers, artists, entertainers, musicians and sportsmen.
Some persons, such as the artist Christo
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...
, the sculptor Chryssa
Chryssa
Chryssa Vardea Mavromichali is a Greek American artist who works in a wide variety of media. An American art pioneer in light art and luminist sculpture widely known for her neon, steel, aluminum and acrylic glass installations, she has always used the mononym Chryssa professionally...
, and the singer-songwriter Basia
Basia
Basia Trzetrzelewska is a Polish singer-songwriter and record producer. She established a successful international recording career featuring characteristically Latin-flavoured jazz-pop crossover songs during the late 1980s and early 1990s and the late 2000s and 2010s, particularly in the United...
, have had polynymous names that were unwieldy, or unfamiliar and difficult to remember or to pronounce in the community in which they were currently active, but have not wanted to entirely change their names to something more familiar to the broad public at the cost of abandoning their sense of self-identification, and so have used only a single part of their full names.
Some mononym stage names are merely the performer's actual given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
(e.g. Shakira, Ke$ha
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
), while others may be the performer's actual surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
(e.g. Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
, Mantovani
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
, Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
). Some mononym stage names are invented (e.g. Cantinflas
Cantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...
, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
), adopted words (e.g. Capucine
Capucine
Capucine was a French actress and fashion model best known for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther and What's New Pussycat? . She appeared in 36 films and 17 television productions between 1948 and 1990...
, French for "nasturtium") or nicknames (e.g. Sting, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
).
In Lusophone
Lusophone
A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language, either as a native, as an additional language, or as a learner. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking"...
countries such as Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and especially Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, football players often adopt a mononym (e.g. Deco
Deco
Anderson Luís de Souza, OIH , commonly known as Deco, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Fluminense....
, Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
, Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira , commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year...
, Romário
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...
, Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
, Adriano
Adriano Leite Ribeiro
Adriano Leite Ribeiro , commonly known as simply Adriano, is a Brazilian footballer who played striker who currently plays for Corinthians...
, Nani
Nani (footballer)
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha , commonly known as Nani, is a Portuguese footballer currently playing as a winger for English club Manchester United in the Premier League and the Portugal national team...
, Eusébio
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...
). In Spain, mononyms for football players are also very common; they include nicknames (Michel, Arteaga
Arteaga (footballer)
Moisés García Fernández , aka Arteaga, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder.-Football career:...
, Arzú), derivations of the player's surname (Coro
Ferrán Corominas
Ferran Corominas Telechea , aka Coro, is a Spanish footballer who plays for Girona FC on loan from RCD Espanyol, as a forward.-Football career:...
, Guti), diminutives (Juanito
Juan Gutiérrez Moreno
Juan Gutiérrez Moreno, aka Juanito , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Real Valladolid as a central defender.A player of physical display, he is also noted for his excellent aerial ability...
, Pichi), or the player's first names (Xavi
Xavi
Xavier Hernández i Creus , commonly known as Xavi Hernández or simply Xavi , is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, where he has spent his entire 14-year career....
, Sergi, Raúl
Raúl González
Raúl González Blanco , known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for German club Schalke 04....
). Because there are a few very common surnames in Spain (García, Pérez, López, Hernández), the use of mononyms makes it easier to distinguish between the many Garcías and Pérez on each team. Mononyms are occasionally used by players from other countries, for example the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n Miku
Nicolás Fedor
Nicolás Ladislao Fedor Flores , aka Miku, is a Venezuelan footballer who plays for Getafe CF in Spain, as a striker....
and the Ivorian
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
Gervinho
Gervinho
Gervais Yao Kouassi , more commonly known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forwardor as a winger for English Premier League club Arsenal.-Youth career:...
.
Similarly the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
, is known simply as "Lula", a nickname he officially added to his full name. Such mononyms, which take their origin in given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
s, surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
s or nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s, are used because Portuguese names tend to be rather long.
In Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, it is common for cartoonists to take mononyms—for example, the Argentinians Quino
Quino
Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known by his pen name Quino is an Argentine cartoonist. His comic strip Mafalda is very popular in Latin America and many parts of Europe.-Early life and work:...
, Tute and Liniers, the Brazilians Angeli
Angeli (cartoonist)
Arnaldo Angeli Filho, more commonly known as Angeli, born August 31, 1956 in São Paulo, Brazil, is one of the most well-known Brazilian cartoonists....
, Henfil
Henfil
Henrique de Souza Filho , commonly known as Henfil, was a Brazilian cartoonist, caricaturist, journalist and writer, born in Ribeirão das Neves, Minas Gerais. He was a contributor to the satirical newspaper “O Pasquim”, which began publication in response to press censorship in Brazil following...
, Ziraldo and Jaguar
Jaguar (cartoonist)
Sérgio Jaguaribe , known as Jaguar, is a Brazilian cartoonist and comics artist. He was born in Rio de Janeiro.A Banco do Brasil clerk, Jaguar started sketching in a professional basis in 1952, when he offered the weekly magazine Manchete some cartoons loosely based on the work of the...
, the Chilean
Chilean people
Chilean people, or simply Chileans, are the native citizens and long-term immigrants of Chile. Chileans are mainly of Spanish and Amerindian descent, with small but significant traces of 19th and 20th century European immigrant origin...
Pepo
René Ríos Boettiger
René Ríos Boettiger , also known as Pepo, was a Chilean cartoonist, creator of the famous character Condorito....
, and the Mexicans Adis
Count Your Sheep
Count Your Sheep is a webcomic written and illustrated by Adrian Ramos, generally known as Adis. It was launched in 2003 on the Keenspace hosting service and became part of Keenspot a year later. It is also part of the Quicksketch Comics collective. As of January 2006, it had a hair under 10,000...
, Trino
Trino
Trino is a comune in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km northeast of Turin and about 15 km southwest of Vercelli, at the foot of the Montferrat hills....
, Magu, Kabeza, Rius
Rius
Eduardo del Río is a famous Mexican intellectual, political cartoonist and writer born in Zamora, Michoacán....
, Rictus and Tormentas.
The comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and illusionist Teller, the silent half of the duo Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...
, has legally changed his original polynym, "Raymond Joseph Teller", to the mononym "Teller" and possesses a United States passport issued in that single name.
Some individuals have selected their mononym themselves, when they have been able to do so, because of its distinctiveness. Others have come to be known by a mononym that has been applied to them by some segment of the public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
. Both mechanisms contributed in the case of Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, who has been called, and has publicly called herself, simply "Hillary". Peter Funt
Peter Funt
Peter Funt is most notable for his role as an actor, co-host, host, and producer for the hit TV show, Candid Camera. He worked for the Denver-radio station KHOW, ABC Radio Network, a writer for the New York Times, and various other media organizations throughout his career...
, of Candid Camera
Candid Camera
Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...
, wrote in a February 21, 2007 New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
piece, "The Mononym Platform": "Someone has apparently decided that Mrs. Clinton will be the first major single-name candidate since 1952, when Ike's P.R. gurus realized that 'Eisenhower' was tough to fit on a bumper sticker... In an apparent attempt to model her marketing on the likes of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Mrs. Clinton's site proclaimed: 'Today, Hillary took the first step...'..." In an interview with Hillary Clinton published in Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, the interviewer acknowledged receiving reader accusations of sexism whenever he referred to Clinton in print as "Hillary" (in contrast with male candidates who were almost always referred to by their last names), although he stated it was primarily to avoid confusion with her husband Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, famed American talk show host, is usually referred to by only her first name, Oprah. In Canada, Senator Nancy Ruth
Nancy Ruth
Nancy Ruth, CM is a Canadian Senator from Ontario. She was appointed to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Prime Minister Paul Martin, on March 24, 2005. While initially appointed as a Progressive Conservative, on March 28, 2006 she joined the Conservative caucus...
had previously dropped her family name of Jackman, using both of her remaining names together as a mononym instead of using "Ruth" as a family name. She is alphabetized under "N," not "R", on the Senate website.
Some famous computer programmers are recognized by just the use of their first name. Examples are Linus
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer and hacker, best known for having initiated the development of the open source Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator...
. and Ken
Ken Thompson
Kenneth Lane Thompson , commonly referred to as ken in hacker circles, is an American pioneer of computer science...
.
Some fictional characters are best known by a mononym (e.g. Borat, Flacco
Flacco
Flacco is a fictional character played by Australian author and political cartoonist Paul Livingston.Livingston created the character in 1985, when he got up on stage as part of a bet, and the audience mistook his nervousness for a comedic character...
).
Gallery
See also
- List of legally mononymous people
- List of one-word stage names
- List of pseudonyms
- One-name studyOne-name studyA one-name study is a project researching a specific surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree or descendancy...
, a project researching a specific surname
External links
- Peter FuntPeter FuntPeter Funt is most notable for his role as an actor, co-host, host, and producer for the hit TV show, Candid Camera. He worked for the Denver-radio station KHOW, ABC Radio Network, a writer for the New York Times, and various other media organizations throughout his career...
, "The Mononym Platform", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, February 21, 2007. - Penn & Teller FAQ (Internet Archive).