![Head Platon Glyptothek Munich 548](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Head_Platon_Glyptothek_Munich_548.jpg)
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a
polynym, a word which refers to one of many names for a person or an object. In other cases, it has been determined by the custom of the land or by some interested segment. In the case of historical figures, it may be the only one of the individual's names that has survived and is still known today.
Many
Afghans have no
surname. It is also common to have no surname in
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, and
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
.
Javanese name
Javanese people have various systems for naming. Some Javanese, especially those from older generations, have only one name and no surname. Others use their father's names as well as their own, in a similar manner to European patronymics. For exa ...
s traditionally are mononymic, especially among people of older generations.
Etymology
The word ''mononym'' is a direct
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word ''monṓnymo'' (μονώνυμο), which is a combination of the words ''mónos'' (μόνος, "single"), and ''ónoma'' (ὄνομα, "name").
Antiquity
![King Narmer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/King_Narmer.jpg)
The structure of persons' names has varied across time and geography. In some societies, individuals have been mononymous, receiving only a single name.
Alulim, first king of
Sumer, is one of the earliest names known;
Narmer, an
ancient Egyptian
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
, is another. In addition, Biblical names like
Adam,
Eve,
Moses, or
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
, were typically mononymous, as were names in the surrounding cultures of the
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
names like
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
,
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
,
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
, and
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
, also follow the pattern, with
epithets (similar to second names) only used subsequently by historians to avoid confusion, as in the case of
Zeno the Stoic
Zeno of Citium (; grc-x-koine, Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς, ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium (, ), Cyprus. Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 B ...
and
Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea (; grc, Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεᾱ́της; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Magna Graecia and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known ...
; likewise,
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
s or other biographic details (such as
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of origin, or another place name or occupation the individual was associated with) were used to specify whom one was talking about, but these details were not considered part of the name.
A departure from this custom occurred, for example, among the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, who by the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
period and throughout the
Imperial period
used multiple names: a male citizen's name comprised three parts (this was mostly typical of the upper class, while others would usually have only two names): ''
praenomen'' (given name), ''
nomen'' (clan name) and ''
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...
'' (family line within the clan) — the ''nomen'' and ''cognomen'' were almost always hereditary. Famous ancient Roman figures whom today we usually refer to with mononyms include
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
(Marcus Tullius Cicero) and
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...
(Publius Terentius Afer).
Roman emperors, such as
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
,
Caligula, and
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
, are also often referred to in English by mononyms.
Mononyms in other ancient cultures include
Hannibal, the
Celtic queen
Boudica and the
Numidian king
Jugurtha. However, the historical records of some of these figures are scanty or rely completely on the documentation of those outside the person's culture, so it is possible such figures may have had other names within their own cultures that have since been lost to history.
Medieval uses
Europe
During the
early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
, mononymity slowly declined, with northern and eastern Europe keeping the tradition longer than the south. The
Dutch Renaissance scholar and theologian
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
is a late example of mononymity; though sometimes referred to as "Desiderius Erasmus" or "Erasmus of Rotterdam", he was christened only as "Erasmus", after the
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
Erasmus of Formiae.
Composers in the and styles of late
medieval music were often known mononymously—potentially because their names were
sobriquet
A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...
s—such as,
Borlet,
Egardus
Egardus (; also Engardus or Johannes Echgaerd) was a European Medieval composer of ''ars subtilior''. Almost no information survives about his life, and only three of his works are known. A certain "Johannes Ecghaerd", who held chaplaincies in Bru ...
,
Egidius,
Grimace,
Solage,
Trebor.
The Americas
![Pocahontas by Simon van de Passe 1616](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Pocahontas_by_Simon_van_de_Passe_1616.jpg)
Between Columbus' arrival in the New World and the late 19th century, prominent
indigenous peoples in the Americas were mononymous. Examples include
Moctezuma (Mexico, 1398–1469),
Anacaona
Anacaona (1474?–1504), or Golden Flower, was a Taíno cacica, or female ''cacique'' (chief), religious expert, poet and composer born in Xaragua. Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Ayiti or Quisqueya to the Taínos (the Spaniar ...
(Haiti, 1464–1504),
Agüeybaná (Puerto Rico, died 1510),
Diriangén (Nicaragua, died 1523),
Urracá (Panama, died 1531),
Guamá (Cuba, died 1532),
Atahualpa (Peru, 1497–1533),
Lempira (Honduras, died 1537),
Lautaro
Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( arn, Lef-Traru " swift hawk") (; 1534? – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would conti ...
(Chile, 1534–1557),
Tamanaco (Venezuela, died 1573),
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
(United States, 1595–1617),
Auoindaon Auoindaon was the native chief of the Wyandot (Huron) at Quieunonascaranas, a settlement in Wendake near modern-day Midland, Ontario. He made alliances with and became quite fond of French priests serving as missionaries in the area, one of the m ...
(Canada, fl. 1623),
Cangapol (Argentina, fl. 1735), and
Tecumseh (United States, 1768–1813).
Uniquely, the Dutch-Seneca diplomat
Cornplanter
John Abeel III (born between 1732 and 1746–February 18, 1836), known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplant ...
received both a
Seneca-language mononym (Kaintwakon, roughly "corn-planter") from his mother and a given name and surname (John Abeel) from his father, and he used both throughout his life. His later descendants, such as
Jesse Cornplanter, used "Cornplanter" as the family name instead of "Abeel".
In the 19th century, most chiefs involved in the
Apache Wars had mononym birth names, and some replaced those with mononymous nicknames, such as
Geronimo (born Goyaałé),
Victorio
Victorio (Bidu-ya, Beduiat; ca. 1825–October 14, 1880) was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh (or Chihenne, often called Mimbreño) division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas, New ...
(born Beduiat), and
Cochise
Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...
.
Post-medieval uses
Since the medieval period, mononyms in the West have almost exclusively been used to identify people who already had surnames. These
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
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 name Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
.
In the 18th century, François-Marie Arouet adopted the mononym
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
, for both literary and personal use, in 1718 after his imprisonment in Paris'
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. It was stor ...
, to mark a break with his past. The new name combined several features. It was an
anagram for a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
ized version of his family
surname, "Arouet, l
j
une ("Arouet, the young"); it reversed the syllables of the name of the town, Airvault, where his father came from; and it has implications of speed and daring through similarity to French expressions such as "voltige", "volte-face" and "volatile". "Arouet" would not have served the 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 names, most famously the mononym Stendhal, adapted from the name of the little
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n town of
Stendal
The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region.
Geography
Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
, birthplace of the German art historian
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and foundin ...
, whom Stendhal admired.
In the 20th century, a fourth French writer,
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (author of ''
Gigi'', 1945), used her actual surname as her mononym pen name, Colette. Some French actors and singers have used as a stage mononym their given name or surname (
Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...
) or a name of a different origin (
Barbara).
Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, 1820–1910) was an early French photographer.
The controversial French physician and author
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the '' Pr ...
adopted, and was called by, the single name
Céline.
Elsewhere in Europe
![Franz Gareis - Novalis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Franz_Gareis_-_Novalis.jpg)
In the 17th and 18th centuries, most Italian
castrato singers used mononyms as stage names (e.g.
Caffarelli,
Farinelli). The German writer, mining engineer and philosopher, Georg Friedrich Philipp Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772–1801), became famous as
Novalis.
The 19th-century Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87), better known by his mononymous pen name
Multatuli
Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
(from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''multa tuli'', "I have suffered
r ''borne''many things"), became famous for the satirical novel, ''Max Havelaar'' (1860), in which he denounced the abuses of
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
in the
Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
).
The Dutch writer Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh (1882–1961) wrote under the pseudonym
Nescio (Latin for "I don't know").
The 20th-century British author
Hector Hugh Munro became known by his
pen name, Saki. In 20th-century Poland, the
theater-of-the-absurd playwright, novelist,
painter, photographer, and
philosopher Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period.
...
after 1925 often used the mononymous pseudonym Witkacy, a
conflation of his surname (''Witkiewicz'') and
middle name
In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname.
A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial.
A person may be ...
(''Ignacy'').
A number of visual artists, such as
Michelangelo,
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
,
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...
,
Caravaggio and
Rembrandt, are commonly known by mononyms. The modern Russian artist
Erté
Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials (, EHR TEH). He was a 20th-century artist and designer in an a ...
formed his mononymous
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
from the initials of his actual name, as did the Belgian comics writers
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...
and
Jijé.
Italian painter
Bernardo Bellotto
Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was th ...
, 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
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
), in those countries—Poland 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.
Royalty
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...
s and other
royalty, for example
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, have traditionally availed themselves of the
privilege of using a mononym, modified when necessary by an
ordinal or
epithet (e.g., Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
or
Charles the Great
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
). This is not always the case: King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has two names. 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
surnames.
In Japan, the emperor and his family have no surname, only a given name, such as
Hirohito, which in practice in Japanese is rarely used: out of respect and as a measure of politeness, Japanese prefer to say "the Emperor" or "the Crown Prince". Following an Emperor's death, but not his retirement, he is renamed according to the era of his reign. In India, the first six
Mughal emperors were known by just one name, adopted by each emperor upon his accession.
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
s have traditionally adopted a single,
regnal name
A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...
upon their
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
(except for
John Paul I and
II). The mononymous tradition reverted to form with the election and succession of Pope
Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
in 2005 and
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
in 2013.
Modern times
Mononym-normal
The Western practice of combining a given name (
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...
or
forename) with a family name (
surname) is not universal.
Surnames were introduced in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
only after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, by the country's first president,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as part of his Westernization and modernization programs. His own surname, Atatürk, which was bestowed by the Turkish parliament, means "Father Turk". Common people can be addressed semi-formally by their given name plus the title
Bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
or
Hanım (without surname), whereas politicians are often known by surname only (
Ecevit,
Demirel). Many Turkish sportspeople, especially football players, wear jerseys with only their first name (e.g.
Çağlar).
Mononyms are also common in Indonesia for
Javanese individuals, both prominent government figures such as former presidents
Sukarno and
Suharto and weightlifter
Triyatno.
Most Icelanders do not have surnames, only
patronymics
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
(sometimes
matronymic
A matronymic is a personal name based on the given name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. Around the world, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronymic surnames. In som ...
s), and they address each other by their given name in both formal and informal situations. One notable example is the musician
Björk.
Some
North American Indigenous people continue their nations' traditional naming practices, which may include the use of single names. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, where government policy often included the imposition of Western-style names, one of the recommendations of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was for all provinces and territories to waive fees to allow Indigenous people to legally assume traditional names, including mononyms. In
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, for example, it is now legally possible to change to a single name or register one at birth, for members of Indigenous nations which have a tradition of single names.
Asia
![Rekha in 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Rekha_in_2019.jpg)
In modern times, in countries that have long been part of the
East Asian cultural sphere (Japan, the Koreas, Vietnam and China), mononyms are rare. An exception pertains to the
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
(a common opinion being that there is no higher state authority to bestow the
family name () to the Emperor).
Mononyms are common as
stage names in the
entertainment industry, usually when the performer's legal name is not publicly known; e.g.,
Ayaka
, known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer 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.
B ...
,
Becky,
Gackt,
hide,
Hyde,
Mana
According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...
,
Kamijo,
Miyavi
, better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅, stylized as MIYAVI), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar.
He has been active since 1999, first as guitaris ...
,
Tsunku, and
Yui Yui may refer to:
People
* Yui (name), a Japanese name
*Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress
* Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States
Places
* Yui, Sh ...
. Additionally, Japanese baseball star
Ichiro Suzuki is widely known in both Japan and North America as "Ichiro". In Hong Kong, a few musicians are also known by mononyms, e.g.,
Janice Janice may refer to:
* Janice (given name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
* ''Janice & Abbey'', a reality TV series
* Processor codename of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android smartphone
* Janice, Łódź Voivodes ...
,
[All Janice Vidal albums are credited mononymously as "Janice".] Jin, and
Justin Lo
Justin Lo (, stage name ; born 1 July 1976) is a Hong Kong American singer-songwriter, actor and record producer working in Hong Kong.
Biography
Lo was born in Syracuse, New York, and moved to Hong Kong with his parents when he was two years ...
(who uses the Chinese mononym, ""). In
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, singers such as
BoA,
Shoo, and
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
are known by their mononyms.
Mononyms continue to be used in parts of India, especially the South.
Mayawati
Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...
, former
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, chooses to use only a single name. They are also used to resist
casteism
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...
, as surnames are generally a telltale sign of castes. Several Indian film personalities, such as
Biswajit
Biswajit Chatterjee (born 14 December 1936), known mononymously as Biswajit, is an Indian actor, producer, director, singer and politician known for his work in Hindi and Bengali cinema.
Early career
After films in Calcutta including ''Ma ...
,
Dharmendra,
Govinda
Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...
,
Kajol,
Pran,
Rekha
Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 fi ...
,
Irrfan, and
Tabu, are also mononymous.
Govindjee, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an Indian-American and an authority on photosynthesis, publishes his research under his singular name. In the northeastern state of
Mizoram, most people have a single name, mostly of four syllables (e.g., Lalthansanga, Thangrikhuma, Zorinmawia). Everyone also has a tribal or clan name inherited from their father, but they do not include it in their official name.
South Indian film actors and actresses have, since inception, adopted the practice of being known mononymously by their first names. In case of any resemblance, for professional purposes, they adopt a different given name, use a
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
surname, or use a fan-given title. This practice is reportedly to keep caste factors at bay. This norm is prevalent across languages. Some notable mononymous stars, among many others, include
Rajkumar,
Mammootty,
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...
,
Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...
,
Rajinikanth,
Balakrishna,
Asin,
Malashri
Malashri (born 10 August 1973) is an Indian actress. She has predominantly worked in Kannada films and was the topmost heroine in the 1990s. She has also worked in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Malashri was popular for playing diverse roles in wome ...
,
Darshan,
Sudeep
Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He i ...
,
Vijay,
Prabhas,
Yash,
Ramya,
Upendra,
Rambha, and
Sridevi.
Mononyms are also common in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, especially in
Javanese name
Javanese people have various systems for naming. Some Javanese, especially those from older generations, have only one name and no surname. Others use their father's names as well as their own, in a similar manner to European patronymics. For exa ...
s. In some cases, such as those of former Presidents
Sukarno and
Suharto, army general
Wiranto and footballers
Hariono,
Hermawan,
Zalnando
Zalnando (born 25 December 1996) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Liga 1 club Persib Bandung.
Club career Sriwijaya
Zalnando was born in Cimahi. He was included in the squad of Sriwijaya for 2016 Indonesia ...
and
Zulfiandi, the mononym is the full legal name. Other mononyms, such as
Rossa,
Chrisye and
Tohpati, are stage names taken from a nickname or are part of the full name.
Single names still also occur in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
and
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
. Most
Afghans also have no surname.
In
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, people usually address each other in informal situations by nicknames ( th, ชึ่อเล่น, translit=chue-len). 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. Many Thais have such a name, even the
royal family, and they are freely used in everyday life.
In
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, most people use either only one name or a combination of two personal names typically given by a Buddhist monk. There are no inherited family names, but instead, Bhutanese differentiate themselves with nicknames or prefixes.
Mononyms are common in Myanmar.
U Thant
Thant (; ; January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. He held t ...
, a Burmese diplomat, was the third
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
(1961–71). "U" is an honorific in the
Burmese language
Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the coun ...
, roughly equal to "Mr". "''Thant''" was his only name per local convention. In Myanmar, he was known as ''Pantanaw U Thant'', in reference to his hometown,
Pantanaw.
In the
Near East's
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
world, the Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said Esber (born 1930) at age 17 adopted the mononym pseudonym,
Adunis
Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, North Levantine: ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ar, أدونيس ), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, ...
, sometimes also spelled "Adonis". A perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, he has been described as the greatest living poet of the Arab world.
Other examples
In the West, mononymity, as well as its use by royals in conjunction with titles, has been primarily used or given to famous people such as prominent writers,
artists,
entertainer
An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms.
Types of entertainers
* Acrobat
* Actor
* Archimime
* Athlete
* Barker
* Beatboxer
* Benshi
* Bouffon
* Circus performer
* Clown
* Club Hostess/Host
* Co ...
s, musicians and
athletes.
Some persons, such as the artists
Vincent and
Christo
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...
, the sculptor
Chryssa
Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali ( el, Χρύσα Βαρδέα-Μαυρομιχάλη; December 31, 1933 – December 23, 2013) was a Greek American artist who worked in a wide variety of media. An American art pioneer in light art and luminist scu ...
and the singer-songwriter
Basia
Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska (Polish: , born 30 September 1954), better known as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. She began singing professionally in various Polish ban ...
, have had polynymous names that were unwieldy, or unfamiliar and difficult to remember or to pronounce in the community in which they were 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
In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...
and so have used only a single part of their full names.
Some mononym stage names are the performer's
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...
(e.g.
Brandy,
Shakira,
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
,
Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
,
Usher,
Selena
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...
,
Cher,
Madonna,
Björk,
Kelis
Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...
,
Tiffany,
Zendaya
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...
,
Normani
Normani Kordei Hamilton ( ; born May 31, 1996) is an American singer and dancer. She auditioned as a solo act for the American television series ''The X Factor'' in 2012, after which she became a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which wen ...
). Others may be the performer's
middle name
In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname.
A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial.
A person may be ...
(e.g.
Rihanna,
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
,
Kennedy) or
surname (e.g.
Teller,
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
,
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.
The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' sta ...
,
Morrissey,
Feist). Some mononym stage names are invented (e.g.
Eminem,
Future,
Lorde), adopted words (e.g.
Capucine, French for "
nasturtium", and
Halsey, a street in Brooklyn) or nicknames (e.g.,
Sting,
Bono,
Fergie,
Ye,
JoJo). Musicians from non-Anglophone backgrounds may use an anglicized version of their given name (e.g.
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
) or surname (eg.
Sori)
Others are simply known by their surname such as
Hitchcock. This extended into Hollywood, for example with "Bogie and Bacall" referencing husband and wife acting contemporaries,
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) and
Lauren Bacall (1924-2014),
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
and
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
to name a few.
In
Lusophone
Lusophones ( pt, Lusófonos) are ethnic group, peoples that speak Portuguese language, Portuguese as a native language, native or as common second language and nations where Portuguese features prominently in society. Comprising an estimated 270 m ...
countries such as Portugal, Cape Verde and especially Brazil, footballers often adopt a mononym (e.g.
Pelé,
Nani,
Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People
Notable people known as Ronaldo include:
As ...
,
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...
,
Marta). In Spain, mononyms for football players are also common; they include the player's first name (
Xavi,
Sergi,
Raúl
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
), derivations of the player's surname (
Coro,
Guti
José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager.
During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid ...
), derivations of the player's first name (
Juanfran,
Kiko), diminutives (
Juanito
Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include:
Professional footballers
* Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward
* Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forwa ...
,
Mista) and nicknames (Míchel (footballer, born 1963), Michel, Arteaga (footballer, born 1969), Arteaga, Arzu (footballer), Arzu). Because a large number of Spaniards have the same surnames (García, Pérez, López, Hernández), the use of mononyms makes it easier to distinguish between the many Garcías and Pérezes on each team. Mononyms are occasionally used by players from other countries, for example the Venezuelan Miku (footballer), Miku, the Ivorian Gervinho and the Serbian-born American Preki. Mononyms can be seen in other sports in these countries, with examples including Brazilian basketball players Hortência Marcari, Hortência and Nenê.
In Brazil, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is known as "Lula", a nickname he officially added to his full name. Such mononyms, which take their origin in
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...
s,
surnames or
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
s, are used because Portuguese names tend to be rather long.
The American writer of non-fiction and fiction Rodney William Whitaker (1931–2005) is best known for some novels that he wrote under a mononym
pen name, Trevanian. The Armenian-Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh was commonly known as "Karsh of Ottawa".
The comedian and illusionist
Teller, the silent half of the duo Penn & Teller, legally changed his original polynym, Raymond Joseph Teller, to the mononym "Teller" and possesses a United States passport issued in that single name.
![Chyna at Slim-Fast Fashion Show 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Chyna_at_Slim-Fast_Fashion_Show_1.jpg)
The professional wrestler The Ultimate Warrior, Warrior (born James Hellwig) legally changed his name to the mononym "Warrior" in an effort to boost his standing in a trademark dispute with his employer, the WWE, World Wrestling Federation. His children now use the Warrior name (as opposed to Hellwig) as their surname. Chyna did likewise when the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., now-WWE attempted to restrict her use of the name in pornographic titles; reports conflict as to whether she changed it back to her birth name, Joan Laurer, before she died.
The great British pianist Solomon Cutner (1902–1988) was worldwide known professionally as Solomon.
While some have chosen their own mononym, others have mononyms chosen for them by the public. Oprah Winfrey, famed American talk show host, is usually referred to by only her first name, Oprah. The public has referred to President George W. Bush by the mononym "Dubya" (eye dialect of "W"), to distinguish him from his father, President George H.W. Bush, George (H.W.) Bush.
Both mechanisms contributed in the case of Hillary Clinton, who has been called and has publicly called herself "Hillary". Peter Funt, of ''Candid Camera'', wrote in a February 21, 2007 ''The New York Times, New York Times'' op-ed piece, "The Mononym Platform": "Someone has apparently decided that Mrs. Clinton will be the first major single-name candidate since 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower, 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, Beyoncé and Cher, Mrs. Clinton's site proclaimed: 'Today, Hillary took the first step...'"
The Mononym Platform
''New York Times'' Examples of mononyms also exist in modern popular culture. For instance, some characters on the NBC television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' are referred to only by their last names as a mononym, most prominently: Cosmo Kramer, Kramer, played by Michael Richards and Newman (Seinfeld), Newman, played by Wayne Knight. Newman's name is clearly a true mononym, in that his first name is never used or even revealed. Kramer's first name, Cosmo, is revealed to the other characters and the audience, and so his name could be seen as less of a mononym. However, this does not occur until the show's sixth season, and after the revelation he is still referred to as Kramer. Additionally, on the ABC Studios, ABC television sitcom Home Improvement (TV series), ''Home Improvement'', the character Wilson, played by Earl Hindman, a next-door neighbor of the central characters, is only referred to as Wilson. His full name, Wilson Wilson Jr., is not revealed until the fourth season.
See also
* List of legally mononymous people
* List of one-word stage names
* List of pseudonyms
* Nymwars
Notes
References
Bibliography
*''Encyclopedia Americana'', Danville, CT, Grolier, 1986 ed., .
*''Encyklopedia Polski'' (Encyclopedia of Poland), Kraków, Wydawnictwo Ryszard Kluszczyński, 1996, .
*Richard Holmes (biographer), Richard Holmes, "Voltaire's Grin", ''New York Review of Books'', November 30, 1995, pp. 49–55.
*Richard Holmes (biographer), Richard Holmes, ''Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer'', New York, HarperCollins, 2000.
*William Smith (lexicographer), ''Dictionary of the Bible: Comprising Its Antiquities...'', 1860–65.
*Peter Wetzler, ''Hirohito and War: Imperial Tradition and Military Decision-Making in Prewar Japan'', University of Hawaii Press, 1998, .
External links
*Peter Funt,
The Mononym Platform
, ''The New York Times'', February 21, 2007.
Penn & Teller FAQ (Internet Archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mononymous person
Human names