Mononym

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A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person.

A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains common in modern societies such as in Afghanistan,^[1] Bhutan, Indonesia (especially by the Javanese), Myanmar, Mongolia, Tibet,^[2] and South India.

In other cases, a person may select a single name from their polynym or adopt a mononym as a chosen name, pen name, stage name, or regnal name. A popular nickname may effectively become a mononym, in some cases adopted legally. For some historical figures, a mononym is the only name that is still known today.

Etymology

The word mononym comes from English mono- ("one", "single") and -onym ("name", "word"), ultimately from Greek mónos (μόνος, "single"), and ónoma (ὄνομα, "name").^[a][b]

Antiquity

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, is another. In addition, Biblical names like Adam, Eve, Moses, or Abraham, were typically mononymous, as were names in the surrounding cultures of the Fertile Crescent.^{[citation needed]}

Mononyms in other ancient cultures include Hannibal, the Celtic queen Boudica, and the Numidian king Jugurtha.

Medieval uses

Europe

During the

Composers in the ars nova and ars subtilior styles of late medieval music were often known mononymously—potentially because their names were sobriquets—such as Borlet, Egardus, Egidius, Grimace, Solage, and Trebor.^[5]

The Americas

Naming practices of

Native Americans from the 15th through 19th centuries, whose names are often thinly documented in written sources, are still commonly referenced with a mononym. Examples include

Prominent Native Americans having a parent of European descent often received a European-style polynym in addition to a name or names from their indigenous community. The name of the Dutch-Seneca diplomat Cornplanter is a translation of a Seneca-language mononym (Kaintwakon, roughly "corn-planter"). He was also called "John Abeel" after his Dutch father. His later descendants, including Jesse Cornplanter, used "Cornplanter" as a surname instead of "Abeel".^{[citation needed]}

Post-medieval uses

Since the medieval period, mononyms in the West have almost exclusively been used to identify people who already had surnames. These nicknames were either adopted by the persons themselves or conferred by contemporaries.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In the 18th century, François-Marie Arouet adopted the mononym Voltaire, for both literary and personal use, in 1718 after his imprisonment in Paris' Bastille, to mark a break with his past. The new name combined several features. It was an anagram for a Latinized version (where "u" become "v", and "j" becomes "i") of his family surname, "Arouet, l[e] j[eune]" ("Arouet, the young"); it reversed the syllables of the name of the town his father came from, Airvault; 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".^[6]

The 19th-century French author

The controversial French physician and author Louis-Ferdinand Céline adopted, and was called by, the single name Céline.^{[citation needed]}

Elsewhere in Europe

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.^{[citation needed]}

The 19th-century Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87), better known by his mononymous pen name Multatuli (from the Latin 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 in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).^{[citation needed]}

The Dutch writer Jan Hendrik Frederik Grönloh (1882–1961) wrote under the pseudonym Nescio (Latin for "I don't know").^{[citation needed]}

The 20th-century British author

A number of visual artists, such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and Rembrandt, are commonly known by mononyms. The modern Russian artist Erté formed his mononymous pseudonym from the initials of his actual name, as did the Belgian comics writers Hergé and Jijé.^{[citation needed]}

Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto, 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), 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.^[10]

Royalty

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".^[12] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Modern times

Surnames were introduced in Turkey only after World War I, by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as part of his Westernization and modernization programs.^[14] Common people can be addressed semi-formally by their given name plus the title Bey 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, Emre).^{[citation needed]}

Mononyms are also common in Indonesia for Javanese individuals, both prominent government figures such as former presidents Sukarno and Suharto and weightlifter Triyatno.^{[citation needed]}

Some North American Indigenous people continue their nations' traditional naming practices, which may include the use of single names. In Canada, 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.^[15] In Ontario, 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.^[16]

Asia

In modern times, in countries that have long been part of the

Mononyms are also common in Indonesia, especially in Javanese names. In some cases, such as those of former Presidents Sukarno and Suharto, army general Wiranto and footballer Hariono, 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.^{[citation needed]}

Single names still also occur in Tibet^[2] and Mongolia.^{[citation needed]} Most Afghans also have no surname.^[18]

In

In Bhutan, 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.^[19]

Mononyms are common in Myanmar. U Thant, a Burmese diplomat, was the third Secretary-General of the United Nations (1961–71). "U" is an honorific in the Burmese language, 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.^{[citation needed]}

In the

Some mononym stage names are the performer's given name (e.g. Beyoncé, Brandy, Shakira, Adele, Prince, Mitski, Donovan, Usher, Selena, Cher, Madonna, Björk, Kelis, Tiffany, Zendaya, Normani), or a variation thereon (e.g. Robyn). Others may be the performer's middle name (e.g. Rihanna, Drake, Kennedy, Chika) or surname (e.g. Teller, Liberace, Mantovani, 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, Slash). Musicians from non-Anglophone backgrounds may use an anglicized version of their given name (e.g. Enya) or surname (e.g. Hwangbo).^{[citation needed]}

In

In Brazil, president 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 names, surnames or nicknames, are used because Portuguese names tend to be rather long.^{[citation needed]}

The American writer of non-fiction and fiction

The professional wrestler

The great British pianist Solomon Cutner (1902–1988) was worldwide known professionally as Solomon.^{[citation needed]}

While some have chosen their own mononym, others have mononyms chosen for them by the public. Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host, is usually referred to by only her first name, Oprah. Elvis Presley, American singer, is usually referred to by only his first name, Elvis.

Similarly, the public has referred to President

• List of legally mononymous people
• List of one-word stage names
• List of pseudonyms
• Nymwars

Notes