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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by KF (talk | contribs) at 22:55, 6 April 2003 (answer to Kingturtle). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

I've got a few questions about this page. 1. How can "Da Vinci" and "Van Gogh" be called single names? 2. Are we going to include nicknames and pseudonyms, eg. Sting, Boz? 3. How about re-doing the links properly? All the above are meant sincerely, not sarcastically. Deb 18:20 Mar 29, 2003 (UTC)

"Van Gough" and "Da Vinci" are, I believe, the respective author's surnames and mean "of or from". Their full names are "Vincent van Gough" and "Leonardo da Vinci" xneilj

I have grave doubts that this page will work. "Famous enough" among whom? Baden-Powell and Chilton are famous enough for Eagle Scouts who listen to Big Star (like myself). Every US president (minus the Roosevelts, Bushes and Adamses) is known by one name and I would assume the same is true of every or most countries. Tuf-Kat 18:30 Mar 29, 2003 (UTC)

Note: I've never heard of Rubens or Huysmans; they are surely not famous enough to be known by a single name according to my POV. Tuf-Kat

What about Moses? Isaiah? Sophocles? Aristophanes? Suharno?Sitting Bull (or was Bull his last name)? The name is based on the assumption that everyone has a last name. Then, of course, there is Mao, who had a first name, which was his "last name". This is a useless list. Danny

I agree, this isn't really a useful list. It is really just a list of all the famous people that don't share their last name with any other famous people. Tango

I agree too - you could include practically any Brazilian international footballer, for instance! Arwel

Uhh... JS Bach, or PDQ Bach? Slrubenstein

Maybe Sebastian Bach of Skid Row? -- goatasaur

Kinda makes you long for first names, right? Slrubenstein


I think this should be changed to people who went by a single name, such as Prince, Madonna, or I dunno there arent a lot of people. Except for a lot of Greeks I think... Someone like Marx or Hitler or Bach would not qualify. Dietary Fiber

I agree -- this is a very constructive suggestion, much better than "known by" which is too subjective. Slrubenstein
Me too. (and don't forget Cher) How about moving it to List of people with one name or List of one-named people? Tuf-Kat

I think we should only list modern people, listing all the biblical and ancient people along with this sort of destroys the point. Dietary Fiber

what point? Tannin

personally, i am more interested in people who are famous for a one-word nickname (Pele) or their first name (Cher, Madonna, Elvis). i enjoy working on a list like this. it is a nice relief from the other stuff i muck around with on here. Kingturtle 01:01 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)


Would the following rappers and such count?


    • I think they count. Although, Al Capone is still the *real* Scarface. Kingturtle 01:55 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Is there some objection to using alphabetical order? Wondering simply, --Infrogmation 01:51 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

And of course there are at least three US politicians named Kennedy (all brothers), and three or four Indian politicians named Gandhi (not all related).

I expected a list of people who only used one name, like Plato or Madonna, not those who are well-enough known to be the default person-in-this-field-with-that-name. (If you're an art critic, Freud is Lucian, not Sigmund or Anna.) Vicki Rosenzweig

I'm interested in working on this page, but I intened to delete those people who did not refer to themselves by one name only (Churchill, indeed.) And it really should be List of people known by one name. I'll give it a few days to listen to objections, then do it. -- Zoe

:-) Makes me more mysterious that way, eh, Kingturtle? :) -- Zoe
the proof is in the pudding. the summary of the very first post for this article said "This is a list of people famous enough to be known unambiguously by a single name." Kingturtle 05:01 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

When did Wyclef Jean become "Wyclef"? -- Zoe

He never recorded under the name Wyclef alone, but people call him Wyclef commonly... Could just be me and my friends, I guess, but I don't think so. Tuf-Kat 07:37 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Dear All, I propose to do the following:

  • Remove Marilyn Monroe, on the grounds that a British singer of the 1980s was known by the stage name "Marilyn" (one name only) and therefore it cannot be said to be universally synonymous with the original Marilyn Monroe only.
  • Reinstate Lichfield, on the grounds that "Lichfield" is not his surname, but his professional name (in the same way that "Houdini" was not Harry Houdini's surname).
  • Reinstate Liberace on the grounds that "Liberace", besides being his real surname, was his stage name (and the wikipedia article about him is under "Liberace").

Any objections? Deb 17:00 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

I have no objections, but I wish contributors here would return to Dietary Fiber's suggestion that the article name be changed from "people known by one name" which is too subjective and vague, to "People who went by one name" which would be a shorter, and more useful, list. Slrubenstein

  • I can see the argument for Lichfield, because his real name is Thomas Patrick Anson. As for Liberace, that is his last name. As for Marilyn (singer), he chose that name directly because of the Marilyn Monroe icon. So in essence, his name is her name. I don't know how to sovlve that one. Kingturtle 18:23 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
    • There are an awful lot of people named after Mohammed, too... -- goatasaur
True. Okay, I've put Lichfield back. It wasn't me who put Liberace back, but I support the action on the basis that Morrissey is still there. More controversially, I've put in "Boz" because, although Dickens was well known by his real name, his pseudonym does uniquely identify him. The Marilyn/Mohammed question is a really challenging one. Deb 20:56 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

Upsetter is really called "The Upsetter." Isn't that really two words? The same artist is also known as Scratch. Can we remove Upsetter and add Scratch? I removed Topol, Ambrose, Morrissey, and Seinfeld, because those are their last names. I removed Midas and Merlin because they are fictional characters. Kingturtle 22:51 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

I hate edit wars, but if you start removing names in that arbitrary fashion you could just as well delete the whole list. As far as Ambrose is concerned, what do you mean that that is his "last name"? So what? He was known to everyone as Ambrose, not Bert Ambrose. --KF 22:57 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
Literally thousands of names could be added on the merit of their last name. Reagan, Carter, Truman, Coolidge, Harding, Taft, McKinley, Garfield, Fillmore, Polk, Van Buren come to mind immediately for U.S. Presidents. Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, Gluck, Mozart, Salieri, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bizet, Chopin, Dvorak, Faure, Liszt, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, and Verdi could all be listed. It is quite common to be remembered via one's last name. It is all together different to be remembered via the criteria listed atop the article...by a one word nickname, a one word first name, their only known name, a one word stage name or pseudonym, or aone word pen name. This is the shortest answer I could come up with to answer your question.Kingturtle 23:22 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
Well, my answer is even shorter: Ambrose was his "one word stage name". (See the external link on the Bert Ambrose page: On all the records it says "Ambrose and His Orchestra".) But if you insist, I don't have a problem with that. (If I don't answer again it's because it's very late here and I'll go to bed now.) KF 23:29 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
I thought "Ambrose" was Ambrose Bierce. I have (well, had... I read the article) no idea who Burt Ambrose is. -- goatasaur
I assumed we were talking about St. Ambrose. Deb 17:02 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)
I created that stub to avoid rather than promote confusion. But please forget about Ambrose. Sooner or later I'm going to write that article anyway. --KF 17:08 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)
Incidentally, both Midas and Merlin, though legendary characters, are not fictional. Deb 17:04 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)

I hate to be nitpicky, but isn't "Christ" a last name? "Jesus" is already on there. If you have two names for the same person, then perhaps they shouldn't be on the list. :) -- goatasaur

I don't think any biblical or ancient names should be on here. Many ancient people had one name, only modern people should be on this list. Dietary Fiber

What do you consider ancient? Say... earlier than the 17th century? -- goatasaur

yes Dietary Fiber

Christ is not a surname. It's a title or appellation that modern people mistake for a surname because the idea of people without surnames doesn't seem 'right'. (It wasn't Mr. & Mrs. Christ and their little boy Jesus....) Not that that removes the "two names, one person" or "ancient" objections -- Someone else 04:45 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC)

Who are Bez, Gwrgi and Pras? Kingturtle 06:41 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC)

Wikipedia references Gwrgy in connection to the Battle of Arfderydd, and Pras as Pras Michel.
Bez has even several references there; e.g. as
Best regards, Frank W ~@) R 08:20 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC).

Just to clarify, Pras Michel is the third member of the Fugees (along with Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean). Tuf-Kat

Anyone know who "Cameron" is? Deb 20:43 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

Just because u watch TV and the celebrities refer to each other by first names does not mean they qualify for "known by one name". Perhaps a qualifier for "known by one name" should be, didn't go by more than one name, for example "Oprah Winfrey" really doesnt seem to qualify for me, although I can see why "Dante Aligheri" would, maybe its a bit of a double-standard but Tiger Woods is not "known as Tiger" and "Magic Johnson" is not known as "Magic", they are both much better known as "Tiger Woods" and "Magic Johnson" -- a line has to be drawn somewhere or pretty soon we'll be adding Creighton, King, Spielberg, Hanks, ad nauseumDietary Fiber

I agree on all counts except Oprah, who is very commonly referred to simply as Oprah. Tuf-Kat

Yah Oprah should go back in. Dietary Fiber

Au contrare, Tiger and Magic and Oprah are definitely known by one name. Kingturtle 21:44 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

Tiger Woods does not go by "Tiger" except in that it is his first name, as the Nike commercial said, 'I am Tiger Woods", likewise, Magic is a basketball team, not a basketball player, Magic Johnson is a basketball player Dietary Fiber

the list is not for 'people who go by one name,' it is for people known by one name.' Kingturtle 23:29 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

-- Shoot, i thought i came up with a good one today. but as it turns out Rasputin is Rasputin's last name. sigh. Kingturtle 23:31 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

What's the difference between Josef Stalin (whose name has been removed) and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin? --KF 20:54 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

I wondered that. I think the person who took out Stalin was the same person who took out "W" (on the grounds that it wasn't a name) then added "GW". Deb 21:06 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

Who is Otto? Kingturtle 22:04 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

A German singer and entertainer who has also made a number of successful feature films. --KF 22:55 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)
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