# Christina AGUILERA - you don't rate a one-name moniker **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222 "2010-11-10T21:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/61 "2010-11-13T01:32:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That was supposed to be an I. Her name should be pronounced Ag- **ee** -LER-rah, but it is most usually pronounced Ag- **you** -LER-rah. The I is silent, and the U becomes the American long U. Because it’s an Americanized/Anglicized pronunciation. WTF? 😕 My last name is not pronounced the way it “should be” either. How do you feel about “Favre”? ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/62 "2010-11-13T01:54:10Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Does anyone ever refer to Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra etc by their first names only, except in articles where their first name has already been mentioned and then later mentions are shorter? (I presume their friends use the short names, too). It’s nothing to do with level of fame - it’s just not the way they style themselves. Michael, Tina and Frank are far too common to be used as standalone stage names, anyway. On many of Tina Turner’s albums (I think most of the ones she’s released since the early nineties) she is credited on the front cover as “Tina”, and the new pothumous Michael Jackson album coming out in December will have one word on the cover: “Michael”. Michael never cut off his last name while he was alive but Ms. Turner has been simply “Tina” quite a few times. I agree that they are usually referred to by their full name but there have been instances where just the one has been deemed sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/63 "2010-11-13T19:00:00Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > On many of Tina Turner’s albums (I think most of the ones she’s released since the early nineties) she is credited on the front cover as “Tina”, and the new pothumous Michael Jackson album coming out in December will have one word on the cover: “Michael”. Michael never cut off his last name while he was alive but Ms. Turner has been simply “Tina” quite a few times. > > I agree that they are usually referred to by their full name but there have been instances where just the one has been deemed sufficient. Are they actually credited as those names, or are they just the names of those albums? There’s a big difference. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/64 "2010-11-13T19:16:56Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > While I’m not going to argue with anything the OP said, and I deny being a fan, I will say that Ms Aguilera is a far better singer than anyone in the OP with the exception of Aretha and, maybe, Tina. She may not be as famous, or as rich as the others, but the girl has pipes. Agreed. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > **Elton** is a good one.\ Who, Murphy Brown’s house painter? > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > You’re totally right. Bionic was very. . . try too hard, imho. You’re right, it was totally: “YAY! IT’S THE FUTURE! And omg, I’m so scandalous, he wants to put his mouth on my woohoo!” I suppose in the day and age of Gaga, you’ve got to be a little more creative with your sexual references (it’s not necessarily a matter of subtle, just. . . creative. Like “Dance in the Dark” or “Monster,” both of which remind me loosely of Prince songs from back in the day with how the lyrics are). > > Personally, I detested the whole Back to Basics era after Candy Man. It was cute then, but it just. kept. going. Ugh. I think what’s most distressing, on a totally shallow, non musical level, is that she really is a beautiful woman, but goddamn does she ugly herself up sometimes. She looks great in the promos for this movie though, so who knows. > > And yes, Blackout is pure epicness. Anyone who says anything different is of no importance to me :). I listen to I Got a Plan every single time I’m in the car. I like all of the Christina albums I have so far (“Back to Basics,” “Stripped,” “Bionic”). She’s trying different things, and I give her full props for that. Bionic is worth it just for Bobblehead and Desnudate. I think I’ll have to get my hands on a Britney album (probably start with “Blackout” at your recommendation). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/65 "2010-11-13T19:17:14Z")
I couldn’t tell you the name of one Christina Aguilera song but if someone young said to me they were a big Christina fan, I would know who they meant. I can’t think of another Christina in recent history. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/66 "2010-11-13T23:16:01Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Who, Murphy Brown’s house painter? That was **Eldon**. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/67 "2010-11-13T23:23:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Because it’s an Americanized/Anglicized pronunciation. WTF? 😕 My last name is not pronounced the way it “should be” either. How do you feel about “Favre”? You don’t anglicize by omitting letters. And Favre is not an Americanization–it is actually pronounced that way in some dialects of French. Plus, as far as I can tell, Ms. Aguilera herself pronounces it the right way. It’s the stupid American media that couldn’t pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/68 "2010-11-14T00:05:06Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Oprah > Demi > Paris > Tyra Agree on the talk show hosts (something about the form?) but Demi Lovato isn’t that big yet, & while I like Paris Cullins (I have his entire _Wonder Woman_ run) he’s far from a household name. :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/69 "2010-11-14T00:14:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You don’t anglicize by omitting letters. What are you talking about? If I saw a name like “Aguilera” and didn’t know a lick of Spanish, “agg-YOU-lair-uh” looks like a reasonable Anglicization to me (as would “agg-WEE-lair-uh”. And we drop letters _all_ the time when Anglicizing. Does anyone pronounce the K in “Krzyzewski” for example, like is done in Polish? (And I doubt “Favre” is pronounced “Farv” in English because of some dialect of French–something I never heard of, but let’s assume it’s true. I suspect it’s for the same reason “hors d’oevre” becomes “oar DURV” in English–because “vr” is a wacky combination in English.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/70 "2010-11-14T00:25:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Plus, as far as I can tell, Ms. Aguilera herself pronounces it the right way. So far as I could find, you are right on this point. > [@](#): > > It’s the stupid American media that couldn’t pronounce it correctly. Perhaps, but it seems to be the officially recognized pronunciation now. [The NLS](http://www.loc.gov/nls/other/sayhow.html) (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) specifies that pronunciation for Christina (but not Albert.) ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/71 "2010-11-14T02:57:49Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Are they actually credited as those names, or are they just the names of those albums? There’s a big difference. Does Tina Turner have all these different albums all called “Tina”? No, that’s what she’s credited as on the cover of albums like [What’s Love Got To Do With It?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Love_Got_to_Do_with_It_(album)), [Wildest Dreams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildest_Dreams), [Twenty Four Seven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Four_Seven_(album)) and [All The Best](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Best_(Tina_Turner_album)). The Michael one hasn’t been released yet, all I know is that there is no “Jackson” on the cover. It might be on the spine or possibly the back. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/72 "2010-11-14T04:46:40Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Well, yes, John was. But not John. Also, Justin is the new Justin. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/73 "2010-11-14T04:51:43Z")
It’s a little too soon for Bieber to replace Timberlake. He’s still young and his career is still hot. Granted I don’t listen to him, but then I don’t listen to Bieber either. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/74 "2010-11-14T07:30:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think I’ll have to get my hands on a Britney album (probably start with “Blackout” at your recommendation). _Blackout_ is absolutely her masterpiece, and if you like that I’d recommend getting _The Singles Collection_, which came out last year and rounds up all of her best moments from other albums without too much overlap with _Blackout_ (so you won’t be re-buying many songs). Many of her other studio albums are patchy, the only other one I would really describe as brilliant as a whole is _In The Zone_ from 2003, but it took years for me to realise that it was quite strong. _Blackout_ was instant. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/75 "2010-11-14T19:24:35Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > Does Tina Turner have all these different albums all called “Tina”? No, that’s what she’s credited as on the cover of albums like [What’s Love Got To Do With It?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Love_Got_to_Do_with_It_(album)), [Wildest Dreams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildest_Dreams), [Twenty Four Seven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Four_Seven_(album)) and [All The Best](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Best_(Tina_Turner_album)). > > The Michael one hasn’t been released yet, all I know is that there is no “Jackson” on the cover. It might be on the spine or possibly the back. It clearly didn’t work, though, since those articles all refer to her consistently as Tina Turner, not Tina, and her writing credits are as Tina Turner. She’s pretty cool and made some great music, but her name simply isn’t distinctive enough. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/76 "2010-11-15T05:33:18Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > It clearly didn’t work, though, since those articles all refer to her consistently as Tina Turner, not Tina, and her writing credits are as Tina Turner. She’s pretty cool and made some great music, but her name simply isn’t distinctive enough. You originally said: > [@](#): > > Does anyone ever refer to Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra etc by their first names only And the answer for Tina is yes, because it’s right there on her album covers. I know she’s not always referred to as a single name like Madonna or Cher but I didn’t think that was what we were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/77 "2010-11-15T06:47:47Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > It’s a little too soon for Bieber to replace Timberlake. He’s still young and his career is still hot. Granted I don’t listen to him, but then I don’t listen to Bieber either. Plus there’s the simple fact that he’s already got a single name–people tend to refer to him as Bieber. Heck, I’d forgotten his first name was Justin. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/78 "2010-11-15T07:32:03Z")
“Shawty Mane”, his rapper alter-ego (I wish I was kidding), is my personal favourite Bieber name. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222/79 "2010-11-15T07:44:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > How do you feel about “Favre”? I’ve always thought his family must be the worst spellers in history, and I fault most of the rest of the world for going along with their idiocy. It would be like me telling people: my name is spelled B-O, but it’s actually pronounced ‘Roderick’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christina-aguilera-you-dont-rate-a-one-name-moniker/560222.md?page=3)