# Historical Figures Largely Known By Just One Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614 "2012-11-20T14:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/21 "2012-11-20T15:18:14Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Most composers. In fact, I’m now left pondering what composers aren’t referred to by just one name… Frank Zappa is the only one who has come to mind so far, but if you just called him ‘Zappa’, everyone would know of whom you spoke… ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/22 "2012-11-20T15:38:14Z")
Sacagawea. Lewis & Clark, but only if used together. Most peopke likely know their first names, but they are known by their last. [Not historical, yet] Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/23 "2012-11-20T15:40:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of course – most of those single nsames aren’t the person’s real name in many of these cases, but a pseudonym, or nickname, or the name imposed on them by foreigners. “Stalin” is “Man of Steel”. “Lenin” is a pseudonym. “Saladin” is a foreign corruption of the real name, as is Darius, the originsal of which is the more authentic-psounding _Daryavahush_. > > And your point is…? Re. the nicknames? Just to point it out to those people who don’t know it. Charlemagne is even more curious, as it’s a distortion of “name plus identifier”. And your problem is…? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/24 "2012-11-20T15:47:12Z")
Just pointing it out to people who don’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/25 "2012-11-20T15:50:57Z")
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Eichmann, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/26 "2012-11-20T16:28:54Z")
Other artists: Caravaggio Goya Picasso Rembrandt Monet Manet Gauguin Renoir Degas Rodin and if two words in a first or last name count then add: El Greco da Vinci Van Gogh ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/27 "2012-11-20T16:37:20Z")
Yoda. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/28 "2012-11-20T16:52:31Z")
I think a lot of the responses here are not really what the OP was looking for. The fact is that most A-list historical figures are generally referred to by one name; those who are typically referred to by their full name are the exception. I think the OP is looking for people who either only had one name, or else are so known by the one name that you almost forget that they have another one. I think that criterion would eliminate many of the responses (e.g., Hitler, Churchill, Shakespeare). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/29 "2012-11-20T17:03:59Z")
Charo Houdini Trevanian Liberace Donovan Sting Bono ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/30 "2012-11-20T17:09:11Z")
Euclid Archimedes And, somewhat less prominently, Thales, Diophantus, Eratosthenes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/31 "2012-11-20T17:09:32Z")
Moses. David. Solomon. Joshua. Herod. Titus, Hadrian, Constantine. Uthman. Roman emperors do not count as cheating or Kings of Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/32 "2012-11-20T17:11:04Z")
Here on the SDMB, I think we have to mention Polycarp and Diogenes. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/33 "2012-11-20T17:16:50Z")
Og. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/34 "2012-11-20T17:18:48Z")
Pliny. What’s ironic is that even though he’s known by just one name, people still have to ask “Which one?” ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/35 "2012-11-20T17:30:15Z")
Alexander. Prince. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/36 "2012-11-20T17:43:02Z")
Hannibal ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/37 "2012-11-20T17:57:15Z")
Nixon Yanni ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/38 "2012-11-20T18:06:56Z")
(Kevin) **Cthulhu** ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/39 "2012-11-20T18:24:08Z")
Nehru ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614/40 "2012-11-20T18:30:43Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I think a lot of the responses here are not really what the OP was looking for. The fact is that most A-list historical figures are generally referred to by one name; those who are typically referred to by their full name are the exception. I think the OP is looking for people who either only had one name, or else are so known by the one name that you almost forget that they have another one. I think that criterion would eliminate many of the responses (e.g., Hitler, Churchill, Shakespeare). Oh, I don’t know. If you say “Hitler”, it’s not like anyone’s going to be really confused and think you’re talking about Giovanni Hitler of Secaucus, NJ. What you’re getting at is that many of these people are referred to strictly by surname, and their primary names aren’t quite forgotten. I think we’re angling for people like Bono, or Napoleon, whose names are either made-up or their first names. Those are a lot less common than the alternative. Stalin would probably be the most well known one I can think of (Josef Dzugashvili was his real name). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-figures-largely-known-by-just-one-name/641614.md?page=3)