# Who was the first one-name star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138 "2002-09-29T19:40:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JfMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@JfMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JfMen)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/1 "2002-09-29T19:40:49Z")
There were a lot in the 50’s, like Genevieve and Charo, but I’m sure the trend is much older. [I’m not talking about so far back in history that most people had single names. But you knew that.] ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/2 "2002-09-29T19:42:21Z")
Valentino ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/3 "2002-09-29T19:47:51Z")
Lassie ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/igjoe/32/5420_2.png) [@IGJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/4 "2002-09-29T20:09:18Z")
Adam ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/5 "2002-09-29T20:10:49Z")
I don’t think that Valentino counts, for he billed himself as Rudolph Valentino. I bet you that some performers billed themselves by a single name before the time of the movies, but I’ll wait for Eve to give the definative answer. ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/igjoe/32/5420_2.png) [@IGJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/6 "2002-09-29T20:18:33Z")
> [@](#): > > **I’m not talking about so far back in history that most people had single names.** Oops, missed this part. That’ll teach me to post smart-ass replies before reading the OP. :smack: Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/7 "2002-09-29T20:21:45Z")
How about Houdini? While there were surely others before him, he may have been the first one-name to be household name throughout the U.S. Before Houdini occurred to me, I was going to say Liberace. Though I know that the suggestion that he only use the one name came from another pianist that was already famous when Liberace was beginning his career, Paderewsky(sp?). ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/8 "2002-09-29T20:35:08Z")
Michelangelo? Nostradamus? Or did you mean celebrities, not just famous people? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/9 "2002-09-29T21:07:04Z")
I was going to suggest Houdini, too. At least, if you’re just talking about “entertainers.” Artists have a long history of being referred to by last name only – Mozart, Beethoven, Cezanne, Monet, David, etc. Maybe the distinction you’re looking for is someone who promoted _himself_ as a one-name celebrity. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/10 "2002-09-29T21:11:44Z")
Socrates and Aristophanes. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/11 "2002-09-29T21:13:38Z")
Oh by the way, during those times they also call themselves “son of” so and so. Later it was shortened to al- or O’. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/12 "2002-09-29T22:30:20Z")
In entertainment, a case might be made for Sitting Bull who toured with Buffalo Bill Cody. While he had two names I don’t think anyone called him “Sitting” as a first name or Mr. Bull in more formal settings. It functioned as a single unit. Regarding Houdini, I glanced at a couple of stories about him in our (newspaper) morgue and the stories listed him as Harry Houdini. ---
**Author:** ![Pixellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@Pixellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixellent)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/13 "2002-09-30T06:23:42Z")
My own vote is an obscure 1940s Universal contract player who was billed simply as Acquanetta. She was born Burnuacquanetta on an Arapahoe reservation in Wyoming and was one of the top-salaried models in New York before getting a gig with Universal. Universal invented a Latin Bombshell background for her (she was billed as “The Venezuelan Volcano” – no, I swear I didn’t make that up) – and billed her as Acquanetta, no other name. She appeared in such deathless classics as _Captive Wild Woman_ and _Tarzan and the Leopard Woman_. Her last known film was _Callaway Went Thataway_ in 1951. ---
**Author:** ![Bloody\_Pollyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@Bloody\_Pollyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloody_Pollyanna)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/14 "2002-09-30T06:39:04Z")
Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/15 "2002-09-30T08:29:05Z")
Alla Nazimova (neé Mariam Leventon) was known only as “Nazimova” in most of her movies, from _The Heart of a Child_ (1920) to _Since You Went Away_ (1944). Italian stage actress Maria Falconetti was billed simply as “Mlle. Falconetti” in the silent classic _The Passion of Joan of Arc_ (1928). Boris Karloff was only “Karloff” in _The Black Cat_ (1934), _Bride of Frankenstein_ (1935), and _The Raven_ (1935). Another Italian actress, Alida Valli, was credited as “Valli” in Alfred Hitchcock’s _The Paradine Case_ (1947) and in _The Third Man_ (1949). ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/16 "2002-09-30T14:33:10Z")
Thought I should mention Garbo. (When people start calling you by one name because everybody knows whom they mean, that’s real fame. When you just announce that you’re now only one name, that’s egotistical affectation.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/17 "2002-09-30T14:38:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baldwin \* > \*\*(When people start calling you by one name because everybody knows whom they mean, that’s real fame. When you just announce that you’re now only one name, that’s egotistical affectation.) \*\* Same goes for when one’s name is replaced by a symbol. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/18 "2002-09-30T14:45:39Z")
Now, be fair, that was actually a clever way for Prince to get around the label actually _owning_ his stage name and all rights thereto. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/19 "2002-09-30T16:55:47Z")
“Prince” wasn’t his stage name, it was his real name – Prince Rogers Nelson. Great Garbo was never billed just as “Garbo”. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138/20 "2002-09-30T17:06:09Z")
I’m guessing the first one-named performer of the “modern era” was the French tragedienne [Rachel](http://www.xrefer.com/entry/173213) (1821– [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-one-name-star/130138.md?page=2)