History Main / OnlyOneName

** [[ExtremeDoormat Stacy]] is never given a last name. It was never a secret, though; WordOfGod says it's Rowe.

** Even when there's a last name, it is often also a given name (not a family name/surname). An Indonesian can have more than five words in his/her name, all given ones.

* The entire cast of ''{{Simoun}}'' is from a culture that gives OnlyOneName.

* Same was in Russia, where up to XV-XVI centuries even the nobles mostly made do with the bynames and {{patronymic}}s, and commoners started to acquire surnames in mass only after emancipation of the serfs in late XIX century. Before that only those living in cities would bother with it.

** In the same vein, when the Spanish crown exiled all of the Jews to leave the country (XV/XVI century), they gave them a choice: to become Catholics and stay or to keep their religion and go. Some people stayed in Spain, changed to Catholics and got new names from the first thing that came to their minds, like Flores ("flowers"), Mesa ("table"), Barriga ("belly") or Cabeza ("head"). If you have a name like this, you probably have a ''converso'' ancestor.

** The BigFinishDoctorWho audios give us C'rizz and Erimemushinteperem (Erimem for short).

* Everyone in ''PrincessTutu''. Mytho, Ahiru/Duck/[[GratuitousGerman Ente]], and Rue probably doesn't even ''have'' last names, and the characters whose last names ''are'' known (Cat, Drosselmeyer) aren't given ''first'' names.

** In Literature/TheForerunnerSaga, the long-dead Yprin Yprikushma is the only character in the entire trilogy to have a surname; neither the advanced Forerunners nor [[spoiler:the remnants of prehistory's once-advanced human and San 'Shyuum civilizations]] seem to use them, period.

** In Literature/TheForerunnerSaga, the long-dead Yprin Yprikushma is the only character in the entire trilogy to have a surname; neither the highly-advanced Forerunners nor [[spoiler:the primitive remnants of the once-advanced human civilization]] seem to use them, period.

* A good number of {{Artificial Human}}s in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', such as Arf, Signum, and Vita. Vivio used to be an example, until Nanoha officially adopted her and she received the Takamachi name. An exception to the rule comes with Aria Lieze and Lotte Lieze, Admiral Graham's twin familiars.
** After ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS StrikerS]]'', four of the Numbers [[HollywoodCyborg Cyborgs]] were adopted by [[spoiler:Genya Nakajima]] and took his family name, with the rest remaining with only one name.

** Some fan names are mistaken for (the semi-) canon by the fans. For example, Yekaterina "Kastyusha" Braginskaya (which was inspired by Russia and by Yekaterina being a popular Slavic girls' name), is often used by fanfic authors. As well, "Matthias Køhler", a fan-name for Denmark, was mistaken by fans as an actual name after it was posted on ''our'' TV Tropes character page for Hetalia. Officially, all the characters go by their nations' popular names, which are almost all OnlyOneName (i.e. England, America, Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, etc.).
** The Italy brothers are both called Italy but also have their own given names to differentiate them: the northern half is [[{{Keet}} Italy Veneziano]] (human name Feliciano Vargas), and the southern [[{{Tsundere}} Italy Romano]] (Lovino Vargas). Interestingly, though Southern Italy is almost always called Romano, Northern Italy is usually called just Italy.

* Many characters in ''OnePiece'' have only one name, including Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Kaya, Nojiko, Bellemere, Chaka, Pell, Dr. Hiruluk, Burgess, Professor Clover, Pagaya, Conis, Enel, Hotori/Kotori/Satori/All of the priests/every Angel except Gan Fall... Possibly justified for Nami and Sanji being orphans and all, Usopp was given a bounty under his Sogeking alias, and Franky's real name is Cutty Flam.

** We also have Chakotay, Data, Odo, Laas, Neelix, and Kes. By rights Data could've been Data Soong, but chose not to do it.

** One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' claims Spock's other name (first or last is unknown) cannot be pronounced by humans, but others seem to indicate he has no last name at all. Diane Duane's ''Spock's World'' speculates that Vulcans use patronymics, so Spock's full name, according to her, is "Spock cha'Sarek".

** The Jaffa sometimes tack place of origin (or current affiliation, in the case of "Teal'c of the Tau'ri") onto another Jaffa's name (and sometimes that of a human, like [[RunningGag "Hammond of Texas"]]) as if this constituted a type of full name in their culture.

* Lt. Series/{{Columbo}} (no first name), same for Mrs. Columbo. His ID card identified him as Frank Columbo, but that was only onscreen for a few seconds and reportedly isn't canon.

* Some aliens in ''Series/BabylonFive'', notably Minbari, go by only one name, whereas others, notably Centauri, go by two.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'' and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', due to limitations on the system, the player character is only ever referred to by his/her last name (Shepard and Hawke, respectively).
* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', no Dalish we ever see has a last name, and [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan]] doesn't have a family name. The game doesn't give family names for [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] or [[BoisterousBruiser Oghren]] either. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sten's]] true ''first'' name is never even revealed.
** The Qunari in general don't have last names. Even their first names are merely titles and can be taken away. Anyone who joins the Qun also sheds their name.
** Fenris's former master is a powerful (in both magic and political power) Tevinter mage named Danarius. No last name either, despite his high status in the Imperium.

** ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, just to name the central three.
*** However, for the English translation Ganondorf was given the last name "Dragmire" in the manual for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''.
*** Zelda's last name is Hyrule in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', given that King is named Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has several: Rydia, Tellah, Palom, Porom, and [=FuSoYa=]. [=FuSoYa=] is almost certainly a compound name that is essentially two or three names with no spaces between then, both due to the camelcase and the fact that he has a brother named [=KluYa=]. As Rydia, Tellah, Palom, and Porom most likely do not have last names as they are commoners unlike Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Edward, Yang, and Edge (whose full name is Edward Geraldine) who are of the higher class.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', on the other hand, gave almost EVERY character a surname (Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, etc...) though Sephiroth and his father Professor Hojo remain notable exceptions, and Zack didn't acquire an official last name until he got his own game ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''.
*** One character in the Compilation got an upgrade from this to a MeaningfulName, going from just Lazard in the Japanese version to Lazard Deusericus in the English Version. Meaningful because [[spoiler:Deusericus is the Latin rendering of Shinra (both meaning "Silken God"), hinting that Lazard is in fact the bastard son of President Shinra.]]
** The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' series mixes this up a bit. Most of the major characters like Ramza, Ezel, Marche, etc. have surnames, but everyone else does not. In ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', Luso Clemens is the only character (besides Ezel) who has a surname, but everyone else has only a first name or a nickname.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' almost every major character has a last name. Notable exceptions would be the Esper race, who have only the one last name. Maduin, Ramuh, Shiva, etc.

* A lot of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' characters, with Cirno being the most well know, however as most of them are in [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the PC-98 games]] it might have simply been a stylistic choice that ZUN later abandoned. What's really weird is that so many {{youkai}} have family names given that they don't ''have'' families.
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' features multiple characters with only one referred name. The list includes, but is not limited to [[TheSilentBob Quote]], [[FauxActionGirl Sue]], [[GlassCannon King]], [[FriendlyEnemy Balrog]], [[WickedWitch Misery]], and [[MadScientist The Doctor]].

* Very few Disney characters have both a first and last name, with ''no'' character in ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' having both. Almost everyone in ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' has a family name, but that's an exception (and a somewhat necessary one, since Asian cultures use the surname far more than Westerners). Some of the name shortage is justified (Arabic names usually include a patronymic, so with ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' not knowing who his father is, he couldn't have one) and some of it isn't.

* Patronymic and surnames do have a bit of overlap. That's where we get the surname Johnson, but in places like Iceland, you only have that name if your father was named John. (And only if you're a man; if you're a woman you gets Jonsdottir instead.)
** It's quite similar in Mongolia, where family names are replaced by patronymic names.
** In Arab countries, traditionally, one's full name was *your name* *father's name* *grandfather's name* Al *clan name* [*Al *tribe name*]. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, and a few others use this still, but when individuals spend an excessive time in the West (say for college/graduate school), they'll generally use the grandfather's name as their surname. In countries colonized by Europe where people were forced to take European style names, this pattern was also used.

* A good number of {{Artificial Human}}s in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', such as Arf, Signum, and Vita. Vivio used to be an example, until Nanoha officially adopted her and she received the Takamachi name. An exception to the rule comes with Aria Lieze and Lotte Lieze, Admiral Graham's twin familiars.
** After ''[=StrikerS=]'', four of the Numbers [[HollywoodCyborg Cyborgs]] were adopted by [[spoiler:Genya Nakajima]] and took his family name, with the rest remaining with only one name.

** Some fan names are mistaken for (the semi-) canon by the fans. For example, Yekaterina "Kastyusha" Braginskaya (which was inspired by Russia and by Yekaterina being a popular Slavic girls' name), is often used by fanfic authors. As well, "Matthias Køhler", a fan-name for Denmark, was mistaken by fans as an actual name after it was posted on ''our'' TV Tropes character page for Hetalia. Officially, all the characters go by their nations' popular names, which are almost all OnlyOneName (i.e. England, America, Canada, Denmark, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy (for ''both'' Italies), China, Japan, etc.).
*** The Italy brothers could actually be considered a subversion, as they are both called Italy but also have their own given names to differentiate them: the northern half is [[{{Keet}} Italy Veneziano]] (human name Feliciano Vargas), and the southern [[{{Tsundere}} Italy Romano]] (Lovino Vargas). Interestingly, though Southern Italy is almost always called Romano, Northern Italy is usually called just Italy.
** At one point the human names were considered to be somewhat canon, as Himaruya answered a fan question and said that they would find out one day why Ludwig didn't have a surname. But as it was an old question on the deleted blog and the names have not been ever officially used, it remains unknown if that "significance" will ever come to light.

* Many characters in ''OnePiece'' have only one name, including Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Kaya, Nojiko, Bellemere, Chaka, Pell, Dr. Hiruluk, Burgess, Professor Clover, Pagaya, Conis, Enel, Hotori/Kotori/Satori/All of the priests/every Angel except Gan Fall...
** This becomes jarring when other characters get wanted posters. Money D. Luffy, Roranoa Zoro, Nico Robin, Tony-Tony Chopper, and... just Nami? It's as if the Marines pick and choose when to find out their full names.
*** Possibly justified for Nami and Sanji being orphans and all, Usopp was given a bounty under his Sogeking alias and Franky's real name is Cutty Flam.

** Then there's Chakotay.
** We also have Data. And Odo. And Laas.
*** By rights, Data could've been Data Soong, but chose not to do it.
** And Neelix. And Kes.

** One episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' claims Spock's last name cannot be pronounced by humans, but others seem to indicate he has [[OnlyOneName no last name at all]]. Diane Duane's ''Spock's World'' speculates that Vulcans use patronymics, so Spock's full name, according to her, is "Spock cha'Sarek".
*** Actually, the name that couldn't be pronounced was merely called "another name" in one episode and "the Vulcan name" (implicitly the family name) in another. Since not all cultures put the family name last or even have family names in the Western sense, we don't know if Spock's unpronounceable name is his first or last name. Continuity editor D.C. Fontana decided that this other name was "XTMPRSQZNTWLFB". Linguist fanfic author Dorothy Jones actually worked out a pronunciation and etymology for that sucker.

** However, this is averted in ''Series/StargateAtlantis,'' where most aliens, including regulars Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex, do have first and last names. This raises an interesting question: how is it that Earth alone uses a naming system unheard of in the Milky Way galaxy but commonplace in the Pegasus Galaxy?
*** Well, the majority of the humans in the Milky Way were ruled, and thus had their cultures influenced by, the Goa'uld, whereas the Pegasus Galaxy and post-Goa'uld Earth were more influenced by the Ancients. That could be one way of hand waving the entire problem.
*** Except most Ancients in the show don't have last names, either.
*** A lot do. The first one SG-1 meets is Oma Desala. The first one the Atlantis team meets is Chaya Sar. The one SG-1 meets ''in'' Atlantis is Ganos Lal, aka Morgan le Fay.
** The Jaffa sometimes tack place of origin (or current affiliation, in the case of "Teal'c of the Tau'ri") onto another Jaffa's name (and sometimes that of a human) as if this constituted a type of full name in their culture.

* Lt. Series/{{Columbo}} (No first name)
** Same for Mrs. Columbo.
*** Not exactly true: Kate Mulgrew's series ''Mrs. Columbo'' became ''Kate Columbo'', then ''Kate the Detective'' and then ''Kate Loves a Mystery'' before it became [[{{Cancellation}} Kate Doesn't Detect Here Anymore]].
**** And then Lt. Columbo said that ''that'' woman was an impostor...so we re-iterate, same for Mrs. Columbo.
** His ID card identified him as Frank Columbo, but that was only onscreen for a few seconds and reportedly isn't canon.
*** A trivia encyclopedia gave his first name as Philip, but this turned out to be a copyright trap - as the creators of ''Trivial Pursuit'' discovered when the book's author sued them for plagiarism. (He won, but the decision was reversed on appeal.)

* Some aliens in ''Series/BabylonFive'', notably Minbari and Narns, go by only one name, whereas others, notably Centauri, go by two.
** Although the Narns have only one name, it actually consists of two halves divided by an apostrophe. For instance, main character Na'Toth is the daughter of Shak'Toth.
*** And it is stated in one episode that Narns have a single name at birth, and the apostrophed appendage (actually prefix) is added when they have chosen which religious figure they will be devoted to spiritually: "G'" denotes a devotee to G'Quan (which G'Kar was), for instance.

** Lower-ranking Covenant races, like [[SlaveMooks Grunts]] and [[SpacePirate Jackals]], are not allowed to have surnames, due to the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Elites]]' belief that names are a privileged for only the worthy. On the other hand, the [[KillerSpaceMonkey Brutes]] don't seem to care for surnames to begin with.

* ''MassEffect'' averts this with everyone except for Legion and ([[spoiler:until he joins Clan Urdnot]]) Grunt. Then again, except for Ashley, Kaidan, and a few formal situations involving Tali, almost nobody's last name is ever mentioned.
** In ''MassEffect'', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', due to limitations on the system the player character is only ever referred to by his/her last name (Shepard and Hawke, respectively).
** In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' universe, no Dalish we ever see has a last name, and [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan]] doesn't have a family name. The game doesn't give family names for [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] or [[BoisterousBruiser Oghren]] either. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Sten's]] true ''first'' name is never even revealed, and while Alistair arguably has a surname, [[spoiler: it isn't used because it would be a spoiler, and because he's not interested in announcing his RoyalBlood to everyone he meets.]]
*** Very few non-player characters actually have last names given in-game, either, and most of them are nobility. [[FridgeBrilliance This may be a]] ShoutOut to ASongOfIceAndFire, which was acknowledged as an influence on the series.
*** The Qunari in general don't have last names. Even their first names are merely titles and can be taken away. Anyone who joins the Qun also sheds their name.
*** Fenris's former master is a powerful (in both magic and political power) Tevinter mage named Danarius. No last name either, despite his high status in the Imperium.

** ''Zelda'': Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, just to name the central three.
*** However, Ganondorf was given the last name "Dragmire" in the English manual for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''.
**** This was made up in the translation.
*** Zelda's last name is Hyrule, given that King mentioned in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' is named Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has several characters that fit this trope: Rydia, Tellah, Palom, Porom, and [=FuSoYa=].
*** [=FuSoYa=] is almost certainly a compound name that is essentially two or three names with no spaces between then, both due to the camelcase and the fact that he has a brother named [=KluYa=].
*** This can also be because Rydia, Tellah, Palom, and Porom are commoners, and thus do not have last names in this medieval world unlike Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Edward, Yang, and Edge (whose full name is Edward Geraldine) who are of the higher class.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', on the other hand, gave almost EVERY character a surname (Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, etc...) though Sephiroth and his father Professor Hojo remain notable exceptions.
*** One character in the Compilation actually got an upgrade from this to a MeaningfulName, going from just Lazard in the Japanese version to Lazard Deusericus in the English Version. Meaningful because [[spoiler:Deusericus is the Latin rendering of Shinra (both meaning "Silken God"), hinting that Lazard is in fact the bastard son of President Shinra.]]
*** Zack didn't acquire an official last name until he got his own game ''CrisisCore''.
*** Numerous characters like Kunsel, Tseng, Rude, Reno, Elena, Bugenhagen, Palmer, Scarlet, Nanaki, Seto, Heidigger, Elfe, Fuhito, Biggs, Wedge, Jessie and so on are known only by one name, although given the pattern of first/last name with the major human characters, it's quite possible that many of the secondary characters' last or first names simply haven't been disclosed.
** The FinalFantasyTactics series mixes this up a bit. Most of the major characters like Ramza, Ezel, Marche, etc. have surnames, but everyone else does not. In ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', Luso Clemens is the only character (besides Ezel) who has a surname, but everyone else has only a first name or a nickname.

*** Members of the Ronso and Guado tribes have it as a surname, some of whom are related (Seymour Guado is Jyscal Guado's son), but it is never treated as such.
** For the most part, last names are never mentioned for [=PCs=] in ''FinalFantasy'' games. They may be listed in [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental material]], but they are never actually used in the games themselves.
** ''KingdomHearts'', finally, allowed the Disney Characters to keep their last names, but eliminated those of the FinalFantasy characters, save for Squall's surname, "Leonhart" --- it becomes his first name. The original KH-characters themselves are surname-less, like in FFX.
*** Squall is still known as such by some of the other characters in the games, and it's explained that he only goes by Leon because of some sort of tragedy and will go back to using Squall when his homeworld is back to normal. Why he didn't go back to Leon in ''[=KH2=]'' is another question altogether. (Probably since his homeworld isn't back to normal yet.)
** Odd that no mention is made of ''FinalFantasyVI'', wherein almost every major character has a last name. Terra Branford, Celes Chere, Kefka Palazzo, and so on. Notable exceptions would be the Esper race, who have only the one last name. Maduin, Ramuh, Shiva, etc.

* A lot of characters in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' possess only one name, though admittedly most of them only appear in the early, probably {{Ret Con}}ned out of existence PC-98 games. The most well-known is Cirno, who at least has the probable excuse of being [[TheDitz too stupid]] to remember a second name.
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' features multiple characters with only one referred name. The list includes, but is not limited to [[TheSilentBob Quote]], [[FauxActionGirl Sue]], [[GlassCannon King]], [[FriendlyEnemy Balrog]], [[WickedWitch Misery]], and [[MadScientist The Doctor]]. Don't get us started about many of the other [=NPCs=].
** It might be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] for Quote not having a name given how he was [[SuperSoldier meant to be nothing more than a soldier]].
*** However, [[ActionGirl Curly Brace]] notably has a last name, [[FridgeLogic despite being a robot as well]].
*** That could just be an artifact of translating her name into English words. Serial numbers expressed via character set, maybe?

* No character in Disney's ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' has more than one name.
** Very few Disney characters have both a first and last name. Almost everyone in ''{{Mulan}}'' has a family name, but that's an exception (and a somewhat necessary one, since Asian cultures use the surname far more than Westerners). Some of the name shortage is justified (Arabic names usually include a patronymic, so with ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' not knowing who his father is, he couldn't have one) and some of it isn't (why are princes with no family identifiers running around? Usually your family is the reason you're a prince in the first place...)
*** TruthInTelevision Real princes don't use family names - they don't need to, at least in their own countries, their title and first given name is sufficient identification.
*** When he was in disguise as a prince, he took the name Ali a Babwa, with 'a Babwa' being his surname, but doesn't have a real surname that he knows of.

** Patronymic and surnames do have a bit of overlap. That's where we get the surname Johnson. But in places like Iceland, you only have that name if your father was named John.
*** And only if you're a man. If you're a woman you gets Jonsdottir instead.
*** It's quite similar in Mongolia, where family names are replaced by patronymic names.
*** In Arab countries, traditionally, one's full name was *your name* *father's name* *grandfather's name* Al *clan name* [*Al *tribe name*]. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, and a few others use this still, but when individuals spend an excessive time in the West (say for college/graduate school), they'll generally use the grandfather's name as their surname. In countries colonized by Europe where people were forced to take European style names, this pattern was also used.

* Renaissance artists often fall into this. Have you ever heard of the painters Senzio, Buonarotti or van Rijn? Yes, you have. [[spoiler: Their first names are Raphael, Michelangelo and Rembrandt, respectively.]]

* ''{{STALKER}} - Shadow of Chernobyl'' goes further than many with this trope. ''Every'' unique character has only one name - only generic characters have two names.

* IIRC, Marcie's full name is Marcie Greene.

* Same was in Russia, where up to XV-XVI centuries even the nobles mostly made do with the bynames and [[patronymic]]s, and commoners started to acquire surnames in mass only after emancipation of the serfs in late XIX century. Before that only those living in cities would bother with it.

*** TruthInTelevision Real princes don't use family names - they don't need to, at least in their own countries, their title and first given name is sufficient identification.

* Nathaniel in ''{{Enchanted}}''. Even when he writes a book, the author's name is listed only as "Nathaniel".

* Although his full name, Irwin M. Fletcher, is mentioned, the titular character usually insists on being called {{Fletch}}.

* There's also Cher, which is actually short for Cheryl.
* And Music/{{Beck}}. And Jewel.

** One exception to this is Elsa De Sica who, despite having a full, non gender-blended name has less behind it. Her handler, Lauro simply had to call her something and the first thing that came to his head when he stopped to think about it was the name of the park he was walking through at the time. Elsa's name is precious to her - in addition to being a "gift" from her handler, it's the keystone that maintains her very sense of self and describes her as a person, not a latterday golem, whose struggles have meaning. The realization that that self is merely a dismissive and indifferent token destroys her.

* In the original ''Literature/{{Jaws}}'' novel when Chief Brody looks for Quint the shark hunter's name in the phone book all it's listed under is "Quint".

* ''HowIMetYourMother'' has Carl, the owner of [[LocalHangout MacLaren's]], who is upset upon finding out that Marshall didn't know his last name (neither does the audience).

* {{Madonna}} and {{Prince}}, though in both cases it's actually their real first name.

* Similarly, {{Rihanna}} is always known as just "Rihanna", but that's actually her real ''middle'' name (her full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty).

* And Beck. And Jewel.

* And, to top it off, {{Morrissey}}, who uses only his ''surname'' (in full, it's Steven Patrick Morrissey).

* {{Beyonce}} after Music/DestinysChild.
* {{Shakira}} - except at UCLA.

* Cher's full name was Cherylinn Sarkisia until she legally changed it to her single name.

* Before people started making proper armies and the urbanization everyone where OnlyOneName. Last names where invented to stop 15 people show up whenever someone screamed 'Tom'; which gives us the poor imagination when it comes to some of the more common last names (Tom the Baker = Tom Baker; John the Smith = John Smith etcetera.)