History Main / OnlyOneName

** Most characters, especially minor ones, but also some main characters (Nami, Usopp and Brook) have only one name. This becomes jarring when the main characters get wanted posters. Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin, Tony Tony Chopper, and... just Brook or Usopp?
** Sanji is a subversion. It initially appears as if he has just one name, but his surname is eventually revealed in the Zou arc: [[spoiler:it's Vinsmoke]]. His wanted poster still only refers to him by his given name, though. Until after Whole Cake Island where his family surname is placed on his wanted poster and actually [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast raised his bounty]] as a result.
*** Sanji is an invoked example; he chooses not use his name because his family are actually [[spoiler:the royal family of the Germa Kingdom, which he defected from due to being unable to deal with his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]]]]. Using his surname would have revealed his true identity.

* Wrestling/{{WWE}}:
This happens so often in WWE that it's led to a meme called "The Name Goblin", who randomly steals half of a wrestler's name some time after they debut. In recent years, [[Wrestling/BigELangston Big E]] (Langston), (Antonio) [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Cesaro]], (Alexander) Wrestling/{{Rusev|AndLana}}, (Adrian) [[Wrestling/AdrianNeville Neville]], Wrestling/{{Elias}} (Samson), [[Wrestling/LaSombra Andrade]] (Cien Almas), (Mustafa) [[Wrestling/MustafaAli Ali]], (Matt) [[Wrestling/MattRiddle Riddle]], (Tommaso) [[Wrestling/TommasoCiampa Ciampa]], and (Austin) Theory have all had chunks of their names lopped off after debuting. The name reduction is never explained and never acknowledged. The most popular theories are that either having one name makes them easier and/or cheaper to market somehow, and that someone high up on creative (usually Wrestling/VinceMcMahon himself) thinks having a single name makes them sound tougher. Since taking over the wrestling side of the company in 2022 Wrestling/TripleH has started getting rid of the weird "Vince-isms", including this one, with Riddle and Theory getting their first names back shortly after Vince retired.
** WWE women got hit by the single name trend somewhat earlier than the men did. During the Attitude Era women ''usually'' had full names, like Terri Runnels and Stacy Carter. However, by the mid-2000s the then-Divas had not only one name, but usually rather generic first names, such as Wrestling/{{Maryse}}, Wrestling/{{Layla}}, Maria, Wrestling/{{Melina}}, Maxine, Wrestling/{{Natalya|Neidhart}}, [[Wrestling/TenilleDashwood Emma]], and Wrestling/{{Paige}}. Also noticeable is that the WWE fanbase has actively revolted against this, often using a CanonName, such as names they used in developmental, to the extent that WWE has actually started using them again, as has happened with Cameron Lynn, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/NaomiKnight (or not), and Wrestling/AJLee. (In Charlotte's case, she started out using only "Charlotte", despite being acknowledged on-screen as Wrestling/{{Ric|Flair}}'s real-life daughter.)

* The roles played by [[Creator/MarxBrothers Chico and Harpo Marx]] usually had Only One Name ([[Film/DuckSoup Chicolini and Pinky]], [[Film/ANightAtTheOpera Fiorello and Tomasso]], [[Film/ADayAtTheRaces Tony and Stuffy]], etc.), whereas Groucho's characters usually had two names and a middle initial ([[Film/DuckSoup Rufus T. Firefly]], [[Film/ANightAtTheOpera Otis B. Driftwood]], [[Film/ADayAtTheRaces Hugo Z. Hackenbush]], etc.). An exception is ''Animal Crackers'', where Chico is "Signor Emmanuel Ravelli" and Harpo is just [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep "The Professor"]].

** WWE women got hit by the single name trend somewhat earlier than the men did. During the Attitude Era women ''usually'' had full names, like Terri Runnels and Stacy Carter. However, by the mid-2000s the then-Divas had not only one name, but usually rather generic first names, such as Wrestling/{{Maryse}}, Wrestling/{{Layla}}, Maria, Wrestling/{{Melina}}, Maxine, Wrestling/{{Natalya|Neidhart}}, [[Wrestling/TenilleDashwood Emma]], and Wrestling/{{Paige}}. Also noticeable is that the WWE fanbase has actively revolted against this, often using a CanonName, such as names they used in developmental, to the extent that WWE has actually started using them again, as has happened with Cameron Lynn, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/{{Naomi}} Knight (or not), and Wrestling/AJLee. (In Charlotte's case, she started out using only "Charlotte", despite being acknowledged on-screen as Wrestling/{{Ric|Flair}}'s real-life daughter.)

* In the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' novels, Jez is one of the few surviving Mixitor, a vampire-like race who were massacred in an uprising by their 'bloodservants' - and she is also a member of the noble class, which was almost completely wiped out. She doesn't use either her full name Jeziandra or her 'house' name in everyday life, and it's implied that this is because she's seeking to distance herself from her DarkAndTroubledPast.

* ''Everyone'' in ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'' except [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Abe no Seimei, Minamoto no Hiromasa]] and Kijo Momiji, but [[spoiler:Kagura]] deserves a special mention for [[spoiler:never being addressed as ''Minamoto no'' Kagura even after the revelation that she is Hiromasa's sister]].

** The original Valentine of ''Overture'' was succeeded by three new Valentines in ''Xrd'' (Ramlethal, Elphelt, and Jack-O'). This could retroactively indicate LastNameBasis was in play (as Valentine appears to be a SpeciesSurname for any [[CloningBlues clones]] of [[spoiler:Aria]]), though it's equally possible that her name was simply Valentine.

** ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'' and ''ComicBook/Batgirl2000'' villain Ling has the street name Lynx but otherwise only the one name; no matter who she's introducing herself to it's just Ling or Lynx.

** This sort of thing applies to every SPARTAN-II SuperSoldier; because all of them were "recruited" and brainwashed by the military as children, none of them remember their family names, which were replaced by designation numbers. The only SPARTAN-II who even uses a surname is Kurt-051, who was given the last name of Ambrose as a cover when he was assigned to trained the [=SPARTAN-IIIs=]. However, expanded universe material have gradually revealed the original surnames of more and more [=SPARTAN-IIs=]: so far, we know of [[spoiler:Kurt M. Trevelyan, Naomi Sentzke, Frederic Ellsworth, Linda Pravdin, Kelly Shaddock, Douglas Rutland, Jerome Cable, and Alice Treske]].

** Also, Death the Kid, being a younger Death.
** Strangely, Crona seems to have just that name as well, even though his/her mother had the last name "Gorgon".

* In French-speaking countries it is a quite common phenomenon for people working in the arts and literature to use made-up names of this type, e. g. playwright Creator/{{Moliere}} (born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), writer and philosopher Creator/{{Voltaire}} (Francois-Marie Arouet), novelist Creator/{{Stendhal}} (Henri Beyle), the architect Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris), actors Creator/{{Fernandel}} (Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin), Arletty (Léonie Bathiat), Creator/{{Bourvil}} (André-Zacharie Raimbourg), Creator/{{Coluche}} (Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci), Creator/{{Capucine}} (Germaine Lefebvre) and Creator/{{Maiwenn}} (Maïwenn Le Besco), and comics artists Creator/{{Moebius}} (Jean Henri Gaston Giraud), Morris (Maurice De Bevere) and Tibet (Gilbert Gascard).
** Among FrancoBelgianComics creators there is a particular fashion to use noms-de-plume that are phonetic representations of their initials, a fashion probably started by Creator/{{Herge}} (Georges Rémi) that includes Achdé, Creator/{{Peyo}}, Jijé, Jidéem, etc. Marvano (Marc van Oppen) is a borderline case.

--> '''Chunt:''' Mmmm... [[CatchPhrase Chunt, please!]]

*** 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, ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is the other extreme: No surnames in Spira! But hey, in a country where you can call your goth-child "Lulu", does it really matter? Tidus, who comes from a really BIG city hasn't got a last name either, but that's due to [[HelloInsertNameHere his name being an extreme case of "optional"]] (so extreme that other characters [[HeyYou only refer to him as "You"]]).

** The series of characters known as "Cid". Excluding the ones in the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI first]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII second]], tenth, and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI eleventh]] games, most Cids have full names. There's Cid Haze (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII III]]''), Cid Pollendina (''IV''), Cid Previa (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV V]]''), Cid Del Norte Marquez (''VI''), Cid Highwind (''VII''), Cid Kramer (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]''), Cid Fabool IX (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]''), Cidolfas Demen Bunansa (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]''), Cid Raines (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII XIII]]''), and Cid nan Garlond (''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV XIV]]''). A few notable Cids from the spin-offs have their own full names too, like Cidolfus Orlandeau from ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics Tactics]]''.

** There are only a handful of playable characters in this series who ''don't'' abide by this rule: Sol Badguy ([[ThatManIsDead ori]][[MeaningfulRename gin]][[AppropriatedAppellation ally]] Frederick Bulsara), Ky Kiske, Millia Rage, Chipp Zanuff, Axl Low, Kliff Undersn, Anji Mito, Jam Kuradoberi, Sin [[spoiler:Kiske]], Leo Whitefang, Kum Haehyun, Goldlewis Dickinson, and--arguably--Happy Chaos (which is an alias he adopted during ''REV 2''; his original name remains unknown). Justice too, on account of TheReveal ([[OpenSecret sort of]]) in ''Xrd'' that she's [[spoiler:Sol's girlfriend Aria, who was given the last name Hale in materials following ''Xrd''[='s=] release]]. Originally, there was a pretty good balance in terms of "full names vs. only one name" but it started to go out the window from ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearX X]]'' onward, not helped by a majority of characters [[ShoutOut/GuiltyGear being named after]] rock bands and musicians (ex. [[Music/BrianMay May]], Music/{{Testament}}, Music/{{Slayer}}, [[Music/BrianEno I-No]], [[Music/FrankZappa Zappa]], etc.) due to AuthorAppeal on the part of Creator/DaisukeIshiwatari. Some of the characters who follow this naming convention (and even some who don't, such as Baiken) may instead fall under NoFullNameGiven, but it's yet to be clarified in-universe.
** Testament is an unusual case, as they were actually adopted by Kliff (Testament is presumably the name they were given after [[WasOnceAMan their conversion into a Gear]]), meaning their surname would logically be Undersn via adoption. Despite their fondness for their father even after losing and regaining their memory, Testament's [[MisanthropeSupreme low opinion of humans]] prior to ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive -STRIVE-]]'' and probable lack of legal status (on account of [[FantasticRacism being a Gear]]) most likely explain why they never reclaimed their last name.
** Since she never knew her parents, Dizzy only goes by, well, "Dizzy." Though by ''Overture'' she could arguably be called Dizzy [[spoiler:Kiske]], and later material suggests her full birth name should be something along the lines of Dizzy [[spoiler:Hale-Bulsara]].

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', finally, allowed the Disney characters to keep their last names, but eliminated those of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' characters, save for Squall's surname, "Leonhart" -- it becomes his first name (which was further pared down to "Leon" in the English releases). The original ''KH''-characters themselves are surname-less, like in ''FFX''.

** Many of the main party members from the ''VideoGame/EarthBound''/''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series have Only One Name. Jeff's is only inferred from him being the son of Dr. Andonuts.

** {{Justified|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', as soldiers of Keves and Agnus are born from PeopleJars and have no concept of family or lineage to justify a surname (and such concepts would be actively stamped out by [[NebulousEvilOrganization Moebius]] if they ever did spring up). The closest they get is [[RedBaron a title relating to their combat abilities or prowess,]] and at least one colony doesn't even allow its inhabitants to have ''[[YouAreNumberSix first names]]'' until the party liberates it. [[LaResistance The City]] on the other hand somewhat averts this, as much of its population comes from one of six noble families [[HeroicLineage originating from the City's founders,]] making family names a big deal for them, though there are still plenty of {{NPC}}s whose surnames aren't shown, even if they have them.

* In ''LightNovel/LordMarksmanAndVanadis'', only nobles and royalty have surnames, while commoners like the maid Titta only have one name.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'': Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, just to name the central three. However, Ganondorf was given the last name "Dragmire" in the English manual for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', and Zelda's last name is suggested to be [[LordCountry "Hyrule"]], given that the King mentioned in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' is named Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule and her father in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' is named Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule.

* In ''Film/{{Superbad}}'', Fogell's FakeID has only "[=McLovin=]" listed as his name; Evan immediately points out how stupid that is when he sees it.

* In French-speaking countries it is a quite common phenomenon for people working in the arts and literature to use made-up names of this type, e. g. playwright Creator/{{Moliere}} (born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), writer and philosopher Creator/{{Voltaire}} (Francois-Marie Arouet), novelist Creator/{{Stendhal}} (Henri Beyle), the architect Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris), actors Creator/{{Fernandel}} (Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin), Arletty (Léonie Bathiat), Creator/{{Bourvil}} (André-Zacharie Raimbourg), Creator/{{Coluche}} (Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci), and Creator/{{Capucine}} (Germaine Lefebvre), and comics artists Creator/{{Moebius}} (Jean Henri Gaston Giraud), Morris (Maurice De Bevere) and Tibet (Gilbert Gascard).

* From the 60s, Music/{{Donovan}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Engn3Ar3k Melanie]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAnpvh6nC4U Melissa]] and [[Creator/RichardBrautigan Victoria]].