History OnlyKnownByTheirNickname / RealLife

* Welsh life peeress, television presenter and former wheelchair racer Tanni Grey-Thompson was born Carys Davina Grey, but her older Siân, referred to her as "tiny" as she first saw her, but pronounced it as "tanni" - the unique nickname stuck.

* Edrice Femi Adebayo, NBA star with the Miami Heat... also generally known as Bam. As in Margera's case, Adebayo's page at The Other Wiki uses Bam instead of any of his given names.

* While there are a handful of people with names such as "Spike", "Duke", "Biff", "Dutch", "Butch", "Ace" or "Buster", these are most of the time not their real names, and they're not short for anything, rather, they are chosen for their [[RedBaron indicator of badasness]] or just because they're fitting of the bearer:
** "Spike" is borne by many people, including [[Creator/SpikeMilligan Terence Milligan]], [[Creator/SpikeSpencer Charles Spencer]], [[Creator/SpikeLee Shelton Lee]], [[Music/SpikeJones Lindley Jones]] and [[Creator/SpikeJonze Adam Spiegel]].
** Then there's "Duke" which is popular among musicians such as [[Music/DukeEllington Edward Ellington]], [[Music/FourTops Abdul Fakir]] and [[Music/{{Garbage}} Douglas Erikson]].
** There's [[Creator/BusterKeaton Joseph Keaton]], known as "Buster" since an injury when he was infant which he shrugged off got him called that by a family friend.
** Elmer Hartman, better known as Creator/ButchHartman.

* Creator/SpikeMilligan (real first name Terrence).

* Creator/CharlieChaplin: His official name is Charles Spencer Chaplin, but everyone -- even serious encyclopaedia -- refer to him as "Charlie" Chaplin.
* Creator/WaltDisney was almost never called "Walter", except that one time Creator/RudyardKipling's daughter told animator Creator/ChuckJones (whose given name was Charles) how much she hated Disney's adaptation of her father's ''[[Literature/TheJungleBook Jungle Book]]''.

** [[Creator/OJSimpson Orenthal James "OJ" Simpson]].

** Thomas Kenneth "Ken" Mattingly II.

* One of the most famous Spanish guerrilla leaders of the war against Napoleon was Don Juan Martin Diaz, known as ''el Empecinado''. After the war he got royal permission to use his nickname instead of "Diaz".

** Born Zhao Zheng (or Ying Zheng, if we use modern naming traditions), the self-declared first emperor of China is now perhaps best known as "Qin Shi Huang" (literally "First Emperor of Qin". Indeed, such was his determination to be known as this that his personal name (Zheng) became a taboo name, to the extent that even the first person pronoun "zhen" was for his personal use only.

* An unusual case happened in 1920s China. Philologist-turned-language reformer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qian_Xuantong Qian Xuantong]] noticed schoolmates started calling his third son Bingqiong "Sanqiang", he persuaded the latter to change his name to Sanqiang instead, probably because Bingqiong is overly classical in form[[note]]The character for "qiong", 穹, literally means "dome", but by early modernity it becomes an obscure character whose only use is in the set phrase "cangqiong" ("[[HeavenlyBlue blue]] dome"), a poetic allegory to the heavens.[[/note]] and no long sits well with his own beliefs. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qian_Sanqiang Qian Sanqiang]] eventually becomes "the father of [[UsefulNotes/TheDragonsTeeth China's atomic bombs]]."

* Edrice Femi Adebayo, rising NBA star with the Miami Heat... also generally known as Bam. As in Margera's case, Adebayo's page at The Other Wiki uses Bam instead of any of his given names.

* From the moment his birth was announced, [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Henry Charles Albert David]]'s parents declared that he would be informally called "Harry". He's never been referred to as anything else, not even at his wedding (although his full name was used on the invitation, the program, and at the beginning of the ceremony, "Harry" was used for the exchange of rings/recitation of vows/declaration of marriage/nuptial blessing). This is unusual for the British royal family, which typically don't allow the use of nicknames and diminutives (his sister-in-law had to switch from Kate to Catherine). This even extends to his son Archie, whose middle name is Harrison, which means "son of Harry" rather than "Henry". His wife herself is an example of this, having long been known on the MiddleNameBasis of "Creator/{{Meghan|Markle}}" rather than her first of "Rachel", and their daughter Lilibet Diana will be called "Lili".

* From the moment his birth was announced, [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Henry Charles Albert David]]'s parents declared that he would be informally called "Harry". He's never been referred to as anything else, not even at his wedding (although his full name was used on the invitation, the program, and at the beginning of the ceremony, "Harry" was used for the exchange of rings/recitation of vows/declaration of marriage/nuptial blessing). This is unusual for the British royal family, who typically don't allow the use of nicknames and diminutives (his sister-in-law had to switch from Kate to Catherine). This even extends to his son Archie, whose middle name is Harrison, which means "son of Harry" rather than "Henry". His wife herself is an example of this, having long been known on the MiddleNameBasis of "Creator/{{Meghan|Markle}}" rather than her first of "Rachel", and their daughter Lilibet Diana will be called "Lili".

* From the moment his birth was announced, [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Henry Charles Albert David]]'s parents declared that he would be informally called "Harry". He's never been referred to as anything else, not even at his wedding (although his full name was used on the invitation, the program, and at the beginning of the ceremony, "Harry" was used for the exchange of rings/recitation of vows/declaration of marriage/nuptial blessing). This even extends to his son Archie, whose middle name is Harrison, which means "son of Harry" rather than "Henry". His wife herself is an example of this, having long been known on the MiddleNameBasis of "Creator/{{Meghan|Markle}}" rather than her first of "Rachel", and their daughter Lilibet Diana will be called "Lili".

* Abdullah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa companion of Prophet Muhammad never called that he always by his kunya(nickname)is Abu Bakr meaning father of Young Camel.

* Abdullah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa companion of [[UsefulNotes/Islam Prophet Muhammad]] never called that he always by his kunya(nickname)is Abu Bakr meaning father of Young Camel.

* Abdullah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa companion of Prophet Muhammad never called that he always by his kunya(nickname)is Abu Bakr.

** Many think the subject of ''Film/EddieTheEagle'' is Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. Nope. The nickname is "Eddie the Eagle". His ''real'' name is Michael David Edwards.

** Dutch Schultz (Arthur Simon Flegenheimer)

** Legs Diamond (Jack Diamond)

** Later, there was ''Caracalla'', whose birth name was Lucius Septimius Bassianus, with his nickname originating from a type of hooded tunic he commonly wore. and on the same dynasty, there was also Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, who'd become better known as ''Elagabalus'', after the Syrian god he was a high priest of. It didn't help that both of them also used the same regal name, ''Marcus Aurelius Antoninus''.

* UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}: His real name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, but to distinguish him from his similarly-named relatives he's known by his childhood nickname of ''little (soldier's) boot.''

* Norman "Boomer" Esiason.

** Many think the subject of ''Film/EddieTheEagle'' is Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards. Nope. The nickname is "Eddie the Eagle". His ''real'' name is Michael David Edwards.

** Lawrence "Yogi" Berra.

* In historical China, men (and sometimes women) received courtesy names at age 20. Elders could still use your birth name, but everyone else had to use this courtesy name. This means that many Chinese historical figures are only referred to by their nicknames - [[UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} Laozi]] (real name Li Er), most of the characters in Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms, UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek (real name Chiang Choutai/[[UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName Jiang Zhoutai]]) and Sun Yat-sen (real name Sun Deming) for example. Confucius is a double-example: his birth-name was Kong Qiu, his courtesy name was Zhongni, and he is most often called Kong Fuzi ('Great Master Kong'), which Matteo Rici [[GratuitousLatin Latinised]] to 'Confucius.'

* An unusual case happened in 1920s China. Philologist-turned-language reformer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qian_Xuantong Qian Xuantong]] noticed schoolmates started calling his third son Bingqiong "Sanqiang", he persuaded the latter to change his name to Sanqiang instead, probably because Bingqiong is overly classical in form[[note]]The character for "qiong", 穹, literally means "dome," but by early modernity it becomes an obscure character whose only use is in the set phrase "cangqiong" ("[[HeavenlyBlue blue]] dome"), a poetic allegory to the heavens.[[/note]] and no long sits well with his own beliefs. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qian_Sanqiang Qian Sanqiang]] eventually becomes "the father of [[UsefulNotes/TheDragonsTeeth China's atomic bombs]]."

* In East German punk circles, nicknames were frequently used so that if caught by the Stasi, one couldn’t break and reveal the real names of their friends. A famous example that stuck over time is Christian “Flake” Lorenz from Music/{{Rammstein}}. Richard Z. Kruspe is frequently referred to by his bandmates as his old nickname “Scholle,” but doesn’t use the name himself anymore.

* From the moment his birth was announced, [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Henry Charles Albert David]]'s parents declared that he would be informally called "Harry". He's never been referred to as anything else, not even at his wedding (although his full name was used on the invitation, the program, and at the beginning of the ceremony, "Harry" was used for the exchange of rings/recitation of vows/declaration of marriage/nuptial blessing). This even extends to his son Archie, whose middle name is Harrison, which means "son of Harry" rather than "Henry". His wife herself is an example of this, having long been known on the MiddleNameBasis of "Meghan" rather than her first of "Rachel", and their daughter Lilibet Diana will be called "Lili".

* Many outlaws of any kind can known by their nicknames instead of their real name as they gain notoriety.

** Many well-known boxers, such as James "Buster" Douglas, Rocco "Rocky" Marciano, James "Bonecrusher" Smith, Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, and Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez are commonly referred to by their nicknames.

** Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Later took the name by deed poll.
* An interesting case: In many historical cultures it has been custom to call certain things (most especially animals) by euphemism (the Greeks referring to the Erinyes as Eumenides or "The Kindly Ones" is one such example, TheFairFolk is another) to avoid their attention. A particularly interesting case is the word "bear" (and it's variations in other Germanic languages) that is precisely such a euphemism. Only, we have no idea what the original name was. Bears are ''literally'' only known by their nicknames.

** The best Presidential example is [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.]] He was the first President to officially sign documents with his nickname rather than his full name. Back during his days there were even official news agencies and TV channels who refused to name him "Jimmy" Carter, because it sounded so childish.

* Famous painters: Creator/SandroBotticelli (Alessandro die Mariano Filipepi, named after the goldsmith to whom he had been apprenticed), Canaletto (Antonio da Canal), the other Canaletto (Bernardo Bellotto), El Greco (Dominikos "the Greek" Theotokopoulos), three male artists called Tintoretto ("the little dyer", a nickname of the family, whose original name is Robusti) and a female one from the same family called "la Tintoretta."

* Creator/{{Rumi}}, whose real name was Muhammad bin Muhammad bin al-Husayn al-Khatibi al-Balkhi al-Bakri. The sobriquet means "from Rome," because he resided in what used to be the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]]. The Persians and Turks know him as "Mawlawi" (our master) instead.