History Main / NoFullNameGiven

* In the ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series, students of Madame Ko's Personal Protection Academy are instructed never to reveal their first name to the principal (person they are body-guarding), in order to keep the relationship between them strictly professional. Because of this, [[BattleButler Butler's]] first name is not known by Artemis, or the reader, [[spoiler:until he tells Artemis that his first name is "Domovoi" in the third book because he thinks he's on the brink of death and it no longer matters]].

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Side characters always only have one name, or [[NoNameGiven no name at all]]. If a character's full name is given, that character is supernatural in some way.
* When Hidekaz Himaruya revealed the human names of the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' characters, he was asked why Germany didn't have a last name. To this, he replied, "You'll see someday." EpilepticTrees ensued.

* Many of the main characters of ''Anime/ElCazadorDeLaBruja'', Nadie, Ellis, Ricardo, L.A., and Lirio.
* ''Anime/InazumaEleven'':
** Played with in the case of original series Hiroto. He keeps his original last name, Kiyama, after being adopted, but his first name is changed to Hiroto after the deceased son of Kira Seijirou. His original first name was not revealed until ''Ares''.
** Only one of Shuu's names is revealed (it's unknown whether it's his first name or surname), but considering he had a sister (who is only known as "Shuu's sister"), it's likely he has both a surname and a given name.
** There are three Furukabu brothers, but none of them have a mentioned given name.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': The titular Kobayashi is only addressed by her surname. Neither her maid/ImpliedLoveInterest, adoptive child, best friend, or even her parents refer to her as anything else.
* In the ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' OVA, Sara's last name is never given. Her dad is only referred to as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Mr. President]].
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Most if not all characters only have one name. In the English version, the only main characters with known last names are Ash Ketchum, the regional professors (and by extension Gary Oak, Ash's first rival), and Tracey Sketchit. ''None'' of them had last names in the Japanese versions (the "Ketchum" was made to match the lip flaps of "Satoshi", while Shigeru/Gary is never referred to by his grandfather's name). Once in a great while, a random Character of the Day will have a last name (the best examples being the Hoenn champion Steven Stone ["Daigo Tsuwabaki"] and Giselle [Seiyo Yuto] in the Japanese version), but then we often won't know their first name.
** As with most ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' media, ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' counts. In ''Adventures'' out of all the Pokedex Holders only [[DubNameChange Blue]]/Green Oak, Sapphire Birch, Platinum Berlitz, and [[DubNameChange Yvonne]]/Y Gabena have last names, and that's only because the first two are related to professors and Platinum was due to no third game being known when she was first shown (so she was called by a surname until ''Pokemon Platinum'' was released). Y is an exception because her game counterpart (Serena) has no known surname and her last name isn't game-related.
** This trope is made noticeable in ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' when Mitsumi says she is no longer on a FirstNameBasis with [[spoiler:Cyrus]]. The problem is we never even hear his, or anyone else's, last name.

* ''Series/MrBean'': The title character is never given a first name, perhaps because it is heavily implied by the opening credits that he is an alien. The spin-off book ''Mr. Bean's Diary'' contains an old school report of his, but his first name is obscured by an ink blot on the page. However, his passport shows his first name to be 'Mr' (in [[[{{Film/Bean}} the first movie]]) or 'Rowan', the actor's name (in ''Film/MrBeansHoliday'').

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Faith's surname, Lehane, was not revealed in canon until TheRolePlayingGame was released.
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}:'' A minor running gag is that Lt. Columbo never reveals his first name on the show, and everyone either uses his last name or [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep just calls him Lieutenant]]. (In an early episode, he shows an ID badge that gives his first name as Frank, but series creators Creator/LevinsonAndLink have specified [[WordOfGod that wasn't intended to be his canon name]]. They just filled the ID with placeholder text that wasn't supposed to be legible to the audience, and never anticipated that home video and higher-resolution screens would make that text legible years later.)

** Sydney, the man who raised Jarod. The audience never learns his surname (nor, by extension, that of his brother Jacob). The third-season episode "Parole" has an awkward bit of dialog where he needs to introduce himself to a stranger he's not on first-name terms with but the writers need to avoid revealing his surname.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' does this with Sakaki, Kagura, Kaori, and Chihiro, all of whom are exclusively referred to by their first names (with Kaori more often than not going by her nickname, Kaorin).

In older (pre-1900 in North America; pre-1970 in the UK) fiction, a narrator may refer to a character (especially an older or more socially prominent character) by his or her [[LastNameBasis surname]]. This is because at that time given names were much less commonly used socially than they are now; a young character may not even know the given name of an older character he or she is not related to. It was also common in that time to [[SpellMyNameWithABlank blank out]] the names of real people to avoid lawsuits and the like. This is often true in Japanese media set in the modern day as well, as given names are seen as being incredibly personal and sometimes not even used by close friends who still opt to use the surname. Interestingly, the reverse is true if the work is set in some periods of Japanese history where the size of many of the clans that dominated society meant that it was hard to figure out whom one talking about if one just used the surname, so given names were used more instead. In other Asian media, however, one will often hear people referred to by their given names, but almost never by their surnames - partly because of the low diversity of surnames in many Asian languages.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' does this with Sakaki and Kagura's last names (and, to a lesser-character extent, Kaori and Chihiro). The manga (only) one-ups this: while she was in most of the first volume (American version), Mizuhara Koyomi goes entirely unnamed until Azuma spends a whole strip on it: three classmates call her 'Yomi', and the teacher gives out the full name. Partway through Volume 2.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]
* ''{{Film/Clara}}'': Clara's last name is never revealed. She's only called by her first name.

* ''{{Film/Margarita}}'': None of the characters get their last names revealed, only the first ones.

** Palpatine was an example until 2014--nearly four decades after the character was conceived--when the EU novel ''Literature/StarWarsTarkin'' officially established his birth name as "Sheev Palpatine". Similarly, Ackbar was belatedly given a first name to become "Gial Ackbar". The prequel story ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' (written before ''Tarkin'') tried to justify Palpatine's lack of a first name by revealing that he hates his immediate family enough to want to distance himself from the name that they gave him, but still takes pride in his older aristocratic lineage. It's implied that his full name is Cosinga Palpatine II, referencing Creator/GeorgeLucas's very first draft of ''Franchise/StarWars'', in which the Galactic Emperor's name was "Cos Dashit", which in turn inspired the erroneous but very common fanon name "Cos Palpatine".

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/OthersidePicnic'' has Kozakura, who is known only as Kozakura.
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* We never learn Penny's surname in the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Eagle-eyed viewers did spot a letter addressed to a "Penny Teller" she was carrying as a FreezeFrameBonus in one episode and it's possible she became Penny Hofstadter on marrying Leonard and may have been Penny Johnson after drunkenly marrying Zack in Las Vegas but none of these possibilities have ever been confirmed in on-screen dialogue or by the series creators.

* In ''Series/{{MacGyver}}'' (1985), the titular character has an EmbarrassingFirstName, and for several seasons was only known by his surname. Eventually it was revealed to be Angus, but still didn't come into common usage by his friends, and wasn't used by his grandfather, who had raised him.

* On ''Series/{{NewsRadio}}'', Beth's last name is never stated. At one point, she claims not to have one.

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is an interesting case, everyone has only a first name, like Mac, or only a last name, like Mr Herriman. Only two main cast members are exceptions; Frankie has a last name by association (she's Madame Foster's granddaughter, and her ID confirms her last name is Foster) and Bloo because a 3-year-old Mac apparently thought "Blooregard Q. Kazoo" was a great name.

** Mr. Lyle is an interesting case, as that's an alias he adopted, and he may not even ''have'' a first name. One episode does reveal his full childhood name, but he would probably argue that [[DoNotCallMePaul that's not his name any more]], if it ever really was.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': Angie (Brittas? secretary in the first series) is only referred to by her first name during her time on the show.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': The last name of Malcolm's family is never revealed. This is [[LampshadedHanging lampshaded]] twice in the series finale when Malcolm is introduced as valedictorian, his last name is covered up by a microphone screech, and his brother Francis has an ID badge that reads "Francis Nolastname".

* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Almost every character only has their first name disclosed, with the two exceptions of Mariko Kurama and and Anna Kakuzawa.

* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Almost every character only has their first name disclosed, with the three exceptions of Mariko Kurama, Yuu Kakuzawa, and Anna Kakuzawa.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': A huge amount of characters, including the main 3 of Guts, Griffith and Casca have never had their last names revealed. While it makes sense for the former 2 considering Guts grew up with an abusive step-parent and had to flee after killing him in self-defense at a young age, and Griffith was implied to be a street urchin orphan, but Casca lived with her parents until she was 12, and the numerous other important characters who don't have their first names ever revealed don't have a justification either.
* ''Anime/ElfenLied'': Almost every character only has their first name disclosed, with the three exceptions of Mariko Kurama, Yuu Kakuzawa and Anna Kakuzawa.

* When Hidekaz Himaruya revealed the human names of the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' characters, he was asked why Germany didn't have a last name. To this he replied "You'll see someday." EpilepticTrees ensued.

** Art Club members Homura, Uozumi and Mizubuchi have only one known name. It's unclear clear if their names are first or last names.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' never gives last names to Lua, Luca, Bruno, Yeager, Bommer, Demack, any of the Emperors of Yliaster or members of Team Unicorn, Team Catastrophe and Team Ragnarok. Which is actually very strange, because most characters are given them.

** Only one of Shuu's names is revealed (it's unknown whether it's his first-name or surname), but considering he had a sister (who is only known as "Shuu's sister"), it's likely he has both a surname and a given name.

** As with most ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' media, ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' counts. In ''Adventures'' out of all the Pokedex Holders only [[DubNameChange Blue]]/Green Oak, Sapphire Birch, Platinum Berlitz, and [[DubNameChange Yvonne]]/Y Gabena have last names, and that's only because the first two are related to professors and Platinum was due to no third game being known when she was first shown (so she was called by a surname until ''Pokemon Platinum'' was released). Y is an exception, because her game counterpart (Serena) has no known surname and her last name isn't game related.

* Miss Lace, in the WWII comic feature ''ComicStrip/MaleCall'' was known only by that name, and refused point blank to answer a direct question as to whether 'Lace' was her first or last name.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': Dr. Mariko, Nadezhda, Esfir and Lubyov are only known by their first names. Tejada and Sergeant Travis meanwhile are only known by their last names.

* More than half of the named characters in ''Film/{{Payback}}'' only ever get one named used. The VillainProtagonist is Porter, the HighClassCallGirl [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold with a heart of gold]] is Rosie, the [[BondageIsBad dominatrix]] connected to a [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triad gang]] is Pearl. The [[CorruptCop crooked cops]] are Hicks and Leary. TheDon of TheSyndicate is Bronson, whose [[CoDragons two subordinates]] are Carter and Fairfax. Lampshaded when Carter asks Porter's TokenMotivationalNemesis Val Resnick for Porter's first name, and Val tries to think for a minute before admitting he no idea and has only ever heard him called Porter.

* We never learn Penny's surname in the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Eagle eyed viewers did spot a letter addressed to a "Penny Teller" she was carrying as a FreezeFrameBonus in one episode and it's possible she became Penny Hofstadter on marrying Leonard and may have been Penny Johnson after drunkenly marrying Zack in Las Vegas but none of these possibilities have ever been confirmed in on screen dialogue or by the series creators.

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': The last name of Malcolm's family is never revealed. This is [[LampshadedHanging lampshaded]] twice in the series finale, when Malcolm is introduced as valedictorian, his last name is covered up by a microphone screech, and his brother Francis has a ID badge that reads "Francis Nolastname".

* ''VideoGame/GoingUnder'': Worker humans. Only known surname is of protagonist, Jaqueline "Jackie" Fiasco.

** Gloria and Al's surnames are unknown. Their daughter Linda changed her last name to Belcher after she married Bob, but her maiden name is left unsaid, which is why their last name haven't been said.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is an interesting case, everyone has only a first name, like Mac, or only a last name, like Mr Herriman. Only two main cast members are exceptions; Frankie has a last name by association (she's Madame Foster's Granddaughter, and her ID confirms her last name is Foster) and Bloo, because a 3-year-old Mac apparently thought "Blooregard Q. Kazoo" was a great name.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOctonauts'': In a series that has {{Species Surname}}s for most characters, Tracker, Min, Professor Natquik and Ryla have no known last names.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': Rocko's last name was never given in the show proper. In the episode "Speaking Terms", the on-screen captions saying Heffer's and Rocko's names refer to Heffer by his full name Heffer Wolfe, but they only call Rocko by his first name.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is an interesting case, everyone has only a first name, like Mac, or only a last name, like Mr Herriman. Only two main cast members are exceptions; Frankie has a last name by association (she's Madame Foster's Granddaughter, and her ID confirms her last name is Foster) and Bloo, because a 3-year-old Mac apparently though "Blooregard Q. Kazoo" was a great name.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Until the Jungle Movie (which revealed it to be [[spoiler:Shortman]]), Arnold's surname was subject to several cases of TheUnreveal (E.g a smudge over it, poor handwriting obscuring it etc).
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Boomhauer goes the entire series without his first name being revealed; his friends and family only refer to him by his last name. A brief shot of his wallet in the GrandFinale reveals that [[spoiler: his first name is Jeff and he's a Texas Ranger -- the law enforcement agency, not the baseball team]].

* ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'': [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998 The Powerpuff Girls]] would logically have last names, due to being Professor Utonium's daughters, but this is rarely acknowledged in any official media. One episode of the original series has the Professor offhandedly mention that they're "Utoniums", but the girls never use their surname. The 2016 reboot had Blossom refer to herself as "[[AdaptationNameChange Blossom Powerpuff]]" before season 2 went back to "Utonium" as their surname (specifically, their [[LongLostRelative long lost]] sister is named "Blisstina Utonium").
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': Rocko's last name was never given in the show proper. In the episode "Speaking Terms", the on-screen captions saying Heffer and Rocko's names refer to Heffer by his full name Heffer Wolfe, but they only call Rocko by his first name.

* On ''Series/{{NewsRadio}}'', Beth's last name is never stated. At one point, she says she doesn't have one.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is an interesting case, everyone has only a first name, like Mac, or only a last name, like Mr Herriman. Only two main cast members are exceptions; Frankie has a last name by association (she's Madame Foster's Granddaughter, and her ID confirms her last name is Foster) and Bloo, because a 3-year-old Mac apparently though "Blooregard Q Kazoo" was a great name.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': Boomhauer goes the entire series without his first name being revealed; his friends and family only refer to him by his last name. A brief shot of his wallet in the GrandFinale reveals his name is [[spoiler:Jeff Boomhauer, of the Texas Rangers.]]

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': BJ Hunnicutt's full name is never revealed. After Hawkeye spends an entire episode trying to figure it out, BJ claims he was named after his mother Bea and his father, Jay, but it's unclear if he means it or is just kidding.

** Lita's surname is unspoken, even in her WeddingEpisode.

* We never learn Penny's surname in the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Eagle eyed viewers did spot a letter addressed to a "Penny Teller" she was carrying as a FreezeFrameBonus in one episode and Iit's possible she became Penny Hofstadter on marrying Leonard and may have been Penny Johnson after drunkenly marrying Zack in Las Vegas but none of these possibilities have ever been confirmed in on screen dialogue or by the series creators.

Charles from ''Series/CharlesInCharge'' has no last name.
In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Faith's surname, Lehane, was not revealed in canon until TheRolePlayingGame was released.

* In ''Series/{{MacGyver}}'' (1985), the titular character has an EmbarrassingFirstName, and for several seasons was only known by his surname. Eventually it was revealed to be Angus, but still didn't come into common usage by his friends, wasn't used by his grandfather, who had raised him.