History Main / OnlyOneName

* The title character of ''EurekaSeven''. In the AlternateUniverse [[TheMovie Movie]] one screen says her last name (which she probably had as she spent a good part of her life among the general populace) is "Zita".

** 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.

* Björk Gudmundsdottir, better known as simply [[Music/{{Bjork}} "Björk"]] (even in her native Iceland, and even when she's not performing, because of the Real Life example below).

* 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.

** 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?

*** 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.

* Many, ''many'' Nintendo characters. As a rule of thumb, only futuristic characters are given full names ([[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], [[VideoGame/StarFox Fox McCloud]], [[VideoGame/{{F-Zero}} Captain Douglas Jay Falcon]]), while the iconic Mario has OnlyOneName (except in ''The SuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' and [[VideoGameMoviesSuck the movie]], where it's [[RepetitiveName Mario Mario]] to justify the term ''Mario Bros''), and so do most other characters of his series. Other series:

* Dion (his real name), a singer from the 1960s, known for hits such as "Teenager in Love" (with his band Dion and the Belmonts), "Runaround Sue", "Susie Q", "The Wanderer", and "[[Abraham Lincoln Abraham]], [[MartinLutherKingJr Martin]], and [[JohnFKennedy John]]".

** Other exceptions include Chris [==McLean==], [[OverlyLongName Harold]], [[OnlyKnownByInitials DJ]], Alejandro, Blaineley and Anne Maria.

*** 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]].

* Music/{{Beyonce}} after Music/DestinysChild.

* 90's R&B princesses Brandy, Monica, and Aaliyah.

* ''[[TwentyTwentySeven 2027]]'': Daniel's last name is never revealed.

TruthInTelevision for [[OlderThanDirt most of history]]. [[TheMagnificent Bynames]], epithets, and family names were used only when necessary to distinguish between people with the same name. In much of the world, having multiple names (for non-royalty) is a relatively recent invention.

* In Artemis Fowl, Foaly's first name is never given for definite but it may be Paddox. This is because his wife's name is Callabine Paddox Foaly.

* Lampshaded in one of the ''{{Pendragon}}'' books, where Bobby says something to the effect of, 'What is it with these people? Am I the only one with two names?"

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', those born as commoners in Westeros rarely have last names, leading to many characters without them. In addition, Septons (priests) and Maesters (order of scholars) discard their family name and the High Septon (head of the clergy) discards even his given one.
* Chiun from the ''{{Destroyer}}'' books, although he did change his name from Nuihc.

* In [[IainBanks Iain M. Banks']] ''AgainstADarkBackground'', protagonist Sharrow, as a member of the highest level of aristocracy, has only a single name, while lower social classes have more names.
* Maximum Ride of er... ''MaximumRide'' is the only human-avian to have a surname in the first book. In Book Two [[spoiler: Iggy finds his family]] and consequently, a last name but [[spoiler: he abandons them because they want to sell his story]].
* In ''TheGiver'', everybody has only one name (and a serial number).
* The quaddies from LoisMcMasterBujold's ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Falling Free]]'', being artificial people, didn't actually have names as such, just appellations derived from their serial numbers like "Tony" or "Claire." Some of these are unusual ("Silver") and some are downright odd ("Pramod".) In ''Diplomatic Immunity'', set 200 years later, it's revealed that so many quaddies wanted to name babies after these founding heroes that later generations were forced to allow duplicate names, with numerical suffixes to keep them all straight. There are over 99 people named "Leo" alone.

* In JasperFforde's ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' books, the titular character's father is referred to only as "Colonel Next". It is revealed that he actually ''has'' no first name, due to having been erased from the timeline by [[TimePolice the Chronoguard]] after he went rogue.
* Not a ''single'' character in ''Literature/TheTigersWife'' has their surname revealed.
* In Creator/CharlesDickens' ''Literature/GreatExpectations'', the main character Pip is raised by his sister and her husband Joe, but the sister's given name is never mentioned. She is referred to only as "Mrs. Joe".

* [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Hundreds of characters]] in ''WarAndPeace''. Zherkov, Raevsky, Tikhon, [[EvilChancellor Speransky]], [[TheStrategist Pfuel]], etc. Most of the historical characters are only referred to with one name (such as General Mack and Marshals Murat and Davout) since Tolstoy probably assumed anyone reading this book in 1870 would recognize the names from history lessons.

* Almost everyone in ''{{Uglies}}'', save for Tally Youngblood and Andrew Simpson Smith. Most of the ''Extras'' characters get last names, but we still never learn the last names of the characters from the original trilogy who show up. Dr. Cable is also only ever Dr. Cable, and David may not actually ''have'' a last name.

* Elizabeth from ''House Of Night'', who named herself 'Elizabeth No Last Names' because she couldn't be bothered to come up with a new last name. This trope might as well be named after her!

* ''InDeath'': Roarke. This is his family name; his father is named Patrick Roarke. Creator/NoraRoberts has stated that she will never, ever reveal what his given name is.
* Waco from the novels of JTEdson. He was orphaned as a baby when his family was killed in a raid by the Waco indian tribe, which is what he takes his name from.
* Laurent in ''ThereseRaquin''. We're never told if that's his first or last name.

* Several characters in SergeyLukyanenko's ''LineOfDelirium'' only appear to have one name. This is justified in the case of Sedimin, the ruler of the [[SiliconBasedLife Silicoids]], as his name is synonymous with the title (the Foot of the Foundation), which he gained after becoming the ruler through KlingonPromotion. Not justified in the case of the human Emperor Grey. Nowhere in the trilogy is any other name mentioned. The [[TheCyborg Meklar]] also appear to only have one name, which tends to be written with an apostrophe or a slash (it's translated from machine code anyway). A [[BearsAreBadNews Bulrathi]] named Ahhar is, at one point, calls himself Shivukim Ahhar, although Shivukim could be a Bulrathi title or honorific. The cyborg Andrey never reveals his last name; presumably, he feels he no longer needs one, as he is not human anymore. The famous weapons designer Martyzenski doesn't appear to have a first name. Then again, he only shows up in one scene.

** The author has also used this as a subtle [[TheReveal Reveal]]. [[spoiler:Mori, the fake maid]], is only known by her family name for several books, but when Kyon meets her in a context that implies she's an esper, he suddenly calls her by her full name.

* MyLittlePony follows roughly the same naming convention. On the odd occasion that we get the names of multiple members of pony families, they'll share a [[ThemeNaming theme,]] if that.

** [[FridgeLogic Is it noy Maclaren?]]

* ''{{V}}'': The Visitors in both the [[{{V}} old]] and [[{{V-2009}} new series]] go only by a first name.

* ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'': In the last chapter, Rei finds a girl apparently only has a name [[spoiler:Aki]] and not even knows what a surname is. Later it is revealed her surname is [[spoiler:Ikari.]]

* ''FanficTheSecondTry'': In the last chapter, Rei finds a girl apparently only has a name [[spoiler:Aki]] and not even knows what a surname is. LAter it is revealed her surname is [[spoiler:Ikari.]]

* The quaddies from LoisMcMasterBujold's ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Falling Free]]'', being artificial people, didn't actually have names as such, just appelations derived from their serial numbers like "Tony" or "Claire." Some of these are unusual ("Silver") and some are downright odd ("Pramod".) Later in ''Diplomatic Immunity'' it's revealed that so many babies have been named after these founding heroes (there's over two hundred people named "Promod" alone) that later generations were forced to adopt a numberig scheme just to keep them all straight