Single Name Basis

Subject: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:38 PM

What famous persons can you think of who are known by a single name -whether that single name is their first name, last name, or nickname?

I'll share a few names in my next post.

Please join in this list making if you wanna.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Peace
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:40 PM

Houdini

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:42 PM

Spaw



Spaw

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: topical tom
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:53 PM

Enya, Madonna, Cher, Rasputin,Geronimo.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Peace
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:54 PM

Cochise

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Sorcha
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:01 PM

Churchill, Hitler, Stalin
Cher, Prince

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:01 PM

I immediately thought of a famous folk singer, but since a Mudcatter is using that name as his screen name, I won't post that one.

The next name I thought of was Trane or Coltrane.

"John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967), nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Although recordings of his work from as early as 1946 exist, Coltrane's recording career did not begin in earnest until 1955. From 1957 onward he recorded and produced dozens of albums, many of them not released until years after his death. He achieved extraordinary popularity, while also responding to a religious awakening that has made him a source of spiritual inspiration.

Coltrane has been credited with reshaping modern jazz and being the predominant influence on successive generations of saxophonists. Like tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster before him, Coltrane fundamentally altered expectations for the instrument".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coltrane

-snip-

Now I have to confess that most of the time Coltrane is too deep for me... I usually prefer vocal music. But there are some Coltrane recordings that were favorites among the crowd that I hung with in the late 1960s. Trane's records were part of the background music to the discussions we had about male/female relationships, and making the world a better place. Trane's records was also music that we listened to "raise our consciousnes".

I have good memories of that time. And Coltrane's music is part of those memories.

**

For a sample of what I'm talkin about, here's a link to a YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbqtA98eg9U&feature=related

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Part 2

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:03 PM

Wow! You guys and gals are on the case!

Thanks for adding those names to the list.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:05 PM

Not counting Catters? Most of us go by one name.

Cher
Garbo
Prince
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
God (under various names)
OJ
Sinatra
Sipowizc
Twiggy
Versace

~S~

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:11 PM

Not counting Catters? Most of us go by one name.
-WYSIWYG

Yeah, but we aren't famous...Well, there are some famous people among us, but most of us {including me} aren't famous.

That said, I see Spaw added his name to this list right off the bat.

So that means he's famous-for something or the other...

;o}

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:12 PM

Btw, Susan, I recognize the other names on the list so far, but who is Sipowizc?

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Jim Krause
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:21 PM

I'm surprised no one has listed this one yet:

Ghandi

And then there's Elvis

While I'm at it there's:

John
Paul
George
Ringo

And Mao


Jim Krause

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:23 PM

Donovan, Yanni (shudder).

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Anglo
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:28 PM

I'll argue with Churchill.

Mantovani.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:28 PM

Let me also add Malcolm and Martin.

-snip-

It occurs to me that, though they are associated with particular famous people, some single names may be better known or more readily identified with that famous person among certain populations than others.

By "Malcolm", I mean "Malcolm X". And by Martin, I mean "Martin Luther King, Jr."

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Dan Keding
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:36 PM

Odetta
Tamerlane
Attila
Achilles
Hector
Homer -- actually quite a lot of Greeks & Romans
Alexander - the Great does not constitute a last name!
Augustus
Nero
Caesar
Lincoln - not a Greek or a Roman or even a Ford
Kurasawa - also not a Greek or Roman
Che
Fidel
Sonny   - Cher's friend
Chuck - as in Norris- also not a Greek or a Roman but he did conquer
         both empires.
Daley - if you're from Chicago no need to ask!

This is fun!!!

Dan

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Celtaddict
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:43 PM

Dylan.
Shakespeare.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: GUEST,Nerd
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:58 PM

Jim Krause's list is interesting, because

John
Paul
George
Ringo

only works as a set. If you simply said "I saw Paul on TV yesterday," or "one of my favorite songs is by John," no-one would know who you meant.

Ringo, of course, is different. "My favorite caveman movie is the one with Ringo in it" is perfectly comprehensible!

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Mysha
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 01:11 AM

Hi,

There are quite a few monarchs with nicknames like "the Great", etc. But, though these aren't last names, they are indeed names, so I guess those people would not go by a single name.

"Dylan" might be company dependent. Is this Dylan Thomas, or Bob Dylan? (Sorry, apparently I "ain't got no culture.")

Einstein

Hm, having played chess, to me
Euwe, Capablanca, Karpov, Kasparov, Spasski, Philidor, Morphy, Staunton, Lasker, and Botvinik are all single name people, but to others this might be different.

Likewise from other fields of interest,
Ampère, Amundsen, Archimedes, Aristotle, Bach, Beethoven, Bell, Benz, Buhda, Caesar, Chaplin, El Cid, Copernicus, Dante, Darwin, Debussy, Defoe, Diesel, Disney, Donatello, Doppler, Dürer, Edison, Eli, Engels, Escher, Euclid, Euler, Fermat, Fibonnacy, Ford, Galilei, Gawain, Gödel, Goethe, Van Gogh, Greystoke, Grieg, Gutenberg, Hertz, Hitchcock, Hyawata, Huxley, Huygens, Isolde, Kafka, Lancelot, Lee, Lenin, Lineaus, Lorenz, Luther, Mandelbrot, Marx, Matisse, Mendelev, Mendelsohn, Mengele, Michelangelo, Mohamed, Morded, Morse, Mozart, Mozes, Murphy, Nansen, Nelson, Newton, Nietsche, Ohm, Oppenheim, Orwell, Pascal, Pasteur, Picasso, Pocahontas, Poe, Polansky, Plato, Pythagoras, Ravel, Rembrandt, Ruth, Sandokan, Simenon, de Sitter, Socrates, Sophocles, Spinoza, Stalin, Stoker, Tolkien, Tolstoi, Tristan, Tsjaikovski, Volt, Wagner, Washington, Watt, Wells, and Zelazny.
(Was much more spontaneous than it looks, but I had to alphabetise them, as I had some doubles.)

Where I live this would also include
Brugman, Bartjens, Kok, Den Uyl, Lely, Aafjes, Van Gulik, Havank, Koster, Vance, Spijker, Fokker, Drees, Troelstra, Cals, Schenk, Multatuli, Verkerk, and Van Dale.

Of course, there's a large number of people that are know by their title plus one name. Also, there's a large number of duos that go by only two names, or brothers that together go only by one name. But those strictly speaking would be on other lists.

One more single name:

                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Melissa
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 02:38 AM

Einstein
Oprah
Tesla
Spielberg

Hitler
Oswald
Manson

Adam
Eve
etc...

Dolly
Waylon
Willie
(and so on)

Gucci
Clapton
Leadbelly
Pinochio and Cujo

apologies for duplicates..

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Darowyn
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 04:27 AM

Sticking to music only, no one has yet mentioned Melanie and Dion- both authentic one name artists. So was Fabian, but less memorably.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Melissa
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 04:32 AM

did anyone say Donovan?

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Mysha
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 05:29 AM

Hi,

Now that you mention it:
Dave.
                                                                   Mysha

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Fran
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 05:44 AM

Lulu

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Nick
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 05:59 AM

Satchmo
Bird
Dizzy
Duke

Santa

Mephistopheles

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 05:59 AM

Joe

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: gnu
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:32 AM

Saint Patrick.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:34 AM

Quasimodo
Spartacus
Nosferatu
Nostradamus

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:58 AM

Thanks for the wide range of single names of famous people!

Here's some other single name singers/performers that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

R&B:

Beyonce'

Babyface

Usher

Nelly

Brandy

Omarion

Michel'le

Mya

Shanice

De'Angelo

Hip-Hop:
Hammer {Mc Hammer}

Ashanti

Common {full stage name Common Sense}

Dre {but which one?}

Dancehall Reggae:
Shabba {Shabba Ranks}

Patra

Shaggy

and a whole lot more!

-snip-

You'll notice that these names aren't in alphabetical order, unlike the impressive, alphabetized list that a certain Mudcatter posted upthread. I won't mention that poster's name, but it starts with a "M" and nexts to that letter comes a "y".

Go'n with ya bad* self!

:o}

* "bad" here means "good".

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:00 AM

gnu, "Saint Patrick" is two names.

But maybe you call him Patrick, and that being the case, cool!

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Alec
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:09 AM

Adam
Eve
Moses
He-after-whom-a-teddy-bear-was-named-who-I-shall-abstain-from-naming-so-as-not-to-incite-fanatics
Gladstone
Disraeli
Lincoln
Ike
"Dubya"
Madonna
Santa
Satan
Dracula
Frankenstein
Kong
Godzillla

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:13 AM

There's also

Sting

and

Seal

I guess they'd be considered part of the "Pop" music genre, but I'm not sure.

**

Speaking of music, I could have sworn that I had intended this thread to be in the music/folk culture section of Mudcat threads.

But it's all good,'cause I like to muddy the line {so to speak} by adding music links and/or lyrics to BS threads whenever possible.

For instance, Dan Keding gave us the name "Odetta".

I just love Odetta.

Here's a link to an Odetta YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOGXiYruaug
"Careless Love"-Odetta

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:16 AM

Alex, I think "Kong" is kinda stretching it-but then again maybe you call "King Kong" by the name "Kong" so what do I know.

**

Here's another entry for our list:

RuPaul

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: freda underhill
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:18 AM

Machiavelli

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: bobad
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:44 AM

Van Gogh

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:07 AM

Here's a one word nickname that Jazz enthusiasts will recognize:

Yardbird

And here's a link to a YouTube video of trumpeter and singer Dizzy [Gillespie] and saxophonist Charlie {Yardbird} Parker :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvCDCOGzGc&feature=related
Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie play "Hot House"

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:21 AM

Well, bobad, I guess if Yardbird counts as one word than maybe Van Gogh counts as one word two-I mean too :o}

Hey, whadda ya expect? I have a Virgo rising and my Mars is in Virgo. According to astrology, those sign placements mean that I like to make lists [check].

According to astrology, those sign placements also mean that I can be very nit picky critical. That's what the astrology charts say. But it ain't necessarily so.

Umm, well, maybe, sometimes, not often but every little once in a while when the spirit moves me...Okay okay.

I'll stop with the comments about other people's entries.

But I didn't mean any harm 'cause I'm a Sagittarius sun with my Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius and an Aquarius moon.

[Now that I've inserted some astrology into this thread, "I'm gonna exit stage right"].

Btw, that "Exit stage right" saying is associated with a cartoon character with a single name. Who knows that name?

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: gnu
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:27 AM

"Saint" is a name?

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Stu
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:31 AM

Pele

Ali

Fish (singer)

Swarb

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:42 AM

gnu, in the context of the name "Saint Patrick", the word "Saint" is a title.

When I started this thread I was thinking of famous people who are known by just one name.

Famous people has been expanded to "famous characters" which still fits the spirit and intent of this thread.

My definition for "one name" is a single name/nickname that isn't prefaced by {with?} a title.

I appreciate your post, but if we open up this list to all those famous people whose first name or last name is prefaced by {with?} a title, there goes the neighborhood.

Just kidding about that neighborhood statement. After all, our neighborhood is already mud ;o)

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: gnu
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:24 AM

It was a joke. Both times. Just being a Bealzabob.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:54 AM

gnu, you were joking? Say it aint so!

Btw, "Bealsabob" Beelzebub [Ba'al Zebûb] is a good one!

I mean it's bad, man!

[The word "bad" here meaning "bad" bad, and also "bad" good]

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: autolycus
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:57 AM

This Gemini rising Cancerian also likes lists. I- er - ahem (coughs politely) - er - have books of lists. THERE. I've said it. (I'll put the jokwe I've just remembered on the jokw thread.)

Mahler, Beethoven, Gershwin,Rodgers (I may be a while), Kern, Wilde, Shaw (positive), Schubert, Elgar, Swarbrick, Carthy, Keats, AUTOLYCUS (notice no-one mentioned him), Rossini, Chaucer, Harmer, Lipatti, Patti, Caruso, ("'I can't go on. I must go on.'"), [Must you]
Anyway, any number of composers, authors,performers. Most (reasonably) famous people are known by one name.

Btw, i know, from the above lists and mentions, more than one Churchill, Attila, Hector, homer,Alexander, Sonny,Dylan - ah, just re-read thread title, and withdraw my comment (without crossing it out, just in case.)

Now if it were people who in some sense have only one name............................................


    Ivor

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:58 AM

Hmmm.

I was trying to make the "S" "a" "t" "a" "n" in the sentence "Say it ain't so" bold, but my change-the-font skills weren't up to it.

In other words, I wasn't down on [how to do] that.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 10:19 AM

The distinction needs to be made between:

<> people who were known by their complete name at the height of their fame but who became one-namers in retrospect

and

<> people who always had a one-name professional moniker.


EXAMPLES

PELE, for example, I think always was known by that name in his visible career. LANCE (Armstrong), on the other hand, didn't become a one-namer until almost the end of his career, and he certainly never called himself by that one-word name professionally.

Example: CHER was Cher's official stage name: picture the marquee in Vegas. CELINE is probably still billed on the marquee as CELINE DION. wE PRETEND TO BE ON FAMILIAR TERMS WITH OUR STARS NOWADAYS, SO IN CONVERSATION ONE MIGHT REFER TO celine (SORRY CAPSLOCK)

One might refer now informally to CELINE, meaning Celine Dion, but she doesn't bill herself that way like MADONNA bills herself by just one name.

Sports heroes, ditto. Michael Jordan would never have referred to himself by one name professionally. But sportscasters nowadays, referring to a great of the past, often do.

Ditto Einstein. The dropping of the first name is a sign of respect for the magnitude of the achievement, but he didn't bill himself that way.


Ditto Letterman and Leno. You know who I mean, but you also know they don't sign checks or contracts that way. I bet Madonna does though, and I bet she had to go to court to make it legal, too.

~Susan

PS Note capping for clarity in typography, not meant as shouting.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: topical tom
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:36 PM

Valdy
       Titian
       Botticelli
       Garibaldi
       Michelangelo
       Cicero
       Plato
       Aristotle
       Confucius
       Buddha
       Jesus
       Napoleon

       I never realized there are so many!I'm sorry if I repeated some.

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:59 PM

The only one I can think of immediately that I don't think I saw mentioned is the famous cross-dresser:

"Lassie"

For generic "group names" there's (phonetically):

damyankee

damdemocrat

and godamrepublican

but that's probably stretching the concept, although they are recognized one word "names" where I've been recently.

John

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 01:23 PM

Bono
Liberace

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: HuwG
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 02:31 PM

"Dylan" isn't company-dependent. Dylan Thomas is always referred to by both given names. Bob Dylan is always referred to by my acquaintances as "Mr. Zimmerman". "Dylan" by itself is understood to be the rabbit on the "Magic Roundabout".

How about:

"Branagh"
"Leadbelly"

Subject: RE: Single Name Basis
From: Dan Keding
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 03:06 PM

Hannibal - from Carthage not the other one
          with the odd diet
Churchill
Seabisquit - do horses have last names? If not that opens up a lot of
             possibilities
Lassie - same thing as horses
Garfield - ditto for cartoon/comic strip characters

In the storytelling world most everyone knows who you mean when you say 'Donald' or 'Jackie' or 'Harley' or 'Elizabeth' - there are several 'one namers' around in that world.

Dan