Is there a term fo when people go by a single name?
July 12, 2006 9:08 AM   Subscribe

Is there a term for when people go by a single name like Madonna or Cher?

Well, is there?
posted by Cochise to Education (22 answers total)
 
famous?
posted by piratebowling at 9:09 AM on July 12, 2006


unomynous?
posted by rks404 at 9:10 AM on July 12, 2006


Best answer: mononymous? (Not in common usage, it only has about 500 hits on google.)
posted by teg at 9:13 AM on July 12, 2006


I was about to coin "mononymous", but apparently someone beat me to it.
posted by mkultra at 9:13 AM on July 12, 2006


Uninomial (adj.) is the winner, but most of what Google finds is noise -- typos for "uninominal."
posted by booksandlibretti at 9:20 AM on July 12, 2006


Response by poster: I think mononymous might "be the winner" because it's the only with a definiton, so far as I can see, though uninomial is listed as a synonym in both def.'s I found. And by I, I mean teg.
posted by Cochise at 9:23 AM on July 12, 2006


...lucky?...

I wish I had just one name...
posted by svdodge at 9:34 AM on July 12, 2006


Best answer: Dang it, lemonfridge beat me to the joke.

Well, here's what the OED has to say:
  • mononymic means "of, relating to, or designating technical names that consist of one word only". It also says it's an obsolete biological term. There's no entry for "mononymous".
  • uninominal means "having or involving one name, specifically in Nat. Hist." It seems to be more related to systems of taxonomy than the names themselves, though.
  • mononomial means "designating a name or expression consisting of one word only." What's more, they quote a few sources using "mononomial" in exactly this sense, e.g., "The Brazilian Careca (Brazilian soccer stars, like some actresses, affect the mononomial) ..."
Given the choice, I'd go with "mononomial".
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:51 AM on July 12, 2006


Pretentious.
posted by Merdryn at 9:51 AM on July 12, 2006


I was going to suggest "pretentious", too.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:04 AM on July 12, 2006


I was going to go with "obnoxious", but pretentious works for me.
posted by jaded at 10:22 AM on July 12, 2006


Surnonymously challenged.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:22 AM on July 12, 2006


I was going to suggest "pretentious", too.

If I didn't believe that people should be called by whatever name(s) they wish, I'd say that when I think of pretentious the first thing that pops to mind are people who use middle initials.
posted by dobbs at 10:38 AM on July 12, 2006


Indonesian?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 10:54 AM on July 12, 2006


Dang it. Merdryn beat me to it.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 10:57 AM on July 12, 2006


George Carlin has a great term for it: pretentious cocksucker.
posted by timetoevolve at 11:48 AM on July 12, 2006


Primadonna-ish? :)
posted by DrtyBlvd at 12:28 PM on July 12, 2006


If I didn't believe that people should be called by whatever name(s) they wish, I'd say that when I think of pretentious the first thing that pops to mind are people who use middle initials.

I wish I didn't have to. But if I don't, then people think that "Den" is my middle name.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 1:07 PM on July 12, 2006


My vote is "diva".
posted by orangemiles at 1:36 PM on July 12, 2006


If I didn't believe that people should be called by whatever name(s) they wish, I'd say that when I think of pretentious the first thing that pops to mind are people who use middle initials.

I have a common first and last name (First is "Elizabeth"). The middle initial helps to distinguish which one of us is me without using an address or SSN. :) (So does the revised spelling of my nickname which I've been using since I was 13, but I can't use that for formal things.)
posted by Meep! Eek! at 5:07 PM on July 12, 2006


On this subject, does anyone remember a 1980s monologist who had a routine about going from the land of people with three names, like James Earl Jones, to the land of people with one name, like Cher, and then ending up in the land of people with a pretentious initial, like F. Lee Bailey? I'm not sure the names are right, except for Cher....
posted by brianogilvie at 9:01 PM on July 12, 2006


I don't use my middle initial unless I have to, but it is a very handy form of differentiating people who have fairly common first and last names, as Meep! Eek! pointed out.
posted by lhauser at 10:26 PM on July 12, 2006


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