Mononymous Person - Mononyms in Modern Times - in The West

In The West

In the West, mononymity, as well as its use by royals in conjunction with titles, has been primarily a privilege of famous persons such as prominent writers, artists, entertainers, musicians and sportsmen.

Some persons, such as the artist Christo, the sculptor Chryssa, and the singer-songwriter Basia, have had polynymous names that were unwieldy, or unfamiliar and difficult to remember or to pronounce in the community in which they were currently active, but have not wanted to entirely change their names to something more familiar to the broad public at the cost of abandoning their sense of self-identification, and so have used only a single part of their full names.

The case of the Icelandic musician Björk is similar, but her use of a single name also has roots in her native culture. Like most Icelanders, she has no family name; the second part of her full name is a patronymic. Icelanders generally address one another solely by given names even in formal settings.

Some mononym stage names are merely the performer's given name (e.g. Rihanna, Ke$ha, Cher, Donovan, Prince, Madonna, Beyoncé), while others may be the performer's surname (e.g. Liberace, Mantovani, Morrissey). Some mononym stage names are invented (e.g. Cantinflas, Xzibit), adopted words (e.g. Capucine, French for "nasturtium") or nicknames (e.g. Sting, Bono, Moby).

In Lusophone countries such as Portugal, Angola and especially Brazil, football players often adopt a mononym (e.g. Pelé, Nani, Ronaldo, Eusébio, Marta). In Spain, mononyms for football players are also very common; they include nicknames (Michel, Arteaga, Arzú), derivations of the player's surname (Coro, Guti), diminutives (Juanito, Pichi), or the player's first names (Xavi, Sergi, Raúl). Because there are a few very common surnames in Spain (García, Pérez, López, Hernández), the use of mononyms makes it easier to distinguish between the many Garcías and Pérezes on each team. Mononyms are occasionally used by players from other countries, for example the Venezuelan Miku and the Ivorian Gervinho. Mononyms can be seen in other sports in these countries, with notable examples including Brazilian basketball players Hortência and Nenê.

The former president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is known simply as "Lula", a nickname he officially added to his full name. Such mononyms, which take their origin in given names, surnames or nicknames, are used because Portuguese names tend to be rather long.

The comedian and illusionist Teller, the silent half of the duo Penn & Teller, has legally changed his original polynym, "Raymond Joseph Teller", to the mononym "Teller" and possesses a United States passport issued in that single name.

Some have selected their mononym themselves, when they have been able to do so, because of its distinctiveness. Others have come to be known by a mononym that has been applied to them by some segment of the public. Both mechanisms contributed in the case of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been called, and has publicly called herself, simply "Hillary". Peter Funt, of Candid Camera, wrote in a February 21, 2007 New York Times op-ed piece, "The Mononym Platform": "Someone has apparently decided that Mrs. Clinton will be the first major single-name candidate since 1952, when Ike's P.R. gurus realized that 'Eisenhower' was tough to fit on a bumper sticker... In an apparent attempt to model her marketing on the likes of Madonna, Beyoncé and Cher, Mrs. Clinton's site proclaimed: 'Today, Hillary took the first step...'..." In an interview with Hillary Clinton published in Salon.com, the interviewer acknowledged receiving reader accusations of sexism whenever he referred to Clinton in print as "Hillary" (in contrast with male candidates who were almost always referred to by their last names), although he stated it was primarily to avoid confusion with her husband Bill Clinton.

Oprah Winfrey, famed American talk show host, is usually referred to by only her first name, Oprah. In Canada, Senator Nancy Ruth had previously dropped her family name of Jackman, using both of her remaining names together as a mononym instead of using "Ruth" as a family name. She is alphabetized under "N," not "R", on the Senate website.

Omarosa, who is a reality television star born as Omarosa Manigault and later on married and became Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, now simply goes by Omarosa. She has gone by this in the television shows The Celebrity Apprentice and All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.

Some famous computer programmers are recognized by just the use of their first name. Examples are Linus and Ken.