List of legally mononymous people

This is a list of notable people whose full legal name is (or was) a mononym, either by name change or by being born mononymic (e.g. Burmese, Indonesian, or Japanese royalty). Titles (e.g. Burmese honorifics) do not count against inclusion, because they are not part of the name itself.

This list does not include people who are mononymous only as a stage name, pen name/pseudonym, in certain contexts, or by dint of fame.


Legally monomymous persons
Reason Source Mononym Title(s) Other name Born Died Description Ref.
Birth Japanese royalty Aiko Princess Toshi 2001 - daughter of Emperor Naruhito
Birth Japanese royalty Akihito Emperor Emeritus 1933 - former Emperor of Japan (abdicated 2019)
Birth Burmese Ba Sir U 1887 1963 Burmese president and Supreme Court justice
Birth Nepali Balkrishna Acharya c. 1972–1973 - Nepali billionaire businessman and chairman of the consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved
Birth Arakanese royalty Bin Min 1493 1554 King of Arakan in Myanmar from 1531 to 1554
Birth Indonesian Boediono 1943 - former Vice President of Indonesia
Name change Cher Cherilyn Sarkisian 1946 - American singer and actress [1][2][3]
Name change Chyna Joan Marie Laurer 1970 2016 American professional wrestler and actress [4]
Name change religious Dhammaloka U Laurence Carroll 1856 1914 Irish-born Buddhist monk, celebrity preacher and editor in British Burma
Name change promotion DotComGuy Mitch Maddox American computer specialist; changed to mononym as promotion, later reverted to birth name
Birth Japanese royalty Fumihito Prince Akishino 1965 - heir presumptive of Emperor Naruhito
Name change religious Gambira U Nyi Nyi Lwin 1979 - Burmese Buddhist Monk leader of All Burma Monks' Alliance during the 2007 Saffron Revolution
Birth Indian Govindjee U 1932 - Indian-American biochemist
Birth Japanese royalty Hirohito Emperor Shōwa 1901 1989 former Emperor of Japan
Birth Vietnamese Hổ 1998 - footballer of Sedang ethnic [5]
Name change Indrani Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri 1983 - Indian-British-Canadian director, photographer, girls' empowerment activist and author [6]
Name change iOTA Sean Hape 1968 - Australian musician and actor
Birth Burmese Kyan Binnya 1538 senior minister at the court of King Takayutpi of Hanthawaddy
Birth Australian aboriginal Loongkoonan 1910 2018 Australian aboriginal artist
Birth Japanese royalty Mako former Princess Mako Komuro 1991 - Daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, lost royal status and gained surname by marriage to commoner Kei Komuro
Birth Indian Mayawati 1956 - Indian politician who formerly served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Name change Japanese royalty by marriage Michiko Empress Michiko Shōda 1934 - Japanese empress consort
Birth Japanese royalty Naruhito Emperor 1960 - Emperor of Japan
Name change Nenê Maybyner Rodney Hilario 1982 - Brazilian basketball player
Birth Burmese Nu U or Thakin 1907 1995 leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician
Birth Burmese Ponnya U 1812 1867 Burmee dramatist
Name change transitioning Quinn Rebecca Quinn 1995 - Canadian soccer player [7]
Name change religious Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain 1931 1990 Indian mystic and founder of the Rajneesh movement
Name change religious Ramdev Swami Ram Kisan Yadav 1965 - Indian ayurvedic and yoga practitioner
Birth Pakistani Riazuddin 1930 2013 Pakistani physicist
Name change Burmese San Saya Yar Kyaw 1876 1931 Leader of the 1930–1932 Saya San Rebellion in British Burma
Birth Burmese Saw U or Galon U 1900 1948 Burmese politician who served as Prime Minister during the colonial era before WW2
Name change Shez Efrat Yerushalmi 1959 - Israeli poet
Birth Indian Siddaramaiah 1948 - Indian politician who served a full-chief ministerial term of Karnataka from 2013 to 2018
Birth Indonesian Sjumandjaja 1934 1985 Indonesian director, screenwriter, and actor
Birth Indonesian Sudirman 1916 1950 Indonesian National Hero and the first commander of Indonesian Armed Forces
Birth Indonesian Suharto 1921 2008 former President of Indonesia
Birth Indonesian Sukarno 1901 1970 former President of Indonesia
Birth Indonesian Supriyadi 1923 c. 1945 Indonesian National Hero and the first appointed Minister of Defense of Indonesia
Name change Teller Raymond Joseph Teller 1948 - American magician [8]
Birth Burmese Thant U 1909 1974 Burmese diplomat and longest-serving Secretary-General of the United Nations
Birth Indonesian Triyatno 1987 - Indonesian weightlifter and Olympic silver medalist
Birth Mon royalty U Binnya 1323 1384 King of Hanthawaddy in Myanmar from 1348 to 1384
Name change Warrior James Hellwig 1959 2014 American professional wrestler [9][10]
Name change Winter Rafael Antonio Lozano Jr. 1972 - American software programmer best known for his goal to visit every company-owned Starbucks location in the world; changed name first to John Winter Smith, then to mononym Winter [11]
Name change Ye Kanye Omari West 1977 - American rapper, record producer, and fashion designer [12]
Birth Indian Zoramthanga 1944 - Indian politician and current Chief Minister of Mizoram

See also

References

  1. ^ "Turning Back Time". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  2. ^ @cher (1 March 2017). "@KBetter52 I Don't Have A Last name.Went to court...& Let me tell you it wasn't easy.They don't want Ppl running around with no last names🤣" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Cher". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Copy of Name Change Document" (PDF). 2007-11-07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  5. ^ "Hổ là ai? Vì sao cầu thủ của Đắk Lắk chỉ có tên, không có họ?" (in Vietnamese). ithethao. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Watch This Rad Feminist Short Film of Girls Playing Soccer in Jodhpur".
  7. ^ McElwee, Molly (9 September 2020). "Canada international Quinn comes out as transgender". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About the Bad Boys of Magic". Pennandteller.com. Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Teller's full legal name is just Teller. He has one of the few US passports that has been issued with a single name.
  9. ^ Grasso, John (6 March 2014). Historical Dictionary of Wrestling – John Grasso – Google Books. ISBN 9780810879263. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  10. ^ Reynolds, R.D.; Alvarez, Bryan (2014). The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition of the Bestselling Classic — Revised and Expanded. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1770411753.
  11. ^ "Starbucks Everywhere". starbuckseverywhere.net. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  12. ^ Aubrey, Elizabeth (October 18, 2021). "Kanye West officially changes his name to 'Ye'". The Independent. Retrieved October 19, 2021.