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Archive 1
Articles for deletion This article was nominated for deletion on 2005-11-21.

The result of the discussion was keep.

An archived record of the discussion can be found here.

I've got a few questions about this page. 1. How can "Da Vinci" and "Van Gogh" be called single names? 2. Are we going to include nicknames and pseudonyms, eg. Sting, Boz? 3. How about re-doing the links properly? All the above are meant sincerely, not sarcastically. Deb 18:20 Mar 29, 2003 (UTC)

"Van Gough" and "Da Vinci" are, I believe, the respective author's surnames and mean "of or from". Their full names are "Vincent van Gough" and "Leonardo da Vinci" xneilj

Famous enough

I have grave doubts that this page will work. "Famous enough" among whom? Baden-Powell and Chilton are famous enough for Eagle Scouts who listen to Big Star (like myself). Every US president (minus the Roosevelts, Bushes and Adamses) is known by one name and I would assume the same is true of every or most countries. Tuf-Kat 18:30 Mar 29, 2003 (UTC)

Note: I've never heard of Rubens or Huysmans; they are surely not famous enough to be known by a single name according to my POV. Tuf-Kat

Useless

What about Moses? Isaiah? Sophocles? Aristophanes? Suharno?Sitting Bull (or was Bull his last name)? The name is based on the assumption that everyone has a last name. Then, of course, there is Mao, who had a first name, which was his "last name". This is a useless list. Danny

I agree, this isn't really a useful list. It is really just a list of all the famous people that don't share their last name with any other famous people. Tango

I agree too - you could include practically any Brazilian international footballer, for instance! Arwel

Bach

Uhh... JS Bach, or PDQ Bach? Slrubenstein

Maybe Sebastian Bach of Skid Row? -- goatasaur

Kinda makes you long for first names, right? Slrubenstein

People who went by a single name

I think this should be changed to people who went by a single name, such as Prince, Madonna, or I dunno there arent a lot of people. Except for a lot of Greeks I think... Someone like Marx or Hitler or Bach would not qualify. Dietary Fiber

I agree -- this is a very constructive suggestion, much better than "known by" which is too subjective. Slrubenstein
Me too. (and don't forget Cher) How about moving it to List of people with one name or List of one-named people? Tuf-Kat

Modern/biblical/ancient

I think we should only list modern people, listing all the biblical and ancient people along with this sort of destroys the point. Dietary Fiber

what point? Tannin

Nickname or first name

personally, i am more interested in people who are famous for a one-word nickname (Pele) or their first name (Cher, Madonna, Elvis). i enjoy working on a list like this. it is a nice relief from the other stuff i muck around with on here. Kingturtle 01:01 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Rappers

Would the following rappers and such count?

    • I think they count. Although, Al Capone is still the *real* Scarface. Kingturtle 01:55 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Alphabetical order

Is there some objection to using alphabetical order? Wondering simply, --Infrogmation 01:51 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Surnames

And of course there are at least three US politicians named Kennedy (all brothers), and three or four Indian politicians named Gandhi (not all related).

I expected a list of people who only used one name, like Plato or Madonna, not those who are well-enough known to be the default person-in-this-field-with-that-name. (If you're an art critic, Freud is Lucian, not Sigmund or Anna.) Vicki Rosenzweig

I'm interested in working on this page, but I intened to delete those people who did not refer to themselves by one name only (Churchill, indeed.) And it really should be List of people known by one name. I'll give it a few days to listen to objections, then do it. -- Zoe

:-) Makes me more mysterious that way, eh, Kingturtle? :) -- Zoe
the proof is in the pudding. the summary of the very first post for this article said "This is a list of people famous enough to be known unambiguously by a single name." Kingturtle 05:01 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

When did Wyclef Jean become "Wyclef"? -- Zoe

He never recorded under the name Wyclef alone, but people call him Wyclef commonly... Could just be me and my friends, I guess, but I don't think so. Tuf-Kat 07:37 Mar 30, 2003 (UTC)

Monroe, Lichfield, Liberace

Dear All, I propose to do the following:

  • Remove Marilyn Monroe, on the grounds that a British singer of the 1980s was known by the stage name "Marilyn" (one name only) and therefore it cannot be said to be universally synonymous with the original Marilyn Monroe only.
  • Reinstate Lichfield, on the grounds that "Lichfield" is not his surname, but his professional name (in the same way that "Houdini" was not Harry Houdini's surname).
  • Reinstate Liberace on the grounds that "Liberace", besides being his real surname, was his stage name (and the wikipedia article about him is under "Liberace").

Any objections? Deb 17:00 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

I have no objections, but I wish contributors here would return to Dietary Fiber's suggestion that the article name be changed from "people known by one name" which is too subjective and vague, to "People who went by one name" which would be a shorter, and more useful, list. Slrubenstein

  • I can see the argument for Lichfield, because his real name is Thomas Patrick Anson. As for Liberace, that is his last name. As for Marilyn (singer), he chose that name directly because of the Marilyn Monroe icon. So in essence, his name is her name. I don't know how to sovlve that one. Kingturtle 18:23 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
    • There are an awful lot of people named after Mohammed, too... -- goatasaur
True. Okay, I've put Lichfield back. It wasn't me who put Liberace back, but I support the action on the basis that Morrissey is still there. More controversially, I've put in "Boz" because, although Dickens was well known by his real name, his pseudonym does uniquely identify him. The Marilyn/Mohammed question is a really challenging one. Deb 20:56 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

Upsetter is really called "The Upsetter." Isn't that really two words? The same artist is also known as Scratch. Can we remove Upsetter and add Scratch? I removed Topol, Ambrose, Morrissey, and Seinfeld, because those are their last names. I removed Midas and Merlin because they are fictional characters. Kingturtle 22:51 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)

I hate edit wars, but if you start removing names in that arbitrary fashion you could just as well delete the whole list. As far as Ambrose is concerned, what do you mean that that is his "last name"? So what? He was known to everyone as Ambrose, not Bert Ambrose. --KF 22:57 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
Literally thousands of names could be added on the merit of their last name. Reagan, Carter, Truman, Coolidge, Harding, Taft, McKinley, Garfield, Fillmore, Polk, Van Buren come to mind immediately for U.S. Presidents. Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, Gluck, Mozart, Salieri, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bizet, Chopin, Dvorak, Faure, Liszt, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Bartok, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, and Verdi could all be listed. It is quite common to be remembered via one's last name. It is all together different to be remembered via the criteria listed atop the article...by a one word nickname, a one word first name, their only known name, a one word stage name or pseudonym, or aone word pen name. This is the shortest answer I could come up with to answer your question.Kingturtle 23:22 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
Well, my answer is even shorter: Ambrose was his "one word stage name". (See the external link on the Bert Ambrose page: On all the records it says "Ambrose and His Orchestra".) But if you insist, I don't have a problem with that. (If I don't answer again it's because it's very late here and I'll go to bed now.) KF 23:29 Mar 31, 2003 (UTC)
I thought "Ambrose" was Ambrose Bierce. I have (well, had... I read the article) no idea who Burt Ambrose is. -- goatasaur
I assumed we were talking about St. Ambrose. Deb 17:02 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)
I created that stub to avoid rather than promote confusion. But please forget about Ambrose. Sooner or later I'm going to write that article anyway. --KF 17:08 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)
Well, someone else has done it for me now, more than two years later. I've taken the liberty to reinsert Ambrose (bandleader) in this list. <KF> 20:57, August 17, 2005 (UTC)
Incidentally, both Midas and Merlin, though legendary characters, are not fictional. Deb 17:04 Apr 1, 2003 (UTC)

Part 1

I hate to be nitpicky, but isn't "Christ" a last name? "Jesus" is already on there. If you have two names for the same person, then perhaps they shouldn't be on the list. :) -- goatasaur

I don't think any biblical or ancient names should be on here. Many ancient people had one name, only modern people should be on this list. Dietary Fiber

What do you consider ancient? Say... earlier than the 17th century? -- goatasaur

yes Dietary Fiber

Christ is not a surname. It's a title or appellation that modern people mistake for a surname because the idea of people without surnames doesn't seem 'right'. (It wasn't Mr. & Mrs. Christ and their little boy Jesus....) Not that that removes the "two names, one person" or "ancient" objections -- Someone else 04:45 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC)

There was a Mr. & Mrs. Christ (or Mr. & Mrs. no-surname)? Well, that solves the immaculate conception theory! …Guy M… (soapbox) 07:45, August 9, 2005 (UTC)

Bez, Gwrgi, Pras

Who are Bez, Gwrgi and Pras? Kingturtle 06:41 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC)

Wikipedia references Gwrgy in connection to the Battle of Arfderydd, and Pras as Pras Michel.
Bez has even several references there; e.g. as
Best regards, Frank W ~@) R 08:20 Apr 2, 2003 (UTC).

Just to clarify, Pras Michel is the third member of the Fugees (along with Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean). Tuf-Kat

Cameron

Anyone know who "Cameron" is? Deb 20:43 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

<grin>My youngest son.</grin> -- Derek Ross

TV celebrities

Just because u watch TV and the celebrities refer to each other by first names does not mean they qualify for "known by one name". Perhaps a qualifier for "known by one name" should be, didn't go by more than one name, for example "Oprah Winfrey" really doesn't seem to qualify for me, although I can see why "Dante Aligheri" would, maybe its a bit of a double-standard but Tiger Woods is not "known as Tiger" and "Magic Johnson" is not known as "Magic", they are both much better known as "Tiger Woods" and "Magic Johnson" -- a line has to be drawn somewhere or pretty soon we'll be adding Creighton, King, Spielberg, Hanks, ad nauseumDietary Fiber

I agree on all counts except Oprah, who is very commonly referred to simply as Oprah. Tuf-Kat

Yah Oprah should go back in. Dietary Fiber

Au contrare, Tiger and Magic and Oprah are definitely known by one name. Kingturtle 21:44 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

Tiger Woods does not go by "Tiger" except in that it is his first name, as the Nike commercial said, 'I am Tiger Woods", likewise, Magic is a basketball team, not a basketball player, Magic Johnson is a basketball player Dietary Fiber

the list is not for 'people who go by one name,' it is for people known by one name.' Kingturtle 23:29 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

I would say likewise for Frida Kahlo... Although the 2002 film based on her life is simply titled "Frida," she's usually referred to by her full name. Same with Whoopi Goldberg. As I think has been previously mentioned, just having an uncommon first name shouldn't be grounds for inclusion on this list. Andyabides 01:22, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Rasputin

Shoot, i thought i came up with a good one today. but as it turns out Rasputin is Rasputin's last name. sigh. Kingturtle 23:31 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)

Stalin, Lenin

What's the difference between Josef Stalin (whose name has been removed) and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin? --KF 20:54 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

I wondered that. I think the person who took out Stalin was the same person who took out "W" (on the grounds that it wasn't a name) then added "GW". Deb 21:06 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

Otto

Who is Otto? Kingturtle 22:04 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

A German singer and entertainer who has also made a number of successful feature films. --KF 22:55 Apr 6, 2003 (UTC)

Meatloaf

Sadly, had to remove this: * Meatloaf as he is "Meat Loaf" not "Meatloaf". The New York Times famously referred to him as "Mr. Loaf". His wiki article is at Meat Loaf. --- Someone else 20:11 Apr 7, 2003 (UTC)

Gallagher, Cameron

Who are Gallagher and Cameron, please? They don't seem to have acquired their own articles yet. Deb 19:22 Apr 8, 2003 (UTC)

There was a prominent flamenco musician who was called Cameron, but I think he was more often called Cameron de la Isla (or something like that) - I could be wrong. Gallagher is a mystery to me - I guess most people today would associate the name with Oasis, but there's two of them in that, even. --Camembert
Gallagher is a U.S. comic known for smashing jello (and other random items) with a "sledge-o-matic", for watermelon bouquets and showing his inventions off. He had numerous TV specials. But I cannot confirm if Gallagher is his real last name or a stage name. Kingturtle 21:50 Apr 8, 2003 (UTC)
Well, he has an article (of sorts) now, mostly consisting of Kingturtle's paragraph. Gallagher is his last name. Whether that disqualifies him from the list (given that it's not an abbreviation of a full name everyone knows, but rather the only name by which he is known), I leave to y'all. -- Someone else 22:02 Apr 8, 2003 (UTC)
removed Gallagher, because Gallagher is his last name. But Gallagher's jello reference made me think of Jello Biafra, whom I added to our list. Kingturtle 22:12 Apr 8, 2003 (UTC)
I've reconsidered. I removed Jello because he is not known simply as Jello, but has Jello Biafra. I'm more prone to ask "Did you get tickets for Jello Biafra?" rather than "Did you get tickets for Jello?" Whereas, I would have said "Did you get tickets for Groucho?" Kingturtle 22:17 Apr 8, 2003 (UTC)

I don't know what the person who added Cameron meant to refer to but it could be a crappy rapper who goes by Cam'ron (born Cameron Giles). Tuf-Kat

J-Lo, Nadia, Trane, W, Wyclef, Dylan, Regis, Ricki, Barbra, Bing, Ozzy, Ringo, Whoopi

What are the arguments against:

  • J-Lo
    • J-Lo is a nickname, not her real name
  • Nadia
    • Nobody calls her that
  • Trane
    • Again, a nickname
  • W
    • I moved that to Dubya. His nickname is Dubya, not W. I wouldn't object to Dubya being removed
  • Wyclef
    • I still don't see any proof anyone calls him that
  • Dylan
    • There's more than one
  • Regis
    • He's more likely to be known as Reeg
  • Ricki
    • How is she known well enough to be called that?
  • Barbra
    • Not a common usage
  • Bing
    • Not a common usage. Der Bingle is more common.
  • Ozzy
    • This one I could live with
  • Ringo
    • And maybe this one
  • Whoopi
    • How common is this?

Kingturtle 05:56 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)

Speaking personally, I'm not keen on J-Lo because it seems like two names to me. Dylan might be objected to because it's a surname - but since it's not his real name, I wouldn't argue with it. And I didn't think Nadia Comaneci was so unique that she was the first Nadia anyone would think of when they hear that name. I don't have major problems with any of the others. Deb 17:41 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)
On second thoughts, there is a problem with "Dylan". If you were to use the word in Wales, it might well be assumed that you meant Dylan Thomas - and of course that is where Bob took his stage name from. Deb 21:31 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)
As I remember, although I was young, Nadia was known just as Nadia from 1976 to 1980, but I guess it wore off. It was short lived. Kingturtle 01:12 Apr 10, 2003 (UTC)

Part 2

Hi, Kingturtle.

"Someone else started these pages, but I participate in their construction: Coalition of the willing, Intact dilation and extraction, Current events, List of people known by one name, freedom fries, Protest song."

That's what you write on your user page. I also understand that you teach. And I sincerely hope that you don't belong to that minority of teachers who are always right and whose students get very little chance to prove you wrong occasionally. Looking at the List of people known by one name, this thought just occurred to me. There is this idea of a collaborative effort which is so essential to Wikipedia and its success, but I find it hard to contribute to a page where certain entries are continuously removed and re-added without a reason being stated, as it happened with Magic.

It seems this is gradually becoming YOUR page. Does this make you happy? I don't want to sound too strict myself, but couldn't you at least consider compromise?


All the best, KF 14:15 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)

You typed an awful lot without saying very much. What compromise would you like to put forth? I've tried to be careful before removing names ("Who are Bez, Gwrgi and Pras?" and "Who is Otto?"). When Marilyn Monroe was removed, I didn't fight it. To avoid reposting a bunch of names, I created a new thread listing 13 names for re-consideration. I added names of rap artists suggested by a nameless user. I've also made mistakes (deleting Merlin and Midas). I apologize for being bold, but I read Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages my first couple days here. Do you think you could keep personal attacks out of this? ars longa, vita brevis, Kingturtle 01:09 Apr 10, 2003 (UTC)
Sure. I'm sorry if you consider what I have written a personal attack. And believe me, I've had problems with my idea of honesty before. So let's continue working together, shall we? I won't be around for four days now though. --KF 19:11 Apr 10, 2003 (UTC)
What compromise would you like to put forth? Kingturtle 21:54 Apr 10, 2003 (UTC)

Audience

How large an audience are we talking about here? If you include the Open-source community, "Linus" would definitely be a name to add. And what about Initials? RMS or ESR? I'd imagine these would be better known than 'Weegee', at least.

  • Explain who Linus is.
Linus Torvalds, The creator of the Linux Operating System, (which is currently running Wikipedia.org :-) whose name seems to have followed his OS in popularity.
Well I know of Mr Torvalds, of course, but I suspect that someone who wasn't into computers would be more likely to think of the kid from the Peanuts cartoon strip! Arwel 10:21 May 5, 2003 (UTC)
  • O.J. was on the list, but isn't it really two words? W would be one word. Wouldn't FDR and JFK be three words? Anyway FDR and JFK aren't really names, but they *are* monikers, of sort. Who knows. Kingturtle 22:09 Apr 10, 2003 (UTC)
I agree. I think we should change the policy to 'people who are known by a single word/expression or something of the like', as these fulfill the roles of names for them. FDR, JFK, J-Lo are, I believe, important enough to include.
They aren't important enough to include if they aren't known by a single name. FDR, JFK, LBJ, etc. are initials, not a single-word name. -- goatasaur
They should be on a List of people known by initials

Silly

Oh boy. The silly lists keep on getting sillier and sillier. -- Derek Ross

Don't worry, someday you'll be known as Derek and DR Kingturtle 04:57 Apr 18, 2003 (UTC)
If only! More likely to be Dross with my luck -- Derek Ross

Buddha

  • Isn't the Buddha known as just that? The Buddha. No one ever calls him Buddha. I vote we remove him.
  • Topol and Liberace are last names. I vote we remove them.

Kingturtle 00:29 Apr 20, 2003 (UTC)

I thought we'd resolved Topol and Liberace. They are stage names, therefore they're okay. I propose to remove "Di", though. She was never widely known just as Di, although she was sometimes called "Lady Di" or "Princess Di". Deb 10:09 May 5, 2003 (UTC)

Profession

Should the list include people which are known by their profession and first name? Nikola 07:11 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Jacko

Removed Jacko pointing to Michael Jackson(singer). I checked the Michael Jackson(singer) page and nowhere did it mention that he is know to anybody as Jacko. (Please put it back if you think I'm wrong, and add an appropriate note to his page.) Nanobug 13:47 6 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I put it back and mentioned it on Jackson's article. It's a fairly common nickname (usually used against him, though, by the media). --Minesweeper 13:27, Nov 22, 2003 (UTC)

Osama

Should Osama be listed (it just points to Osama Bin Laden, which he is generally known by, and is certainly not one name)? Nanobug 03:59, 3 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Papillon

Who is Papillon? Currently the name just links to an article about the dog breed. -- Minesweeper 23:30, Oct 25, 2003 (UTC)

Simply Red

What about Simply Red? -- Viajero 10:30, 22 Nov 2003 (UTC)

What about them? Irrelevant SGBailey 11:03, 2003 Nov 22 (UTC)

Title

Is this a list of ((People known by one name)which is unambiguous) or a list of (people (unambiguously identified by one name)). EG Fidel Castro falls into the latter category twice, once as Fidel and once as Castro. He doesn't meet the former criterion since he is actually known by two names. Then we have Raphael which identifies both a painter and a spanish singer - should they therfore be both removed? What about Madonna singer and Madonna jesus'mum? -- In my opinion the only viable approach is to consider "if i say "FRED", who do you think of", and if 99% of folk think of the same person then they are ok for this list. -- Thus Madonna singer gets in, Fidel and Castro both get in. I would remove Zara as I don't think Turkish singer but granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth. -- SGBailey 11:03, 2003 Nov 22 (UTC)

I' wish to suggest that we change the constraints for the list on the page to "if i say "FRED", who do you think of". That allows Mozart and Hitler into the list, but are they not as unambiguous as the other names. Equally "Mary" has to go as being totally ambiguous. -- SGBailey 23:46, 2003 Nov 29 (UTC)
Mozart and Hitler are LAST names and cannot go into the list. A List of people known by last name would be interesting, but huge. Nikola 20:37, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Brutus

I removed Brutus, because the assassin is Marcus Junius Brutus (three names), a member of the Junius Brutus family. He does not belong to any of the criteria stated in the page. Muriel Victoria 10:19, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Ah, but if you apply the "Who do you think of when I say 'Brutus' test", 99% will reply "Caesar's assassin", thus maybe he should go back into the list. -- SGBailey 23:42, 2003 Nov 29 (UTC)
Huh? Who do you think of when I say Mozart? Who do you think of when I say Bismarck? Who do you think of when I say Churchill? Who do you think of when I say Picasso? Brutus is his last name. Most Romans who had cognomen are referred to simply by that (and most who do not are referred to by their nomen). That doesn't mean they're known by one name. john 21:38, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Also, is "Fidel" appropriate for this page? john 21:40, 30 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Split per topic

Would it make sense to split this page according to topics? People known by their only name; People known by their nickname; People known by their first name; People known by their stage name; etc. Nikola 06:36, 1 Dec 2003 (UTC)

One or more names only

It's a shame that this list seems destined to suck up all the air that might otherwise support a list (perhaps People best known without their last names) that could include those such as the forgettable Ann Margaret or Anne Margaret, and Rose Marie Mazzetta, whose so-far 77-year career included a classic role on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

BTW, mostly out of curiosity, it appears no one ever mentioned what the name was, that was changed to this one; might be nice for someone to document that retrospectively. --Jerzy 09:47, 2004 Jan 20 (UTC)

Ah, it occurred to me how to find out:
List of people famous enough to be known by a single name
05:07, 2003 Mar 30 . . Kingturtle (moved to "List_of_people_known_by_one_name")
(Kt is such a killjoy: (like everyone else) i'm famous enough to by known by the single name Sticky-sticky-stambo-no-so-rambo, if i just changed my name to that. [wink]) --Jerzy 21:51, 2004 Feb 12 (UTC)

Nicknames

Nicknames shouldn't be included here (e.g. Jacko, Gazza). There are thousands of nicknames, and most of them are one word. It obscures the real cases. DJ Clayworth 19:57, 12 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Linus

I removed 'Linus' as there are lots of people called Linus. The first page of Google hits gets five refs to Torvals, seven to Pauling and one to Peanuts. DJ Clayworth 14:52, 16 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Kylie

I don't know about other countries, but in the US, Kylie Minogue is not really recognized as just "Kylie". I think alot of these are very particular to the context of certain countries. Can we limit this list only to the people that would be known by one name in the entire english speaking world? - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 19:50, Mar 3, 2004 (UTC)

Monarchs

Seems to me this list should NOT contain names of kings, queens or other monarchs, who are traditionally referred to by their first name. Maybe we need a sub-list of monarchs of all countries throughout history. But this list is for people who are not royalty, and who would not normally be expected to use only one name, but use only one name nonetheless. Once we start to include Akihito, then why not Elizabeth (II), Margrete (II), Beatrix, Bhumibhol etc etc. Thinking of removing all these royal names. JackofOz 07:03, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

Duplicate article

I added List of people known by one name and List of people whose surname is not commonly known to Wikipedia:Duplicate articles as the two lists have a lot of overlap. MK 18:52, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

category:people known by one name

User:Radiojon has added each of the articles should be put into the category:people known by one name to this page and created said category. I don't have any problem with this list, but I think adding these articles to a category is not necessary. I'm tempted to list the category in wikipedia:categories for deletion but thought some discussion here first might be in order. Not that it really matters, but at this point there are only two articles in the category. -- Rick Block 02:32, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Contest to inclusion of Nostradamus

Nostradamus does not belong here any more than does Linnaeus -- the name by which he is known is just his surname put into Latin -- for the Latinists out there, I believe they're both second declension masculine, like Marcus or animus. But at any rate he doesn't really fit the list -- it is his last name, if in Latin per the preferred form at the time. --Jeff Anonymous 07:25, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Changing the article title!

AS someone has pointed out with "Christ" and "Jesus" being listed; people with single word pseudonyms are not known by one name — in fact, having a pseudonym often ends up with you being known by several names.

I propose this article be moved to List of people known by single word names or List of people who have names consisting of a single word ors oemthing similar.

Most people are known by only "one name".--ZayZayEM 03:40, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Agreed, and though the two suggestions are not the prettiest of titles it's more important to be correct. violet/riga (t) 22:40, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I don't think we need to rename the article. The title is quite clear. People have been making additions to the article for two years, and there is no misunderstanding about what is meant. Christ and Jesus can be listed separately. Kingturtle 23:09, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The point is not only is it not clear, it is not correct. Once reaching this page, one realises what it is for, and it starts to make sense -- but it doesn't change that it is utterly wrong.
Discussion Proposal and Request--ZayZayEM 11:15, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Proposed names:

I agree. This page needs a name change. Someone earlier on the talk page suggested People best known without their last names. There are a number of semi-famous people who are known by their first name only, but they don't have to be super-famious-legendary. They're just known by their first name only because their full name including last name might be too long or confusing for the public to keep track of. Raven, and Lalaine, for instance, go by their first names only because their hyphenated surnames are long. --User:Lehla 15:25, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Why?

  • What purpose does this page serve? — Xiong熊talk 06:55, 2005 Apr 20 (UTC)

In my opinion, that's all wrong. Wikipedia documents information that is verifiably important. The connectedness of the people on this list is original research and therfore can have no source. And therefore does not belong on wikipedia. Honestly, this is a list of stage names with philosophers grouped in. Find me an article stating the significance of a group of people known by one name. Lotusduck 18:11, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Tightening criteria per AfD discussion

I'll start the new talks... what should the criteria for this page be? I agree they need to be tightened. Here's what I've come up with so far:

  1. The person should be known by one name in the majority of the world. If, for instance, the country of that person's origin nicknames him or her by one name but the rest of the world does not follow suit, he or she should not be listed here.
  2. The person should be known by one name during a time period and/or within a culture where two or more names is the norm. (We can quibble about what exactly those time periods/cultures are as we get on with the discussion. I disagree with Wahoofive's idea on the AfD discussion about limiting the list to 1900 and after, personally. I think that's way too late.)
  3. We need a way to verify these. What are good sources for proving this? A lot of the people are media stars, but tabaloids are not the best way to verify. Perhaps news articles would be better, if we could find them.

What else? Jacqui★ 16:14, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I disagree with #2. First, throughout entire history, people were known by multiple names or adjectives if a single name wouldn't suffice. Plato the philosopher was someone else than Plato the smith. Also, the list already only lists people who are known by one name today (right?) In this time period and culture, two or more names is the norm. Nikola 09:43, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
If the criteria happen to not be tightened, what about creating another article for the people who have a last name (because, as mentioned, otherwise many thousands of people from ancient history would have to be included), but which isn't commonly known, in the spirit of List of people whose first name is not commonly known? That would make a more restrictive list without affecting this one, if people want to keep it. Ardric47 05:14, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Here's a tightening of criteria: Everyone whose full name appears in the actual wikipedia article to them has a full name. So Zoa of elaster is better known with his full name than Zoa. Any "of nazareths" or "the hun" constitutes having two names, as those are formated exactly the same as last names are. I'm going to take out all of those right nowLotusduck 18:20, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

This is a list of stage names with some historical figures that people forget the full names of mixed in. If nobody convinces me otherwise, I'm going to move this page to "List of famous people's stage names" and if there is actually any interest in an article on historical people that laypeople identify by one name, then it will be created. I will wait one week to be convinced that this is not the best course of action. This page is purely original research. Wikipedia: No original research. A page on famous stage names is not without precedent in real, sourcable articles stating the significance of the stage names and real names. There is no sourced article for the significance of people known by one name, however. If this article can be sourced as is within the next couple of days, then I'll leave it where it is. But if it can change its' name and better conform to wikipedia regulation, then shouldn't it do so? Lotusduck 18:37, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Important things I don't know how to do

First, someone please archive this talk page. It's old, and very long. I just tried to figure it out, and failed.

Second, I see this article as useful for the one named pop stars, and as much as I love the hilarity of Madonna and Machiavelli being on the same list, I think that this article should be split into two sections- Ancient world and Modern World. That way, people can add ancient world names wihtout confusing everybody, and we can add a note to names that are only known as one word now, but were actually full names when the person was alive. Lotusduck 19:41, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

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