Are you mononymous? Go on, admit it, you haven’t a clue what I am talking about. Let me give you a few clues:
- Elvis
- Madonna
- Boris
- Trump
- Maradona
- Pele
- Michelangelo
- Diana
- Moliere
- Shakespeare
All these are people who are immediately recognisable to virtually everybody in the UK and the US by simply using one name – be it their first or last name, or a nickname. They are all, in fact known by their mononym (mono – one / onym – name)
Mononyms were common in antiquity – think of the Bible: Adam, Eve, Abraham, Moses, Jesus): Ancient Greece: Sophocles, Ulysses, Homer. Romans: Caesar, Romulus, Remus. Egypt: Cleopatra. There are still some countries where monoynms remain common, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar and Indonesia. Some authors have written about characters where part of their appeal is an apt single name, for example – Rebus and Morse.
Single names are less common now. We are too numerous, and a lifestyle that depends on passports, credit cards and mortgages, is too complicated for a single moniker to be sufficient. Some might get away with it – Sting, perhaps, but most of us need both our first and surnames – and most of us are also asked for all the names in between on occasion.
Many of the people in modern day who are known by their mononym have been given it by the Press – Trump, Boris, Murray. They may or may not like it, but they have to put up with it. For others it’s a matter of choice. Madonna has opted to sing using just her first name, and Jean-Baptiste Poquelin chose to write plays under the snappier name of Moliere. However, Michelangelo may not have been the name the artist would have chosen to be known by –on the only painting he actually signed, he used the Latin version of his surname – Buonarroti. (This nugget of information might be a useful bit of knowledge for one of the more esoteric pub quizzes I’m sure people are itching to get back to post Covid.)
Links to my books and social media
Alas, just looking up the mononymous ‘Margaret’ on the Internet will be no use if you are looking for my books – you will need to include ‘Egrot.’ You can find all my books and short stories on Amazon books, At least one story always free. ALL BOOKS FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00RVO1BHO
And Alex Still Has Acne – An adventure story for teens of all ages. £6.99, e-book £1.99. Free on Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alex-Still-Has-Acne/dp/B08LNFVRLY
getbook.at/AndAlex
CAST OFF – short stories about Shakespeare’s women. £6.99, e-book £1.99. Free on Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08M8BKZKH
getbook.at/CastOff
Saving Grace.
What kind of trouble has Grace got herself into? And can Courtney save her before it is too late? £6.99, e-book £1.99. Free on Kindle Unlimited. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08P9LFG7N
getbook.at/savinggrace
Telling Tales: Anthology from Coventry Writers’ Group to mark Coventry being the UK City of Culture in 2021. £5.99 paperback. £1.99 e-book.
NEW!! A story set in 20th century Coventry for Coventry 2021
Silent Echoes: The Carters seem just like any other family. Apart from the life changing events nobody talks about. Will history just keep repeating itself? Ebook-£1.99, Print-£7.99.