If my name is "John Doe", then:
- My first name is John
- My last name is Doe
However, if my name was "John", does a specific term exist to denote a name that has no last name? Or is it just "name"?
namessingle-word-requestssurnames
If my name is "John Doe", then:
However, if my name was "John", does a specific term exist to denote a name that has no last name? Or is it just "name"?
Best Answer
Some choices are available. 'Mononym' is given by Collins for a specific circumstance:
[Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. S.v. "mononym." Retrieved March 16 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mononym ]
That is, a famous person known by only one name is called a 'mononym' (according to Collins). This is somewhat far afield, but the circumstance is unusual enough that context and the prefix would probably be sufficient to convey the more general idea of a one-named person, famous or not.
Wiktionary provides another option:
Wiktionary also supplies a source for the neologism:
(op. cit.)
Four other citations exemplifying use of 'uninym' in the popular press are given, from 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2009.
Of the two, 'mononym' and 'uninym', I would prefer the neologism 'uninym' over the neologistic use of 'mononym', which last has a history in the 19th century defined as "Chiefly Med. Obs. A technical name consisting of one word only" (OED Online). As noted, 'mononym' is obsolete in that sense. 'Uninym' appears to have greater contemporary currency.
Other options include 'monomial' and 'mononomial'. Both are used as nouns and adjectives. Although not obsolete, these virtually equivalent terms have very specific uses historically:
["monomial, n. and adj.". OED Online. March 2016. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/121489 (accessed March 16, 2016).]
The adjectival senses of 'monomial' and 'mononomial' correlate with the nouns. Attestations are given from the 19th and 20th centuries.