Mononym
A mononymous person is a einnamiger personal name (from Greek monos "individually" and onoma to mehrnamigen "Name"), in contrast, for example, from pre- and surname existing name. Occasionally the bearer of a multi-part name chooses a mononym himself, in some times and cultures mononymy is also traditional, for example Javanese names are traditionally mononymous.
It is often the case with South American football players that they appear under a mononym and the actual name takes a back seat to the mononym, for example with Ronaldo , Robinho , Ronaldinho and Kaká . Another example are mononymous stage names, such as the singers Bono and Madonna or the clown Grock . Such mononyms have a long tradition in art and literature, examples are Novalis or Farinelli . Sometimes even the mononym becomes a legal name, as is the case with the American magician and comedian Teller, the (silent) partner of the Penn & Teller duo .
Mononymous name forms were widespread in the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean region. However, they were often more precisely determined by designating the place of origin (e.g. Zenon of Elea ) or the activity (e.g. Zenon the Stoics ). However, these additions were not considered part of the name insofar as they were not fixed, but could in principle be chosen at will so that it was clear within a context who was talking about.
In Germanische Altertumskunde Online the terminological problem is anthroponymy (people Namenkunde) addressed, namely that common names such as "first name", "first name" and "Christian name" not fit for times and cultures where Einnamigkeit prevails: "first name" like " Called name ”actually require several names,“ baptismal name ”requires a baptismal ceremony . Nevertheless, the term "nickname" is often used for historical mononyms, for example by Adolf Bach in his German naming convention .
literature
- Thorsten Andersson: Names. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 20. De Gruyter, Berlin & New York 2002.
- Mononym. In: Oxford English Dictionary . 2nd ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1989, Vol. 9, p. 1023.
- Henning Kaufmann: Studies on old German nicknames. Munich 1965 (= basic questions of naming , 3).
Individual evidence
- ^ Adolf Bach: German onomastics I. The German personal names. 1943.