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Cquote1
"Dear John Freeman, how are you? I miss you at home come home safe and soon with Gordon Freeman for thanksgiving dinner. Love mom."
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Some characters will stick to formal address, some go straight for the First-Name Basis. Others don't even bother with names. When none of these will do, and the character is not No Name Given or The Trope Without a Title, you get the Full-Name Basis. This is a good sign that the character might be a Fish Out of Water. Sometimes it is used just because the full name sounds more cool or intimidating, or at least the user believes that it does (especially when it's the user's own name). Obviously, if someone is on a Full-Name Basis, a Full Name Ultimatum loses its effectiveness.

A common subversion is for a character to have their name misinterpreted. This can get really long if said character is also The Magnificent.

Examples of Full-Name Basis include:


Anime and Manga[]

  • Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno in Ranma ½ have a tendency to do this in most cases, generally with the only exceptions to the rule being that they tend to refer to each other with very sarcastic terms of endearment. The other exception would be Ranma himself, whom Kodachi refers to as "Ranma darling."
  • In Bleach Ichigo Kurosaki and Byakuya Kuchiki seemed unable to not refer to the other as such during their fight. They said each other's full names 20 times. Afterwards, when it was clear they were no longer enemies, Ichigo dropped the last name (to Byakuya's chagrin) and Byakuya kept calling him by his full name.
    • In the dub, at the points where Ichigo calls Byakuya by name when he doesn't in the original, he sometimes just uses Byakuya's first name; for example, midway through Episode 57, he says "You haven't put a scratch on me yet, Byakuya!"
    • Ulquiorra also calls Ichigo and Orihime by their full names, when not calling them "Shinigami" or "woman," respectively, and also once refers to Rukia by her full name.
      • Though Byakuya and "Ulquiorra The Saddest Clown in Hueco Mundo's" case, they were intentionally trying to be dicks. Likewise, Ichigo was trying to be a dick up until he beat down Byakuya's sorry ass.
    • Mayuri Kurotsuchi briefly complains about Ichigo addressing him by his full name without an honorific, but notes that it's better than a First-Name Basis.
    • The Zanpakutou in the filler arc tend to refer to people other than their owners by full name, and Sode no Shirayuki tends to exclusively refer to Rukia as "Kuchiki Rukia."
    • When they were enemies Ishida also used to address Ichigo by his full name. He stopped doing that after they became allies and friends.
    • After the end of the Soul Society Arc, Aizen changed his hairstyle, and his way of speech as well. It became colder and more formal, changing his personal pronoun (from boku to watashi) and changing the way he refers to others. Aside for his minions, he now calls everyone by their full name - it sounds really cold.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam, Frau Bow is more likely to be called by her full name than just Frau.
      • And Ramba Ral.
    • And over in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Tieria Erde refers to other people by their full names more often than not.
    • Setsuna also does this so much. "Marina Ismael..." and "Saji Crossroad..." might as well be his catchphrase.
    • Between the two, Setsuna and Ribbons also only refer to each other by using their Full Name. It's never just "Setsuna" or "Ribbons".
      • In fact, the Gundam Meisters usually end up referring to not only the other Meisters but themselves a lot this way. As shown in the quote above, Shinn gets annoyed by it.
      • And how could we forget Graham Aker, screaming in anguish as his favourite wingman is shot down:
Cquote1

 HOWARD MASON!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    • Domon Kasshu from G Gundam is usually refereed to with both his names by almost everyone.
  • In Death Note, Light refers to Raye Penber by his full name, and does the same to many of his victims. It is justified, however, as his full name would need to be remembered and written in the Death Note.
    • L calls Light either "Light-kun" or "Yagami-kun." However, when doing internal monologues and wondering whether he is Kira or not, he'll refer to Light by his full hame, usually with it preceding the rest of the sentence.
  • In Naruto, the Sand Siblings typically refer to Naruto by full name. Since all of them have only one name (Gaara's "Of the Desert" title doesn't count), Naruto is technically doing the same to them.
  • Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist would address everyone he spoke either by their full name or their state alchemist title. Al was one of the few that didn't have both and was thus always addressed by Scar as "Alphonse Elric." Which sounded rather awkward at times...
    • Major Armstrong also tends to refer to Edward by his full name whenever conversing with him.
    • Fuhrer King Bradley is rarely referred to as just Fuhrer Bradley. Having "Fuhrer" for a title and "King" for a first name is just doubly Badass.
    • In the 2003 anime version Van Hohenheim's is constantly referred to as "Hohenheim of Light", which was almost exclusively treated as if it (or "That Bastard") was his true name.
  • In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S, most people address or refer to Jail Scaglietti by his full name, with the only exceptions being his Numbers Cyborgs and Lutecia. Precia Testarossa is also addressed by Chrono like this, so one could assume that Time-Space Administration Bureau personnel in general treat all criminals in this way.
    • Chrono once addresses Fate by her full name late in the original series, presumably due to her status as a criminal. Vita addresses Nanoha by her full name throughout A's, (and usually gets her given name wrong on purpose), but switches to First-Name Basis by StrikerS. Signum similarly calls Nanoha "Takamachi Nanoha" in the third A's sound stage but switches to "Nanoha" after getting to know her better.
    • Nanoha and Fate call the Lieze twins by their full names, but are asked to use their first names when referring to them individually and "Lieze" when referring to them both.
  • Xellos of Slayers always drawls out Lina Inverse's full name.
    • Unless this is something unique to a dub version, Xellos has hardly ever used Lina's full name. He usually calls her "Lina-san."
  • Kaori Sakiyama of Airmaster; everyone says her full name. It helps that she's a force of nature who can match any martial artist except the main character not through training, but sheer unadulterated crazy.
  • Vice of Ultimo tends to refer to Yamato as "Agari Yamato".
  • Kirihara always calls the Prince of Tennis by his full name. He is questioned about this in at least one of the spin-off video games.
  • In Triangle Heart 3, Elise MacGaren once addresses Miyuki as "Miyuki Takamachi"- with her given name first, even while speaking Japanese.
  • Shugo Chara's Misaki Watarai persists in calling the protagonist "Hinamori Amu."
  • Franky from One Piece is the only Strawhat that refers to Nico Robin by her full name. He hasn't spent as much time with her as the rest of them though, being a fairly recent addition to the crew.
    • Also a meta example, as it tends to apply to the fanbase too.
  • In Tokyo Mew Mew, most of Zakuro's admirers call her "Fujiwara Zakuro".
  • RIN-NE: Rinne Rokudo toward Sakura Mamiya.
  • Asura Cryin: Reishirou Saeki does this with just about everyone, including Tomoharu Natsume, Misao Minakuni, and Shuri Kurosaki.
  • In the Pokémon Series this happens occasionally, usually starting with: "Hi, I'm Ash Ketchum, of Pallet Town". Soon after, almost every other character in the vicinity begins rifling off names.
  • Somewhat in Haruhi Suzumiya. Nagato never calls people by their name, but when she refers to someone, she always uses the full name. Except for Kyon, probably because no one knows what it is!
    • Actually, she never called him anything but "you". When people thought she did referred to him by his usual nickname, it was actually a mistake (she said 'yon'(four), not Kyon).
  • Self-proclaimed mermaid Umino in Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai always refers to the protagonist Nagisa as "Nagisa Yamada", even in the must mundane of conversations.
  • Maria Gracebert of Mai-Otome tends to address students by their full names, although Arika is sometimes just "Arika" to her.
  • William T. Spears of Black Butler seems to address most people by their full names... including himself. Always.
  • Ayano Sugiura from Yuru-Yuri refers to everyone with normal naming patterns, except for one. TOSHINO KYOUKO!
  • Ayako of Slam Dunk always refers to Sakuragi by his full name. Strange, considering Hanamichi Sakuragi doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
  • Takane from the anime version of THE iDOLM@STER has the tendency to call people with their full name.
  • In Panzer World Galient, the majority of the characters meeting Hy Shaltat always address to him by his full name. Somewhat justified, given that his first name is very short.

Comic Book[]

  • Stephen Stills from Scott Pilgrim.
  • Dead Girl did this a lot when she first joined X-Force/X-Statix.


Fan Fic[]

Cquote1

  When John Freeman got to where the screaming was started from he found his brother Gorden Freeman fighting the final boss and Gordon said "John Freeman! Over here!" so John Freeman went there to where Gordon Freeman was fighting.

Cquote2


  • There is also a mega crossover in which Beyond Birthday (of Death Note) refers to his favorite "fictional character" by full name only... naturally, it's Edward Cullen. Lampshaded in every possible way.


Film[]

  • People in Demolition Man always refers to John Spartan as "John Spartan", never just "John". (Actually, this isn't limited to just John...apparently everyone's on a Full-Name Basis with everyone else...)
  • The titular Starman was a Fish Out of Water who referred to Jenny Hayden not only by her full name, but as if it were one word. "JennyHayden."
  • In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie The Phantom Planet, one of the alien women refers to Earth astronaut Frank Chapman as "Frankchapman", because, apparently, surnames are unheard of there.
    • That's not unreasonable; there were only thirty people on the entire planet.
  • Will always calls Lee "Lee Carter" in Son of Rambow.
  • In Avatar, Jake Sully is often referred to by his full name by the Na'vi, often as one word (With the exception of his love interest). This could be because they have Only One Name.
  • In the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, Gary Murray, the school principal. In the screenplay, Joss Whedon compared him to Charlie Brown — you always have to say his full name.
  • Used (at first) for laughs in the Biopic Temple Grandin; autistic Temple has trouble staying in her new room since she doesn't feel like it's hers. Her aunt puts a sign on the door that reads "TEMPLE'S ROOM," only for Temple to come back later and write "TEMPLE'S Grandin ROOM." It takes a not so funny turn when it becomes a plot driver for Temple inventing the 'Hug Machine.'
    • Don't forget Temple's greeting every single time, "My name is Temple Grandin!" It's even the first line of the film.
  • In Small Soldiers, after a bad introduction, Archer thinks Alan's name is "Alannowshutup", a mistake that is quickly cleared up.
  • The Wu-Tang Clan play themselves in a skit in Coffee and Cigarettes. They immediately recognize their server as Bill Murray, and address him by full name at every opportunity.


Literature[]

  • A two-year-old in The Baby Sitters Club does this, most often with Mary Anne Spier.
  • In Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Richard introduces himself as "Richard. Richard Mayhew. Dick." Following which Door calls him "RichardRichardMayhewDick".
  • In Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, the Aiel people always call outsiders by their full first and last names. It turns out that in their culture, using a shortened nickname is a sign of great intimacy, usually between lovers. So using only "half" a stranger's name makes them feel weird.
    • Further justified by the fact that instead of last names, the Aiel have a list of affiliations, and so they are unfamiliar with the last name concept.
  • People addressed each other with their full names in Brave New World, since people's names are decided by random from a small pool of names of famous people's names.
  • Dobby does this to Harry Potter.
    • If not referring to him as something like "the boy," Voldemort almost always says Harry's full name.
  • In the novel Deadline the four year old brother of the main character's love interest refers to her only as "Dallas Suzuki", not anything else.
  • One of the Anne of Green Gables books, there is a character named Rebecca Dew. Anne notes in a letter to her fiance that she finds it impossible not to use Rebecca Dew's full name.
  • In Star Wars: Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of Thonboka, Lando befriends some very large intelligent aliens who live in the vacuum of space, and gradually gets more titles added to the name by which they refer to him, ultimately reaching the point of absurdity, i.e. "Captain-Master-Lando-Calrissian-Sir". All said as though it were one word.
    • Justified in context, as the aliens' names are descriptions of who they are and what they've experienced, and full names of the oldest members of their race can take days to speak.
    • In Outbound Flight, Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Jorj Car'das are on a Full Name Basis until Car'das says to just use his last name; in turn, Thrawn allowed the use of his core name, since Car'das mangled the pronunciation of his full one. By the book's end, Thrawn feels they're close enough to call the human Jorj.
      • Thrawn's brother Thrass and the young Jedi Lorana worked and died together to save the last few survivors of Outbound Flight. It all happened quickly enough that not only do they never exchange first and core names, but they called each other Syndic Mitth'ras'safic of the Eighth Ruling Family and Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler.
      • And let's not forget the Noghri referring to Han as HanClanSolo at Luke's suggestion in the Thrawn Trilogy.
    • In the New Jedi Order, the Yuuzhan Vong always go by their full names, and it's explicitly stated that using just part of the name when you're not a close relative is incredibly insulting. The exceptions seem to be priests (who have only one name, on the whole), the Supreme Overlord (who is above the normal rules), and the Shamed Ones (who get no respect anyway).
    • In Choices of One, no one ever calls Nuso Esva by anything less than the full name.
  • Les Misérables has an unusual example: the narration always refers to Jean Valjean by his full name; it doesn't do this to any other character.
  • In Percy Jackson and The Olympians, we see this with Rachel Elizabeth Dare, most of the time.
    • The easiest way to recognize a non-Mortal? They say Perseus Jackson.
  • In The Boy Who Stole The Elephant, the main antagonist is referred to by both the narrator and the characters as "Mr. Catfish Williams" - never anything else. The narrator even Lampshades this.
  • The Sklorno in Scott Sigler's Galactic Football League novel series call everyone by their full names, regardless of species.
  • The Narrator does this to Marianne Engel in The Gargoyle for unexplained reasons.
  • In A Song of Ice and Fire, Ygritte does this with Jon Snow.
  • Captain Bluebear spends some time with a tribe of desert nomads who all have Overly Long Names and insist on a Full-Name Basis as really basic courtesy; it's considered a mortal insult to refer to anyone by any shortening of their name, to not use a person's name when talking to them, or to mispronounce their name in any way. One of these has about five highly-similar-sounding rhyming names of perhaps ten syllables, followed by 'tennineeightsevensixfivefourthreeone' (note the lack of a 'two').
  • In For Whom the Bell Tolls, the narrator does this to the protagonist Robert Jordan.
  • The main character in John Green's Paper Towns has Margo Roth Spiegelman, of the Rule of Cool variety.
Cquote1

 Margo Roth Spiegelman, whose six-syllable name was often spoken in its entirety with a kind of quiet reverence.

Cquote2
  • In the His Dark Materials trilogy, certain characters such as Iorek Byrnison and Serafina Pekkala are almost always referred to by their full name.
  • In both the original picture books and the Animated Adaptation, the main characters of the Guess How Much I Love You series, Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare, refer to each other by their full names. It feels a bit odd, as they're strongly implied to be father and son. The animated series confirms this, and also introduces a number of other characters, all of whom are on a full-name basis with each other, apparently as a means of staying true to the style of the picture books.
  • The narration in The Story of Crime series by Mäj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö does this with its central character, Martin Beck. There is not a single occurrence of him being referred to by only his first name or only his last name in all ten books, apart from in dialogue. Beck is the only character for which the narration does this, however.


Live Action TV[]

  • Teal'c in Stargate SG-1 always refers to Daniel Jackson by his full name, pronouncing it as though it were one word, and leaving out the salutation "Doctor."
  • Tracy Jordan of Thirty Rock calls Liz Lemon by her full name. His wife Angie does the same.
    • He calls pretty much everyone else by their full names, too, which suggests that he thinks Kenneth's last name is "The Page."
  • The narrator in Pushing Daisies does this a lot. Except for Ned, who apparently doesn't have a last name.
  • Bob Rooney, a minor character from Married... with Children was never called simply 'Bob' (even his wife calls out his full name in the bedroom). The writers once explained that in every group of friends one person is always called by his full name.
  • On The Middleman, Noser always refers to Wendy as "Wendy Watson".
  • The Price Is Right host Drew Carey usually refers to The Announcer, Rich Fields, by his full name, especially when asking for another contestant. Rich sometimes plays along and prefixes his copy with "All right, Drew Carey..."
  • The narrator of The Westing Game refers to several characters by their full names.
    • That's because full names turn out to be a major plot point.
  • Ben Bennett on Greek. His full name is hilarious enough to be his Kappa Tau nickname.
  • David Tench, Australia-based Channel 10's short-lived computer-generated parody of American talk-show hosts, had the habit of speaking to his celebrity guests by their full names.
  • Most other characters on Lost are known by their first or last name exclusively, but Benjamin Linus and Daniel Faraday are almost invariably referred to by their full name and always refer to themselves that way.
  • From Gilmore Girls: "Pennilyn Lott will always be Pennilyn Lott."
  • Star Trek: Voyager had this with Naomi Wildman, who was always "Naomi Wildman" to Seven of Nine.
    • Or "Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman."
  • Grace Polk and Adam Rove get this fairly often, though not all the time, in Joan of Arcadia.
  • Lois Habiba from Torchwood almost always refers to herself with both names.
  • One of the more distinctive speech patterns on My So-Called Life was the tendency of most of the characters to refer to the others by their full names. This varied from person to person, but the one who just about always got this treatment was Jordan Catalano.
  • On Friends, one of the subtle differences in "The One That Could Have Been" is that Rachel calls Joey by his full name when referring to him. To her, he's a celebrity, and just like we call celebrities by their full names (for example, we would say Matt LeBlanc when talking about the actor, not Matty), she calls him Joey Tribbiani.
  • Angela Kinsey, who plays Angela Martin on The Office, always calls her character by her full name behind the scenes because they share the same first name.
    • Two other actors—Oscar and Phyllis—are in the same boat, but I can't recall whether they use their respective characters' full names when referring to them. (Creed shares his whole name with his character, not just his first name.)
    • Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration, is always referred to as Bob Vance.
      • And he refers to himself as "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration".
Cquote1

 Preist: Do you Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration take this woman

Cquote2
  • Rich ditz Mary Cherry on Popular is always referred to with her full name. (The same goes for her mother, Cherry Cherry.) Also, not only does April Tuna get this all the time, but she uses it on other people as well, most notably Carmen Ferrera.
  • In Merlin everyone refers to Guinevere as "Gwen", save for her Love Interests Arthur and Lancelot, who almost always call her by her full name.
    • As of series 4, there has been an Inversion. Given Gwen's rise in status, she is now frequently being addressed by most characters as "Guinevere," whilst Love Interests Arthur and Lancelot are using the pet name of "Gwen" as a sign of their more intimate relationships with her. The sole exception is Merlin, who always has (and probably always will, even once she's queen) refer to her as Gwen.
  • In Robin Hood, Djaq usually always calls Will Scarlett and Allan-a-Dale by their full names.
  • In Monty Python's Flying Circus, they did a skit which was a documentary on a forgotten baroque musician, in which every mention of his name recited his full name: "Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern- schplenden- schlitter- crasscrenbon- fried- digger- dingle- dangle- dongle- dungle- burstein- von- knacker- thrasher- apple- banger- horowitz- ticolensic- grander- knotty- spelltinkle- grandlich- grumblemeyer- spelterwasser- kurstlich- himbleeisen- bahnwagen- gutenabend- bitte- ein- nürnburger- bratwustle- gerspurten- mitz- weimache- luber- hundsfut- gumberaber- shönedanker- kalbsfleisch- mittler- aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm".
  • In Daddy's Daughters, Galina Sergeevna Vasnetsova (Liza Arzamasova) is always addressed as Galia Sergeevna, even by her own family. This is how the Russians address adults, emphasizing that Galina Sergeevna is Wise Beyond Her Years.
  • On Saturday Night Live, Tom Hanks is at one point inducted into the Five Timers club for hosting the show five times. During the sketch, he gets to meet Steve Martin, who tells him "Tom, Tom old bean! Let's have a look at you. That robe fits you smashingly." Tom Hanks, enthusiastically thanks him-- "Thanks, Mr. Martin." To which he responds "Please, call me Mr. Steve Martin."
  • The Borgias: Giulia Farnese is always referred to as Giulia Farnese.
  • The Main Characters of Seinfeld always refer to their friend Joe Mayo as Joe Mayo. When he asks one of them to do a favor, they even reply, "Sure thing, Joe Mayo."
    • Also, Kramer's offscreen pal Bob Sacomano. Unusual because Kramer usually has friends who are only identified by one name (Newman, Spector, Lomez, Brody, even himself before "Cosmo" was revealed in Season 6), but Bob Sacomano is always Bob Sacomano.
  • Parks and Recreation: Chris Traeger always refers everyone by their full names. Especially "Ann Perkins".
  • Evan on Royal Pains always introduces himself as "Evan R. Lawson, CFO of HankMed".


Music[]

  • The bassist of Reel Big Fish is referred to in the CD booklets as: Matt "mattwong" Wong


Newspaper Comics[]

  • Charlie Brown in Peanuts is mostly addressed this way. Exceptions are Marcie (who calls him "Charles") and Peppermint Patty (who calls him "Chuck"). His sister Sally calls him 'Big Brother', because at the very least calling him by her own family name would be odd.
    • In many post-1970 strips, Snoopy refers to him as "the Round-Headed Kid," suggesting he doesn't even know, or has forgotten, his name. Also, in a 1990 storyline, Charlie Brown's summer girlfriend Peggy Jean calls him "Brownie Charles," because that's how he nervously introduces himself.


Radio[]

  • Radio talk shows will often do this with featured guests, for the benefit of people just tuning it.
  • Radio Sketch Show That Mitchell and Webb Sound features "Master Hinjuku for whom the Mountains of Hinshao Cleft in Twain his Passage to Allow". He's really good with air conditioning.


Theatre[]

  • Kjell Bjarne in the play Elling is rarely if ever referred to as anything other than "Kjell Bjarne". Curiously, his roommate and the main character of the play, Elling himself, is an Only One Name.
  • I Sebastiani, the Greatest Commedia Dell'Arte Troupe in the Entire World! They've got their fans more or less trained so anytime anyone says "I Sebastiani", it gets followed up with "the Greatest Commedia Dell'Arte Trouble in the Entire World!"


Video Games[]

  • Franziska von Karma, from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, refers to practically everyone by their full names.
  • In Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, Shelke always refers to Vincent as "Vincent Valentine".
    • Once or twice she just calls him Vincent, but she plays it straight the overwhelming majority of the time.
    • Then there's Final Fantasy IX, in which there are two black mages raising a baby chocobo... Bobby Corwen. Giving a chocobo a last name in the first place is noteworthy, but they say "Bobby Corwen" enough that Eiko points out, "Can't you just call him by his first name...?" It's worth mentioning, though, that this is also likely a shout out with "Bo"bby "Co"rwen referring to Boco, from Final Fantasy V and VIII. (Although the black mages themselves might just not understand that you don't always use last names...)
  • Advocat has a lot of fun fully pronouncing Lillet Blan's full name in Grim Grimoire.
  • For some reason Date Masamune of Sengoku Basara always refers to his rival Sanada Yukimura by his full name. Yukimura goes through varying degrees of this, though he eventually graduates to First-Name Basis speech-wise, but still uses Masamune's full name when he thinks about him (which is very often).
    • To be honest, amongst the fandom most characters are known predominately by their full names. It just seems to flow better somehow.
  • In the Visual Novel Sekien no Inganocka, a brothel matron in the Infinitely Crowded Street prefers to be called by her full name Alisa Greg. In fact, she subtly demands it, and the naga-like woman has torn up a man's face with fangs drawn, even though he was a customer.
  • Leeeeroy Jeeenkiiiins!
  • Given enough character space for names, it is entirely possible for players to enter a full name for characters with customisable names. If the game was scripted on the assumption that players would only enter a first name, this trope results. Secret of Evermore is an example, due to a ridiculously-long name entry space.
  • Touka in Sharin no Kuni refers to Kenichi by his full name, Morita Kenichi, until a certain point. Apparently, the reason is that using his last name would be formal, and his first name would be too intimate.
  • David Crenshaw, of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., to the point that his actual callsign is almost All There in the Manual.
  • Amane in Devil Survivor almost always calls the protagonist by his full name.
  • Lampshaded in the first phase of the Japan only game, The Recollection of Haruhi Suzumiya. When Kyon is deciding how to address Haruhi in the alternate universe (the options being first name, last name or full name), Haruhi will object and ask if you call everyone by their full name if you choose the third option, leading Kyon to settle on just "Suzumiya".


Web Original[]

  • In Homestar Runner The Cheat's name is always The Cheat, making for some weird dialogue, such as, "Awesome! My very own The Cheat!" Also, the Brothers Strong are always called Strong Bad/Sad/Mad. Nobody ever calls Pom Pom "Pom", always "Pom Pom". This applies to other characters like Pan Pan, Sickly Sam, and The Homestar Runner (the "old-timey" one, not the "modern" one, who's typically just "Homestar").


Webcomics[]

  • Famous Lawyer Jack Thompson in Power Up Comics.
  • In his heroic persona, ANTONIO SMITH, FORENSIC LINGUIST of Narbonic, complete with All caps and job description.
  • In Dead Days, Brown ended a call to Steven Spielberg with his full name to rub his success into Blonde's face.


Western Animation[]


Wiki[]

  • Sometimes occurs with certain characters, such as Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth! from Disgaea who (at least on this wiki) is always referred to as exactly that, Bold Inflation and all.
    • Similarly the DC universe character Solomon Grundy is rarely called anything but Solomon Grundy and almost never Solomon or Grundy. (This is understandable, since "Solomon Grundy" is more of a codename referencing a nursery rhyme than a proper name.)
    • Ahem... BRIAN BLESSED!
  • Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM! But oddly, only here on the Wiki. In-continuity, he gets called what's appropriate to the station of the person addressing him.


Real Life[]

  • Unless they have a prominent nickname people use, most celebrities are known by their full names.
  • Part Truth in Television: in Russian, the normal method of addressing is to use the Patronymic, but not the family name.
    • The "first name + patronymic" address is used only in formal situations. Friends are usually on a first name basis, although it is not unusual for old friends to be on a "patronymic-only" basis, especially if a man has the same name as his father, or if nobody else in the group has that patronymic.
  • In China, people invariably introduce themselves and are referred to by their full name, and it is quite normal even for friends to use their full name in everyday conversation, unless they have titles or nicknames.
    • Well, they are two or three syllables long in most cases.
      • One way to see this in the west is in professional pool. There are two female pool players from Asia (Ga-young Kim from Korea and Xiaoting Pan from China.) During the commentary for their games, they're almost exclusively referred to by their full names.
    • Although many Chinese people are referred to by only one name in English (eg 'Mao', 'Chiang'), Yao Ming seems to be a common exception. Jackie Chan too.
  • Ron Paul.
    • There was a time where it was always "Ron Paul /b/".
  • Richard Dean Anderson never seems to be called anything but Richard Dean Anderson. He even lampshades it on his Simpsons appearance: "Did somebody mention my names?"
  • Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is almost always referred to by his full name. His predecessor, Göran Persson, was too, although that could have had something to do with the fact that both "Göran" and "Persson" are very common Swedish names.
  • Bob Dole. Sometimes "Robert Dole", but never just "Dole".
  • In real life conversation, if someone addresses you or refers to you by your full name, there may be two possible reasons: either your name is alliterative (like "Peter Parker" or "Clark Kent") or they really don't like you much.
    • It can also be true not only for alliterative reasons but simply if the names sound good together; close acquaintances can often refer to each other by their full names if the last name is one, or sometimes two, syllables.
  • Vladimir Stogniyenko, a popular Russian sports commentator, nearly always refers to the Argentine football (soccer) legend Maradona by his full name, Diego Armando Maradona.
  • It is common in South Korea due to many people having most commonly three one-syllable names.
    • Although it's more likely due to the fact that there are fewer than fifty family names commonly in use in Korea, with about a third of all Koreans sharing the family names Kim, Park, or Lee.
  • A variation: Samuel L. Jackson. The "L" is not optional. Unless you refer to him as "Sam Jackson" or "Sam Motherfuckin' Jackson". Never Sam, never Samuel, and never Mr. Jackson
  • The late Billy Mays. It's hard to imagine it being anything else. Even "William" sounds odd.
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber. No one would know who was being spoken about without the Lloyd in there.
    • That's because it's his surname - Andrew Lloyd Webber, brother of cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, son of composer William Lloyd Webber. (Lloyd was his middle name, though, and he added it as a surname to avoid confusion with another musician.) ALW is not Lord Webber, he's Lord Lloyd-Webber (with the hyphen).
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most people assume that "Conan" is part of a compound surname, but it's just his (second) middle name.
  • Happens a lot in real life when talking about two people with the same first name in the same conversation, or sometimes to clarify which person you're talking about.
  • Facebook tagging in statuses and comments tends to cause this.
  • Assassins of famous people tend to get this treatment. For example, John Wilkes Booth, Mark David Chapman, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray...
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