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One-Name Historical Figures Quiz #2

These historical figures are often known by a single name. Guess who they are.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 4, 2019
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First submittedMay 14, 2014
Times taken20,435
Average score58.3%
Rating3.43
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Clue
Person
Argentine Marxist
Che
Athenian hemlock drinker
Socrates
French conqueror exiled in Elba
Napoleon
Alexander the Great's tutor
Aristotle
Escape artist
Houdini
Notable hun
Attila
Stick-thin model
of swinging sixties London
Twiggy
Monobrowed Mexican painter
Frida
Oft-quoted Chinese philosopher
Confucious
Juan Peron's wife
Evita
Gladiator who led a revolt
Spartacus
Siddhārtha Gautama
Buddha
Clue
Person
Mad monk of Tsarist Russia
Rasputin
"Vitruvian Man"
Leonardo
Italian putti painter
Raphael
Dutch Golden Age painter
Rembrandt
Insane emperor who succeeded Tiberius
Caligula
16th century Frenchman credited with
predicting the future
Nostradamus
First person to see Jupiter's moons
Galileo
Flamboyant pianist
Liberace
The king of rock & roll
Elvis
Poet from Lesbos
Sappho
A² + B² = C²
Pythagoras
Apache leader
Geronimo
+21
Level 77
May 14, 2014
I have never heard Leonardo DaVinci commonly called just Leonardo. In fact, I was so confused, that I put DaVinci first. Same with Frida Kahlo and Che Guevara. They seem like a bit of a stretch to me.
+1
Level ∞
May 14, 2014
It wasn't da Vinci the ninja turtle!
+5
Level 67
Nov 13, 2021
It wasn't the Leonardo code
+8
Level 46
May 14, 2014
I've heard Che Guevera referred to as just Che, but I agree with the Frida Kahlo and Leonardo da Vinci.
+2
Level 74
May 17, 2014
In Italy and in the "art world" he is indeed usually just called Leonardo. Anyway, daVinci wasn't his family name, it just means that he was from the town of Vinci.
+8
Level 44
Jul 9, 2014
I put in "Kahlo" at first too and it wouldn't accept it. I wondered if there was yet another monobrowed Mexican painter........seemed unlikely, so I tried "Frida", though I've never thought of her as a one-named figure.
+2
Level 69
Apr 17, 2022
Same.
+2
Level 78
Mar 16, 2015
I've heard many times just "Leonardo" alone.
+3
Level 72
Jan 18, 2016
I would agree and also add, Napolean Bonaparte and Galileo Galilei. Perhaps "Harry Houdini" was mostly known by his last name, but I still think its a stretch
+3
Level 76
Mar 29, 2018
Sure, lots of these people HAD a second name, but the point is that you can say just the one name and people know precisely who you're talking about. You say Napoleon, Galileo, and Houdini, people will automatically know you mean 1800s French emperor, 1600s Italian astronomer, and 1900s escape artist. I mean, they don't call 'em the Bonapartean Wars.
+1
Level 75
Feb 2, 2016
I've heard him referred to as just Leonardo often, and Che to a lesser extent but still sometimes. Didn't know who Frida Kahlo is though
+1
Level 45
May 2, 2018
Leonardo Da Vinci was his name, but it quite literally means Leonardo of Vinci, which is why he could go by that or just Leonardo.
+1
Level 68
Feb 8, 2023
Same, and this made the other questions so much harder! Because you are no longer restricted to people who are only known by a single name.
+1
Level 85
May 15, 2014
How about Cochise instead of Geronimo?
+3
Level 43
Jul 8, 2014
I thought of Cochise first, but of course Geronimo was the more famous of the two, because of his celebrity later in life. Cochise was actually a chief, whereas Geronimo was a war leader, so I don't quite think of them as being "just like" one another, but I supposed I'm being pedantic.
+3
Level 44
Jul 8, 2014
Eva for Evita?
+2
Level 82
Jul 8, 2014
Eva's the first thing I typed in, as well... but then she was not really known as "Eva." Either "Eva Peron" or "Evita," so Evita's the only answer that really works on this quiz.
+2
Level 44
Jul 8, 2014
The play is called 'Eva', which is why I guessed it.
+2
Level 75
Apr 7, 2015
I typed Eva first, too, but immediately tried Evita next.
+2
Level 84
Mar 28, 2017
I typed "E" and gave up in total frustration even though I knew her name was Evita.
+2
Level 67
Jul 8, 2014
Galileo Galilei, Che Guevara, Leonardo da Vinci, Geronimo Stilton, Elvis Presley, Napoleon Bonaparte... Or I got the whole quiz wrong...
+2
Level 78
Jul 8, 2014
They can have a last name, but still people often refer to them only by their first name.
+6
Level 92
Jul 8, 2014
Geronimo Stilton? Seriously?
+5
Level 45
Jul 8, 2014
Geronimo Stilton... I love it! You are very funny, Quizzology!
+3
Level 74
Feb 5, 2018
HAHAHAHAHA Geronimo Stilton! Wow! Bringing back memories....
+2
Level 58
Jul 8, 2014
Vermeer is just as synonymous with the Dutch Golden Age as Rembrandt.
+2
Level 86
Jul 16, 2014
My first try was Vermeer indeed. But then I figured it was meant to be Rembrandt.
+3
Level 86
Jul 8, 2014
Fun! Gosh, you could do lots of these. A few more examples: Ramses, Kamehameha, Vercingetorix, Charlemagne, Constantine, Shaka, Pelé, Madonna and Björk.
+2
Level 88
Apr 11, 2022
a few of these are in his first one
+2
Level 55
Jul 8, 2014
To everyone quibbling over people who have two names, the point is do it the other way round. The name, on its own, means only one person. If I say "Houdini" to you, you're not saying "Who, Fred Houdini? Charles Houdini?" Leonardo doesn't mean di Caprio, Elvis isn't Mr Costello and there are no other well know Che's (clarifying apostrophe, not possessive). I think it's a great quiz!
+8
Level 41
Jul 11, 2014
The trouble with this logic is that then this quiz is very deliberate. Most famous people can be identified beyond doubt by their surname only - think of Churchill, Wilde, Luther, Eisenhower, Thatcher, Austen and countless others. This does not make them "one name celebrities". I suspect that this quiz's intention was to point out people who stand out by being generally known by one name only and not by any other. And this is simply not true in case of many names included here.
+2
Level 75
Feb 2, 2016
I think I remember from the Motorcycle Diaries that Che wasn't actually his name, it's a Chilean slang term for an Argentinian. Or something like that. Maybe my head just made that up though..
+1
Level 86
Jul 16, 2014
I got everyone except Liberace (I've read his name on Jetpunk several times but, honestly, here in Belgium, I never heard of him...). I also never heard Frida Kahlo called only by her first name.
+2
Level 75
Jul 4, 2016
Liberace died in 1987, so even young Americans may not know who he was, but he toured internationally. He is credited with originating the phrase, "laughing all the way to the bank" in a letter to a critic who gave him a negative review.
+2
Level 66
May 6, 2015
Who has ever not called Attila the Hun by that name? And I've only ever Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Che Guevara referred to by their full names.
+2
Level 82
Aug 29, 2016
Yeah, I really don't think Frida Kahlo and Leonardo da Vinci belong on this list. They are usually referred to in most situations in the regular fashion, i.e. by full name first and then by surname in subsequent mentions.
+1
Level 58
Oct 21, 2016
Not in the circles I move in. Just Leonardo is very common usage.
+1
Level 81
Sep 29, 2016
Freda should be excepted for Frida
+1
Level 51
Nov 2, 2022
yeah but thats not her name
+3
Level 72
Dec 24, 2016
Another who has never heard Leonardo Da Vinci refered to as just Leonardo. At the very least you should accept Da Vinci as a type in.
+2
Level 71
Sep 3, 2017
I think some of these are very often called by their full name. I even tried Kahlo before Frida, and it wasn't accepted.
+1
Level 48
Jan 30, 2018
Not sure if this was mentioned already but Rasputin had a full name: Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin.
+4
Level 83
Feb 6, 2018
Liszt is another famous flamboyant pianist.
+2
Level 70
Mar 31, 2021
Really must accept Liszt. Definitely flamboyant and just as mononymical as Frida or Rembrandt.
+2
Level 37
Oct 20, 2019
Ask anyone who Ernesto Guevara was, and you might get the correct answer, but ask who "Che" Guevara was and you're certain to hit the nail on the head.
+2
Level 64
Sep 3, 2021
Never just known as Che where I come from
+1
Level 67
Dec 4, 2021
Shouldn't Eva be accepted, I've personally really only heard her as Eva
+1
Level 74
Mar 17, 2022
Cochise was also a one-named Apache leader.
+1
Level 64
Dec 17, 2023
Typo: "Confucious" should be "Confucius"