Question: Why do only certain characters have last names?
Phaneron
20th Jun 2019
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Answer: It has to do with cultural differences. Some cultures in Middle Earth, like the Hobbits, use a family name (Frodo Baggins), others use a single name, followed by where they're from (Legolas of the Woodland Realm). Still others use the name of the father (Aragorn, son of Arathorn/Gimli, son of Gloin). Finally there are characters that use only a single name because they are of such standing that no other identification is necessary (Gandalf, Sauron, Sauruman), etc. These characters generally follow the name with a particular characteristic (Gandalf the Grey), and frequently have multiple names in different regions (Gandalf is known by many names).
Answer: The Hobbits use family groupings and thus last names. Frodo uses the surname Underhill in Bree and is instantly asked about Underhills in the Shire. Humans use a variety of names but not surnames - Aragorn is the son of Arathorn and Theoden is just called Theoden son of Thengel, and noble people like Denethor and Boromir are said to be "of the House of Voronwe or House of Hurin" Elves are immortal and thus do not need family names. Dwarves use the same naming convention as Men. Even Smaug uses one name.
14th Jun 2019
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Moe: Flaming Moe's.
Bart: Uh, yes, I'm looking for a friend of mine. Last name: Jass. First name: Hugh.
Moe: Uh, hold on, I'll check. Uh, Hugh Jass. Somebody check the men's room for a Hugh Jass.
Hugh Jass: I'm Hugh Jass.
Moe: Telephone.
Hugh Jass: Hello, this is Hugh Jass.
Bart: Uh, hi.
Hugh Jass: Who's this?
Bart: Bart Simpson.
Hugh Jass: Well what can I do for you, Bart?
Bart: Uh, look. I'll level with you, mister. This is a crank call that sorta backfired, and I'd like to bail out right now.
Hugh Jass: Alright, better luck next time [hangs up]. What a nice young man.
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
24 Minutes - S18-E21
Jack Bauer: Chloe, I need those schematics now.
Bart: What? Who is this?
Jack Bauer: I'm Jack Bauer. Who the hell are you?
Bart: Me? Uh, I'm Ahmed Adudi.
Jack Bauer: Chloe find out all you can about Ahmed Adudi. Does anyone there know Ahmed Adudi?
Chloe O'Brian: Ahmed Adudi: wealthy Saudi financier. Disappeared into Afghanistan in the late 90's.
Jack Bauer: Really?
Chloe O'Brian: No Jack, it's a joke name. You're being set up.
Jack Bauer: Dammit!
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Mr. Burns: Must call Smithers. He'll protect me from this beast. I've seen people activate this machine a thousand times. Doesn't seem to be any trick to it. Let's see, Smithers [begins dialing], S-M-I-T-H-E-R-S. Success, it's ringing!
Moe: Moe's Tavern.
Mr. Burns: I'm looking for a Mr. Smithers. First name: Waylon
Moe: Oh, so you're looking for a Mr. Smithers, eh? First name Waylon, is it? Listen to me, you! When I catch you I'm gonna pull out your eyes and shove 'em down your pants, so you can watch me kick the crap out of you! Okay!? Then I'm gonna use your tongue to paint my boat!
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Bart: May I be excused, Mom?
Homer: Oh, so now you're quitting dinner too.
Marge: Homer, please.
Homer: I didn't raise him to be a quitter, Marge. It must have been you. You've quit every job you've had. Cop, pretzel vendor, church counselor, professional gambler.
Marge: He's doing what he thinks is best.
Homer: Well if quitting is the best, maybe I should just quit my job. [Picks up the phone and calls Mr. Burns.]
Mr. Burns: Ahoy-hoy.
Homer: Mr. Burns, this is Homer J. Simpson. The father of the big quitter. Well I just wanted to tell you I'm a big quitter too, and I quit [winks at phone].
Marge: Homer, Mr. Burns can't see you winking.
Homer: So? [Screams].
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Concertgoer #1: Oh, here comes that cannonball guy. He's cool.
Concertgoer #2: Are you being sarcastic, dude?
Concertgoer #1: I don't even know anymore.
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Bart Gets an Elephant - S5-E17
Homer: Look at these bills: chains for elephant. Shots for elephant. Over-sized decorative poncho?
Bart: Technically it's for a giraffe, but I think I can let it out a little.
Homer: Well these bills will have to be paid out of your allowance.
Bart: You'll have to raise my allowance to about a thousand dollars a week.
Homer: Then that's what I'll do, smart guy.
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
31st May 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Scenes From a Class Struggle in Springfield - S7-E14
Tom Kite: You know Homer, the traditional way to cheat in golf is to lower your score.
Homer: That's one way.
Tom Kite: Ha ha, I'm PGA Tour pro Tom Kite. How 'bout I give you a few pointers on your game? Now you don't want to overthink.
Homer: Not an issue.
Tom Kite: Keep your head down.
Homer: [Raises head] Huh?
Tom Kite: Pretend there's no-one else here. [Homer scratches his butt with the driver and then belches.] And just go at your own pace. [Homer hits the ball onto the green.] Wow, very impressive. You're a natural, Mr. Simpson.
Homer: Really?
Tom Kite: Uh huh. All you need is your own set of clubs. [Takes his clubs back from Homer.] And stay the hell out of my locker! You can keep the shoes.
31st May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
Davos: Westeros is not the world, Your Grace. We need to look east for ships and men. Ten-thousand skilled soldiers fight for the Golden Company.
Stannis: The Golden Company!?
Davos: They've never broken a contract.
Stannis: They're sell-swords!
Davos: We're willing to use blood magic to put you on the throne, but we're not willing to pay men to fight?
31st May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
31st May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
Tyrion: I heard there was some trouble in Littlefinger's brothel the other night.
Janos Slynt: Mmhmm. Nasty business, had to be done.
Tyrion: Yes, of course. The City Watch must keep the peace. Only, I hadn't realised peace depended on killing babies.
Janos Slynt: Orders are orders.
Tyrion: Quite right. Especially the Queen's orders.
Janos Slynt: I never said they were the Queen's orders.
Tyrion: No, but who else would want to murder King Robert's bastards? She's always been a jealous woman.
Janos Slynt: You know your sister better than I do.
Tyrion: You've heard the awful rumors about my brother and sister.
Janos Slynt: I don't listen to filth.
Tyrion: That's good of you, but you have heard them. I suppose people who do believe that filth consider Robert's bastards to be better claimants to the throne than Cersei's children.
Janos Slynt: Joffrey is my king, the rest doesn't interest me.
Tyrion: I appreciate your loyalty. Tell me, when your men slaughtered Ned Stark's men in the Throne Room, did you give the order?
Janos Slynt: I did, and I would again. The man was a traitor. He tried to buy my loyalty.
Tyrion: The fool. He had no idea you were already bought.
Janos Slynt: Are you drunk!? I'll not have my honor questioned by an imp!
Tyrion: I'm not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I'm denying its existence.
Janos Slynt: If you think I'll stand here and take this from you, dwarf...
Tyrion: "Dwarf." Hmm, you should've stopped at imp. And yes, you will stand here and take it from me. Unless you'd like to take it from my friend here [motions to Bronn]. I intend to serve as Hand of the King until my father returns from the war, and seeing as you betrayed the last Hand of the King, well I just wouldn't feel safe with you lurking about.
29th May 2019
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Other mistake: When Steven is giving his final monologue, Michiel Huisman's natural Dutch accent slips through when he says "Without it, we cannot continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality."
28th May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
Blackfish: Kingslayer.
Jaime: Blackfish.
Blackfish: I assume you're here to fulfill the vow you gave my niece. I don't see Sansa and Arya.
Jaime: I don't have them.
Blackfish: Pity. Do you wish to resume your captivity? [Jaime shakes his head "no."] Then why are you here?
Jaime: You know why I'm here. This castle belongs to House Frey. You're trespassing. In the name of King Tommen, I order you to surrender, or...
Blackfish: Or you'll kill Edmure. My nephew's marked for death no matter what. Hang him and be done with it.
Jaime: It won't stop with Edmure. You'll force me to storm the castle. Hundreds will die.
Blackfish: Hundreds of mine. Thousands of yours. If you can breach the walls.
Jaime: We'll breach them, and kill every last one of you. But if you surrender, I'll spare the lives of your men, on my honor.
Blackfish: Your "honor." Bargaining with oath-breakers is like building on quicksand.
Jaime: The war is over, Ser. Why sacrifice living men to a lost cause?
Blackfish: As long as I'm standing, the war is not over. This is my home. I was born in this castle, and I'm ready to die in it. So you can either attack, or try to starve us out. We have enough provisions for two years. Do you have two years, Kingslayer?
Jaime: You clearly have no intention of saving your men's lives. Why did you come treat with me?
Blackfish: Sieges are dull, and I wanted to see you in person, get the measure of you.
Jaime: Well now you have.
Blackfish: Aye, now I have. I'm disappointed.
28th May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
28th May 2019
Game of Thrones (2011)
28th May 2019
3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)
Portrait of Tommy as an Old Man - S3-E19
Harry: Hey, what's the matter, Tommy?
Tommy: I have to write a twenty-page history paper by tomorrow.
Harry: Oh, that's tough.
Tommy: Oh, oh, and on top of that, George Kapasouris was waiting for me after school to beat me up 'cause I wouldn't let him cheat off my algebra test.
Harry: Whoa, so what'd you do, hop the fence and run home?
Tommy: Well no, I kicked his ass, but I mean, that's not the point. I shouldn't have to do that.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Most of the races and cultures in Middle Earth do not use what we would call in a modern setting a "full name", that is a given name followed by a family name. The Hobbits are the only race that does this regularly (i.e. Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, etc). Most of the other races use the more medieval "son of" when stating a formal full name (i.e. Aragorn son of Arathorn, Gimli son of Gloin, etc). To answer the question directly, most of the characters that don't have last names don't have them because last names are not used in their culture.
BaconIsMyBFF