Anyone else notice a lot of characters with only a letter for a name?

[Alfieri]

As the title says.

In Naruto, the eight tails jinchuriki (sp?) is named B. The raikage is named A.
The guy from Death Note is named L.
The anti-hero in Pokemon Black and White is named N.

Just wondering if anyone else noticed it. Your thoughts?
I think it's kinda funny and weird. Idk if a letter for a name is supposed to be a cool thing but it just seems more funny to me.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I don't think there are many thoughts to be had on this.

 

[Alfieri]

I don't think there are many thoughts to be had on this.

With OCD, I end up noticing even the most minor things lmao.

 

[Maleficent]

Spoiler:

Humanities recent obsession with simplicity, maybe?
One syllable names have an almost modern edge to them.
Not as lame as normal one syllable names like 'Sten', 'Grace' etc.
It's quirky and 'different' which is what most medias try to portray;
Japan, as I've known it, tends to lay on the 'difference' aspect thick.
So it makes sense to see that a lot in anime.

Other cultures are able to take on over dramatizing simplicity as well.
The west, with 'Q' in Star Trek, and 'Z' an animated film about ants.
Various other things as well.

Personally, I hate one letter names like 'D' because it's almost akin
to being so lazy as pointing at someone and saying 'You'.
"Hello You. How is life."
As opposed to "Hello Nathaniel, how is life."

Although Asian cultures do have a lot of one syllable names.
. . . And they're often more culturally and scientifically advanced.
But is there a sacrifice of pleasantries with that in mind?

Anything can have many thoughts to be shared upon,
If the mind observing and contributing, has many thoughts to begin with.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Not sure about the B and A in Naruto but L was named.
And N was named as well...
So those are just nicknames... nothing wrong with that...

 

[Lusus]

There are also C.C. and V.V. from Code Geass (pronounced C2 and V2). Neither of those are their real names, C.C.'s voice was muted when she said her real name to Lelouch, as for V.V. it's not revealed to anybody at all

 

[Eevee3]

I've only noticed N from Pokemon but it seems that there's a lot, I just haven't watched anime where this occurs.

 

[Deja Vu]

Single-letter monikers tend to convey the feeling of mystery. I've noticed that characters with a complicated backstory are often named with a solitary character. L from Death Note and N from Pokemon are a few examples.

 

[antemortem]

They usually stand for something. N stands for Natural Harmonia Gropius, so that's a thing.

As for other names... I don't give them much thought. I've not encountered very many, though.

 

[YoshiStar]

It makes sense for anonymous-like people. I don't see it as really some kind of pattern or anything.

 

[Brolijah]

Just wondering if anyone else noticed it. Your thoughts?
I think it's kinda funny and weird. Idk if a letter for a name is supposed to be a cool thing but it just seems more funny to me.

With OCD, I end up noticing even the most minor things lmao.

Heheh... Oddly, I can relate. I thought it was a weird quirk of mine or my OCD that I also acknowledged this idea, but figured insignificant because nobody would share this idea. Although, each of your examples are nicknames or renames.
More often than not, I see A's and B's names spelled as Ay and Bee respectively (basing on the localized translations, that is). I suppose it's simply meant to be a pun on the pronunciation of them. Also, I believe Bee's name was a handed down nickname from Ay.
In the case of N, it's short for Natural Harmonia Gropius. I still remember the odd theories that arose when this was announced... But, I digress.
L, N (aka Near), and M (aka Mellow) also are simply names. I don't believe we learned Near's and Mellow's real names, but L's name is Lawiet, if I recall correctly.

 

[Kanzler]

haha gropius

I think it's for mystery and drama, yeah. The first thing you think is "how the hell did they end up with a name like that" and the writer' done his job. Personally I think it's a bit of a trope and so kind of lame :(

 

[Legobricks]

This may be due to a Japanese fascination with initialisms, which their language doesn't strictly have, making it a novelty to them.
Ergo, any character named in this way is meant to evoke a foreign sense of mystery and/or modernity, while to an English audience this just seems a bit inane.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

This may be due to a Japanese fascination with initialisms, which their language doesn't strictly have, making it a novelty to them.

Which is why they aren't actually named only with one letter in Japanese =D