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Mario and Luigi are called the Mario brothers. Does that mean Mario's first and last name is Mario, or does he have another first/last name?

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    Mario Tiberius Kirk.
    – Molag Bal
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 3:55
  • 2
    @amaranth Then why did his gravestone say R. for an initial?
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 18:59
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    Isn't his first name "Super"?
    – user931
    Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 5:08
  • @user931 - ....and his last name "Brothers"? Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 16:42

4 Answers 4

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+200

Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto answered this in an interview with GameInformer a while back.

To him, Mario and Luigi don't have last names, but in the film version, Mario and Luigi have the last name of "Mario".

“This is an old story, but Hollywood did a film version of the Mario Bros. many years back. There was a scene in the script where they needed a last name for the characters. Somebody suggested that, because they were the Mario Bros., their last name should be Mario. So, they made him “Mario Mario.” I heard this and laughed rather loudly. Of course, this was ultimately included in the film. Based on the film, that’s [how] their names ended up. But, just like Mickey Mouse doesn’t really have a last name, Mario is really just Mario and Luigi is really just Luigi.

In 2015, Miyamoto reportedly confirmed that the brothers' last name is officially "Mario", but I have been unable to find a reliable translated source. Most news sources cite this article about the press conference; this is the translation courtesy of ixrec.

任天堂公式の名称は「マリオ・マリオ」と判明!

The official Nintendo name for him has been confirmed to be "Mario Mario"!

宮本氏はステージにあがり、「マリオ・マリオが本名」と発言したのである!

Mr Miyamoto came up on stage and stated that "Mario Mario is his real name"!

(note this might be a paraphrase rather than Miyamoto's exact words)

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    I didn't realize Mr. Mouse didn't have a last name.
    – iMerchant
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 4:36
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    @imerchant - I'm reasonably sure that mouse is his surname. Perhaps one to ask on another stack
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 6:14
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    @Valorum Another stack? How is Mickey Mouse, a character that has studied magic in Fantasia, associated with various aliens, and starred in the Kingdom Hearts games and the Epic Mickey games, not on-topic here? Commented Jun 15, 2016 at 9:24
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    @DrRDizzle - oh, it's on-topic here, it's just a dumb question.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 15, 2016 at 10:23
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    @Valorum All of a sudden there's something wrong with dumb questions?
    – user14111
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 11:00
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From the Wikipedia article:

Nintendo did not initially reveal Mario's full name. In a 1989 interview it was stated not to be "Mario Mario" despite the implication of the Mario Bros. series' title.

The first notable use of "Mario Mario" was in the 1993 live-action film adaptation. This was again used in two of Prima's official stategy guides, in 2000 for Mario Party 2 and in 2003 for Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

In 2012 after Charles Martinet voiced Mario declaring himself "Mario Mario" at the San Diego Comic-Con the next month Satoru Iwata said he had no last name, which Shigeru Miyamoto agreed with the month after. Two months after Iwata's death in July 2015, Miyamoto changed his stance September 2015 at the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival, confirming that his name was indeed Mario Mario.

So, TL;DR, the most recent decision is that his first name is Mario and his last name is Mario.

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    But what's his first name? ;)
    – user001
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 9:45
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    Retcon for the win. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 13:04
  • 9
    Mario... ±Mario Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 13:20
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    So you say its "Mario Mario" and his brother "Green Mario Mario"?
    – Gigala
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 14:07
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    youtube.com/watch?v=8ydBkyCXfao from the movie where Mario and Luigi are being asked their names.
    – phyrfox
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 16:51
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The character doesn't have a surname, however he was named after Mario Segale who owned one of Nintendo's first warehouse/distribution centres in America. So if you had to give him a surname then maybe Segale would be an option

One source is linked below, a piece published in the Seattle Times which states that he is a property owner and used to own the warehouse that Nintendo used, and describes that he may have been the inspiration behind Mario being named: Powerful Segale family has massive vision for Tukwila expanse.

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    Evidence? Citation? As a statement, it leaves a lot to be desired from an answer. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 8:28
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    I read it in Edge years ago, as for an actual citation, a quick google picked up clickbait and a dead link to a piece of research. This piece from the seattle times may help though old.seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/…
    – cockbeard
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 8:59
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    @MeatTrademark Miyamoto confirming himself: youtube.com/watch?v=uu2DnTd3dEo
    – ave
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 10:20
  • Look at the edit history and the time of my comment. My comment was before the edit. Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 12:11
  • Absolutely, your comment prompted me to find some evidence and add to the original answer hence me upvoting your comment, and commenting my edit to state why I had edited it
    – cockbeard
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 12:52
-1

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Luigi and Mario's last name is Pisano.

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    Hi there! :) Could you edit in a source for that? Maybe a clip or a screenshot? That would make for a better answer.
    – Jenayah
    Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 0:26
  • Isn't that what they call the audience? I don't remember that actually being used as a legal name anywhere. Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 17:46

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