I didn't mean "exclusively" as in they didn't have a first name, just that they were referred to by their last names in public settings. Even a few decades ago,

I didn't mean "exclusively" as in they didn't have a first name, just that they were referred to by their last names in public settings. Even a few decades ago, it was still somewhat informal to refer to strangers by their first names. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlzm7-gvTRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlzm7-gvTRg Thought that was obvious from the context in the article, which is about political leaders.