Despite my guess that his surname was Sailorman (pronounced SAY-ler-mun, of course), it seems that the eternally surly Popeye has no last name. That surprises me mainly because the character is over 80 years old. (Chronologically, anyway. According to his copyright holders, he's officially 34, and has been for a very, very long time.) Older fictional characters tend to pick up a lot of baggage as their stories expand infinitely. Somehow, Popeye's baggage hasn't included any name tags.

For example, over the years Popeye has picked up a father, Poopdeck Pappy (a nickname, as Popeye is definitely not Popeye Pappy), and a grandmother, Granny (last name long forgotten). In addition to adopting a son he affectionately calls Swee'Pea, Popeye has sired a son with Olive named Popeye, Jr. (If Popeye is missing a last name, there must be Oyl on Junior's Social Security Card.) Popeye has even helped raise his unfortunately named quintuplet nephews Pipeye, Pupeye, Poopeye, and Peepeye. (Since Popeye has no siblings and Olive has no sisters, they must also be Oyls. That's a lot of Oyl!)

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