This comes up every now and then, so it’d probably be good to have a go-to post explaining the matter. In the Funi dub and English fandom in general, it’s common for the name of Bulma’s father, Briefs, to be treated as a family name, making Bulma “Bulma Briefs”, her mother “Mrs Briefs”, and so on with Trunks, Bra, and sometimes even Vegeta. However, “Briefs” is never used this way in the original manga, anime, or any other Japanese sources. There, “Briefs” is simply used as the name for Bulma’s father, and never applied to any other member of the family (with the somewhat sad result that Bulma’s mother is only ever called “Bulma’s mother”, though in DB Forever Toriyama says that if he had ever bothered naming her, he would have gone with “Pantchy” or some other panties pun).
Videl states that it’s pretty rare for people to have family names these days, and notes how odd it is that Gohan has one. Toriyama reaffirms this in the Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume, saying that Videl and her father Mark have none (“Mister Satan” being merely a stagename). So there’s no reason to assume a character has a family name unless it’s explicitly stated. Note that the West City policeman’s computer lists Bulma simply as “Bulma”, and the policeman himself never asks Goku for Bulma’s family name, more signs that people on DB Earth typically don’t have them. I guess it is a bit confusing with Bulma’s dad being called “Doctor Briefs”, but of course if Videl went to med school she’d end up as “Doctor Videl”.
There’s likewise no reason to think that “Gero” is anything but a given name, or for that matter that the same isn’t true for Red, Black, Blue, or the rest of the Red Ribbon Army staff. Maybe later I’ll take a more in-depth look at family names in DB, but this should do for now.
Videl said this to Gohan in chapter 425, when Videl is taking Gohan back to school with her airplane thingy after she found out that he’s the Great Saiyaman.
And yes, Mr. Satan/ Hercule is not the guy’s name. It is indeed “Mark”
Hello, my name is Roxi :)
