We always refer to historical figures by their surname, like Robespierre, Hitler and Stalin. Why is it that we refer to Napoleon by his first name and not Bonaparte?
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In French, he is referred to as "Bonaparte" before he was crowned emperor, and then "Napoleon" after he becomes Emperor Napoleon I.
A cursory search in the Hansard through the period of the Napoleonic wars seems to suggest that back then it was more common to refer to the man by his last name (then spelled Buonaparte which has an interesting background story to it as well).
I could not find a single source to back this up properly, but it is very likely that the preferred reference became Napoleon later during the 19th century to avoid confusion with Louis Bonaparte and as well as the various ideologies under the name of Bonapartism.
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