<p>Maybe he did not bother checking his rival's name or something. I guess he saw the name, but maybe it was of no significance to him. Also, in one of the early episodes, Light says that he is terrible with names and faces.</p>
<p>So most probably, he saw the name but forgot it, or he saw it but it was not revealed to us whether he now knew his actual name or not, or he simply didn't bother to check his name.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-01T15:05:02.640Z
2024-02-14T18:15:19.393Z
2024-02-14T18:15:19.393Z
Mizurashi Hana
<p>Yes, Light knew L's name, however neither in the anime nor the manga is it revealed to us watching/reading it what that name is. I expect it's supposed to remain a mystery to us. In the anime, light kills L using a death note and in order to do that one must know their name and so by that logic he knew his name, even if only temporarily...</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-28T22:12:04.827Z
"In the anime, light kills L using a death note" - no he doesn't, Rem kills L.
F1Krazy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-28T20:44:56.840Z
2024-04-28T20:44:56.840Z
QueenSophie
<p>In <em>Death Note</em>, Light picked up Rem's notebook after he/she died by writing L's name in the notebook.</p>
<p>Does it mean that Light knew L's real name, after that?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-14T12:32:14.477Z
The part of the answer that matters on SE was given by yourself, the rest is speculation. He had the means to learn the name. Did he read the names written by Rem? That's speculation territory. (But obviously, he did! Light would never give up on information.)
hajef
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T20:33:34.367Z
It's likely that he did as he had access to the death note left by Rem, but whether he did learn it or not is not important to the rest of the story, nor it is officially revealed.
patty2904
<death-note>
Did Light know L's real name?
# Did Light know L's real name?
Posted by: username_0 on 2020-04-11
In *Death Note*, Light picked up Rem's notebook after he/she died by writing L's name in the notebook.

Does it mean that Light knew L's real name, after that?
**Tags:** death-note
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The part of the answer that matters on SE was given by yourself, the rest is speculation. He had the means to learn the name. Did he read the names written by Rem? That's speculation territory. (But obviously, he did! Light would never give up on information.)  
> **username_2**: It's likely that he did as he had access to the death note left by Rem, but whether he did learn it or not is not important to the rest of the story, nor it is officially revealed.  
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## 2 answers
### Answer by username_3 on 2020-09-01. Score: -1
Maybe he did not bother checking his rival's name or something. I guess he saw the name, but maybe it was of no significance to him. Also, in one of the early episodes, Light says that he is terrible with names and faces.

So most probably, he saw the name but forgot it, or he saw it but it was not revealed to us whether he now knew his actual name or not, or he simply didn't bother to check his name.
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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-04-28. Score: -2
Yes, Light knew L's name, however neither in the anime nor the manga is it revealed to us watching/reading it what that name is. I expect it's supposed to remain a mystery to us. In the anime, light kills L using a death note and in order to do that one must know their name and so by that logic he knew his name, even if only temporarily...
> **Comments:**
> **username_5** (2024-04-28): "In the anime, light kills L using a death note" - no he doesn't, Rem kills L.  
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