String manipulation

Hi there everyone, I'm working with a mysql Db where I have a single string that I have to split into 2 strings, the first character is the first name and I have that split off into it's own variable, but what I need to know is what's the best method to read the string again BUT ignore the first letter as that is already copied into $firstname? So basically I have $firstname defined from the one string, but I have to define $lastname from the SAME string value as the one I used for $firstname, BUT ignoring the first letter but I'm not sure what the best method is to achieve this? Any help would be very appreciated. Chris