A simple strategy for making nanoparticles by sonofragmentation of high-aspect-ratio 1D substrates is introduced. With common laboratory equipment, ultrathin nanowires are fragmented into nanoparticles of size determined by the nanowire width, resulting within hours in monodisperse, crystalline nanoparticles of <10 nm. This strategy is applicable to a diversity of semiconductor, oxide, and metal nanowires.