Pen name
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A pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. Nom de plume is a French-language expression.
Different authors take their pen names for different reasons. The Brontë sisters adopted male names as they felt they would either not be published at all, or not taken seriously as women authors. Others do so for fear of violence or harassment, for example Ibn Warraq. Others do so to segregate different types of work: Lewis Carroll, used his real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, to write academic papers on logic; Agatha Christie wrote romantic novels as Mary Westmacott. Some writers, particularly in genre fiction, are so prolific that they are forced to take pen names in order to sell their books to different publishers: this is the case, for instance, with John Dickson Carr, who, in the 1930s, was publishing two detective stories a year under his own name and another two, through another publisher, under the pen name Carter Dickson. Pseudonyms are not always secret: Stendhal's real name was known by his contemporaries.
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[edit] In Persian and Urdu Poetry
- Note: List of Urdu language poets provides pen names for a range of Urdu poets.
A shâ'er (a poet who writes she'rs in Urdu or Persian) almost always has a takhallus, a pen name, traditionally placed at the end of the name when referring to the poet by his full name. For example Hafez is a pen-name for Shams al-Din, and thus the usual way to refer to him would be Shams al-Din Hafez or just Hafez. Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (his official name and title) is referred to as Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, or just Mirza Ghalib.
[edit] In Japan
Japanese poets who write haiku often use a haiga or penname. The famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho had used fifteen different haiga before he became fond of a banana plant (bashō) that had been given to him by a disciple and started using it as his penname at the age of 38.
Similar to a pen name, Japanese artists usually have a gō or art-name, which might change a number of times during their career.
[edit] Famous pen names
- Martín Adán (Rafael de la Fuente Benavides), 1907 - 1985; Peruvian poet
- Cecil Adams (author of The Straight Dope column), Ed Zotti
- Æ, used by George William Russell, 1867 - 1935; Irish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire (Guillaume Albert Vladimir Apollinaire de Kostrowitzky), 20th-century French poet, writer, and art critic
- Tudor Arghezi (Ion N. Theodorescu), 20th-century Romanian poet and children's author
- Avi (Edward Irving Wortis), writer of children's books
- Ba Jin (Li Yaotang), 20th-century Chinese writer
- Richard Bachman (Stephen King) 20th-century horror author
- W. N. P. Barbellion (Bruce Frederick Cummings), 20th century diarist
- 'BB' (Denys Watkins-Pitchford), 20th-century illustrator and children's book author
- Beachcomber (D.B. Wyndham-Lewis and John Bingham Morton), used for the surrealist humorous column "By the Way" in the Daily Express
- Acton Bell, Currer Bell, and Ellis Bell (Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë)
- Nicolas Bourbaki (a group of mainly French 20th-century mathematicians)
- Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie) 20th century British writer
- Kir Bulychev (Кир Булычёв) Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheyko (И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), 20th century Russian science fiction writer and historian
- Anthony Burgess (John ['Jack'] Burgess Wilson), 20th century British writer
- Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), 19th century British author, mathematician, Anglican clergyman, logician, and amateur photographer, writer of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
- Cassandra (William Connor), 20th century left-wing journalist for The Daily Mirror
- Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski), late-19th/early-20th century Polish-born British novelish
- P. Mustapää, (Martti Haavio) 20th century Finnish poet,
- James Herriot ( James Alfred Wight), 20th century British writer.
- Aapeli, (Simo Puupponen), 20th century Finnish writer and chatty articler
- Geoffrey Crayon (Washington Irving), early 19th-century writer
- Petri Pykälä , (Ilkka Remes) 20th and 21th century Finnish writer
- Maiju Lassila, Irmari Rantamala, Algoth Tietäväinen, Väinö Stenberg, J.I. Vatanen, Liisan-Antti ja Jussi Porilainen (Algot Untola), 20th century Finnish author.
- Sue Denim (Dav Pilkey), writer and illustrator of the popular "Captain Underpants" children's book series (Sue Denim is a parody of the word pseudonym); also used by science fiction writer Lewis Shiner
- Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr), 20th century author of detective stories
- Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), 20th century Danish author of "Out of Africa"
- H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), 20th century American imagist poet, novelist and memoirist
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), 19th century English novelist
- Paul Eluard (Eugène Grindel) 20th century French Dada and Surrealist poet
- C. S. Forester (Cecil Smith), 20th century writer of the Captain Horatio Hornblower novels, "The African Queen". and other novels
- Anatole France (Jacques Anatole François Thibault), 20th century French author
- Pat Frank (Harry Hart Frank), 20th century author of the apocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon
- Nicci French (Nicci Gerard and Sean French)
- Anthony Gilbert (Lucy Beatrice Malleson), British author of the Arthur Crook crime fiction novels
- K. Hardesh (Clement Greenberg), 20th century American art critic
- O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), American author of short stories and novels
- Hergé (Georges Remi), 20th century Belgian comics writer and artist, famous worldwide for creating the Tintin series of books
- Gabriela Mistral (Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga) Chilean poet, educator, diplomat and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1945
- Iceberg Slim Robert Beck, an African American writer.
- Jinyong or Kam-yung (Louis Cha), 20th century Chinese-language novelist
- Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.), the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series.
- Robin Hobb (Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden), 20th-century fantasy author. Also uses pen-name Megan Lindholm.
- Deidrich Knickerbocker (Washington Irving), early 19th-century writer
- Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman), advice columnist
- Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber), comic book pioneer
- Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren), 20th century Chinese writer and cultural critic
- Vichey (Richard Delano Flimig), First Cambodian or Khmer science-fiction storyteller, the most Khmer famous spy novelist, philosopher, and all-purpose writer.
- RDF (Stand for Richard Delano Fliming)
- Clinton (Vichey or Richard Delano Fliming)
- Maddox (George Ouzounian), The Best Page in the Universe
- Mao Dun (Shen Dehong), 20th century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and journalist
- Molière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin), 17th century French theatre writer, director and actor, and writer of comic satire.
- Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker), Dutch writer famous for his satirical novel, Max Havelaar (1860)
- Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins), 20th century science fiction author
- Natsume Sōseki (Natsume Kinnosuke), early 20th century Japanese novelist
- Gérard de Nerval (Gérard Labrunie), 19th century French poet, essayist and translator
- Pablo Neruda (Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto) 20th century Chilean poet. Nobel laureate.
- Abu Nuwas (Hasin ibn Hani al Hakami) 8th century Arabic language poet (Persia)
- George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), 20th century British author and essayist
- Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramée), 19th century English novelist
- William Penn (Jeremiah Evarts), 19th century activist against Indian removal
- Peyo (Pierre Culliford), 20th century comics creator of The Smurfs
- Q (Arthur Quiller-Couch), late 19th and early 20th century British author, poet, and literary critic
- Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee), 20th century detective fiction
- Pauline Réage (Anne Desclos), 20th century French author and critic who wrote Histoire d'O
- Henry Handel Richardson (Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson), early 20th century Australian author
- Robert O. Saber (Milton K. Ozaki), mid-20th Century journalist, author and detective novelist ("Dressed to Kill" [1954] and many others)
- Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), early 20th century British satirist
- George Sand (Armandine Lucie Aurore Dupin), 19th century French novelist and early feminist
- Sapphire (Ramona Lofton), 20th century African-American poet and author
- Sayeh (ه. ا. سایه) Hushang Ebtehaj, 20th century Iranian poet (هوشنگ ابتهاج)
- Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel), also used "Theo. LeSieg", 20th century American writer and cartoonist best known for his of children's books
- Shahriar (شهریار) Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi (Persian: سید محمدحسین بهجت تبریزی), an Iranian poet, writing in Persian and Azerbaijani
- Émile Ajar (Romain Gary), French Author, only Author to win the Prix Goncourt twice, once under his real name, and once under his pen name.
- Sirin (and Vladimir Sirin) (Vladimir Nabokov), 20th century novelist, who used it early in his career
- Cordwainer Smith (Paul M. A. Linebarger), 20th century science fiction author
- Lemony Snicket (author of A Series of Unfortunate Events—Daniel Handler)
- Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle),19th century French writer
- Max Stirner (Johann Kaspar Schmidt), 19th century German philosopher
- Marton Taiga (Martti Löfberg), 20th century Finnish pulp writer, who also used several other pseudonyms
- Juhani Tervapää (Hella Wuolijoki) 20th-century Estonian-born Finnish writer
- James Tiptree, Jr (Alice Sheldon), 20th century science fiction author
- Toegye (Yi Hwang), 16th century Korean Confucian scholar
- Tom Tomorrow (Dan Perkins) 20th century editorial cartoonist
- Lazlo Toth (Don Novello), using name taken from that of a deranged man who vandalized Michelangelo's Pieta in Rome, the pen name was used for the satiric "The Lazlo Letters" and other books
- Trevanian (Dr. Rodney Whitaker), 20th century American spy novelist
- Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 19th century American humorist, writer and lecturer
- Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby - Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips), advice columnist
- Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), 18th century French Enlightenment writer, deist and philosopher
- Walter (Henry Spencer Ashbee), 19th Century book collector, writer, bibliographer, and suspected author of My Secret Life, the sexual memoirs of a Victorian era gentleman
- Wang Shiwei 王實味 (Wang Sidao 王思禱), 20th century Chinese journalist and literary writer
- Artemus Ward (Charles Farrar Browne), 19th century American humor writer
- Ibn Warraq is a pen name that has traditionally been adopted by dissident authors throughout the history of Islam, including a current writer from India.
- Wonkette (Ana Marie Cox) [1], political gossip weblog writer
- Hajime Yatate (Various Sunrise animation staff members)
- Yulgok (Yi I), 16th century Korean Confucian scholar
- Paul French (Isaac Asimov), Classic Science Fiction Author
- K. A. Applegate (Katherine Alice Applegate) wrote the Animorphs, Remnants, and Everworld book series. She wrote/writes books under many other pen names as well.
- Harlequin romance novels, as Katherine Kendall.
- Girl Talk novels, as L.E. Blair
- Ocean City series (republished as Making Waves)
- Boyfriends/Girlfriends series (republished as Making Out)
- Barf-O-Rama series, as Pat Pollari
- Disney's The Little Mermaid series
- Disney's Aladdin series, as both A.R. Plumb and her own name
- Silver Creek Riders series, as Beth Kincaid
- Love Stories series
- Summer series
- The Story of Two American Generals: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. and Colin L. Powell
- The Very Best Jinx McGee
- Disney's Christmas with all the Trimmings: Original Stories and Crafts from Mickey Mouse and Friends
- Disney's Enter if you Dare: Scary Tales from the Haunted Mansion, as Nicholas Stephens
(Some of these books that weren't meant for a male audience were actually written under her real name, (the female name) Katherine Applegate.)
- E. L. Konigsburg (Elaine Lobl Konigsburg)is an American author of children's books, and two time winner of the Newbery Medal for children's literature.
- Bruna Surfistinha (Raquel Pacheco) is a writer and weblog writer
- Ayn Rand (Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum) is a 20th century fiction writer and creator of the philosophy "Objectivism"
[edit] "House" names
Book and magazine publishers have sometimes used a penname or pseudonym as the author of a series of stories that would be shared by any number of authors. Often these works are done as a "work for hire" with the writers receiving a flat fee and no royalties. Examples include:
- The Stratemeyer Syndicate used a number of house names. The Syndicate was quite secretive; ghostwriters were contractually obliged never to reveal their authorship, and many ghostwriters remain unknown. Some of Stratemeyer's most famous house names include:
- Victor Appleton for the Tom Swift children's adventure novels
- Franklin W. Dixon for the Hardy Boys mysteries.
- Carolyn Keene for the Nancy Drew mysteries, as well as The Dana Girls, which featured detective sisters.
- Also from the publisher Grosset & Dunlap, but not part of Stratemeyer:
- John Blaine for the Rick Brant (more realistic science/adventure) series
- Bruce Campbell for the Ken Holt (newspaper reporter/adventure) series
- Maxwell Grant: used by Street and Smith Publications, the publishers of numerous pulp magazines, for The Shadow.
- Watty Piper: used By Platt & Munk for The Little Engine That Could and its spinoffs as well as numerous unrelated children's books.
- Kenneth Robeson: used by Condé Nast Publications for the Doc Savage stories.
