Make Your Own Pseudonym
If you've wanted a name change, now is the chance to have some fun. This is especially useful for making up a "nom de plume", or a pen name if you want to hide your authorship of a book, paper, internet site or other media.
Contents
Steps
Pseudonym Help
Doc:Pseudonym Suggestions,Famous Pseudonyms
Making Your Own Pseudonym
- Consider how much of your real name you want to keep. You can shorten your name from something like William to Will, or Ashley to Ash, or simply choose a name that is similar.
- Decide what kind of genre you want to write and choose a name that fits it.
- For fantasy and science fiction writings, initials work best, such as J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.
- For literary works, "flowing" names work better, such as Nicholas Sparks and Barbara Kingsolver.
- Make sure that the complete name isn't awkward! The amount of syllables must be easy to spit out, unlike Billie Letts (too many L's) or 2-syllable names.
- Select several pseudonyms by mixing and matching. It sounds silly, but write each name out in easy print and give the names a bit of space on the paper. Keep working on what looks good and cross out the rest.
- Search for your options with an Internet search engine to find out if anyone else has already used them. Discard the ones that are being or have been used.
- Say each pseudonym out loud several times. Just about anything will work, such as, "I have to read [pseudonym's] newest book!" or "Is [pseudonym] coming for a book signing?"
- Choose your favorite pseudonym out of all of your options. There's no formula for deciding the best one; if you like one better than the others, go with it!
- You can use random name generators like http://www.behindthename.com/random/ and try different combinations of the names you get. That always gives you an interesting new name, and you can choose the origin of the name, like Irish, English, African, or even mythology.
Tips
- To get the pseudonym in your head, practice your book-signing signature. Don't feel conceited; you're just practicing for when you are finally an author!
- Do not pick out a name that is so outlandish that you are ashamed to bear it.
- Make sure your pseudonym is a name you like!
- Try using your middle name combined with your maiden name, or your mother's maiden name. Most people are familiar enough with these that they won't sound or feel strange.
- You can use a word processing program to design a fake cover of your book to see how good your pseudonym would look with it. Just put the title in the appropriate font and size at the top and your pseudonym at the bottom. If it doesn't look good, keep working; otherwise, keep it!
- Make an anagram of your name and use that. For instance, Tim Jones could be Jon Miset, or for a French twist, Jon Misét.
- Do not pick a name that you won't recognize when someone calls you with it. Once you are an author, people will try to get your attention. No use in choosing the pseudonym Jane Doe when your real name is Elizabeth Smith.
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