List of Pen Names

This is a list of pen names used by notable people.

Pen name Real name Details
Aapeli Simo Puupponen 20th century Finnish writer and chatty articler
Abigail Van Buren Pauline Phillips and Jeanne Phillips Mother and daughter advice columnists (Dear Abby)
Abu Nuwas Hasin ibn Hani al Hakami 8th century Arabic language poet (Persia)
Acton Bell Anne Brontë
Æ George William Russell Irish poet and theosophist (1867 - 1935)
Algoth Tietäväinen Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
Anatole France Jacques Anatole François Thibault 20th century French author
Ann Landers Esther Pauline Friedman (See Eppie_Lederer) Advice columnist
Anne Chaplet Cora Stephan 20th century German crime novelist and journalist
Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White American science fiction editor and writer of mystery novels and short stories
Anthony Burgess John Burgess Wilson 20th century British writer
Anthony Gilbert Lucy Beatrice Malleson British author of the Arthur Crook crime fiction novels.
Artemus Ward Charles Farrar Browne 19th century American humor writer
Ayn Rand Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum 20th century fiction writer and creator of the philosophy "Objectivism"
Ba Jin Li Yaotang 20th-century Chinese writer
Banaphool, sometimes Banaphul Balāi Chānd Mukhopādhyāy Bengali author, playwright and poet
Barbara Vine Ruth Rendell 20th/21st century British author who writes a subset of her work under this pseudonym
BB Denys Watkins-Pitchford 20th-century illustrator and children's book author
Beachcomber John Bernard Arbuthnot, D. B. Wyndham-Lewis, J. B. Morton and William Hartston Used for the surrealist humorous column "By the Way" in the Daily Express
Boz Charles Dickens 19th century British novelist
C. S. Forester Cecil Smith 20th century writer of the Captain Horatio Hornblower novels, "The African Queen". and other novels
Carrie Elizabeth Bryce Robin C. Milstead Postmodern Feminist author and activist
Carter Dickson John Dickson Carr 20th century author of detective stories
Cassandra William Connor 20th century left-wing journalist for The Daily Mirror
Chanakya Jawaharlal Nehru First Indian Prime Minister
Clive Hamilton C. S. Lewis Used to publish Spirits in Bondage and Dymer
Cordwainer Smith Paul M. A. Linebarger 20th century science fiction author
Currer Bell Charlotte Brontë
Diedrich Knickerbocker Washington Irving Early 19th-century U.S. writer
Lazlo Toth Don Novello Author of the satiric "The Lazlo Letters" and other books; the name was taken from that of a deranged Hungarian-born Australian man who vandalized Michelangelo's statue Pieta in Rome
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel 20th century American writer and cartoonist, best known for his children's books
Edward Charles E.C.E. Hemsted 20th century British educator and author.
Joseph Conrad Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski 20th century British author.
Ellery Queen Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee 20th century detective fiction
Ellis Bell Emily Brontë
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
Erin Hunter Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Victoria Holmes Authors of the fantasy novel series Warriors
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
Geoffrey Crayon Washington Irving Early 19th-century writer
George Eliot Mary Ann Evans 19th century English novelist
George Groth Martin Gardner Criticized Gardner's The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair 20th century British author and essayist
George Sand Amandine Lucie Aurore Dupin 19th century French novelist and early feminist
Gérard de Nerval Gérard Labrunie 19th century French poet, essayist and translator
Grace Monroe Linda Watson-Brown and Maria Thomson Scottish crime fiction team
Grant Naylor Rob Grant and Doug Naylor Late 20th century creators of the science fiction-sitcom, Red Dwarf
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Albert Vladimir Apollinaire de Kostrowitzky 20th-century French poet, writer, and art critic
Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra noted Indian poet, lyricist, director, and playwright, who works primarily in Hindi and Urdu languages.
H.D. Hilda Doolittle 20th century American imagist poet, novelist and memoirist
Hajime Yatate various Sunrise animation staff members
Henry Handel Richardson Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson Early 20th century Australian author
Henry Wade Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet British mystery writer (1887-1969)
Hergé Georges Remi 20th century Belgian comics writer and artist, famous worldwide for creating the Tintin series of books
Ibn Warraq various This pen name has traditionally been adopted by dissident authors throughout the history of Islam, including a current writer from India
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck African American writer
Ion Barbu Dan Barbilian 20th century Romanian poet and mathematician
Irmari Rantamala Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
Isak Dinesen Karen Blixen 20th century Danish author of "Out of Africa"
J. I. Vatanen Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling 21st century author of Harry Potter
James Herriot James Alfred Wight 20th century British writer
James Tiptree, Jr Alice Sheldon 20th century science fiction author
Jin Yong or Kam-yung Louis Cha 20th century Chinese-language novelist
John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris post-apocalyptic British science fiction writer
Joseph Conrad Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski Late-19th/early-20th century Polish-born British novelist
Juhani Tervapää Hella Wuolijoki 20th-century Estonian-born Finnish writer
K. Hardesh Clement Greenberg 20th century American art critic
Kir Bulychev (Кир Булычёв) Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheyko (Игорь Всеволодович Можейко) 20th century Russian science fiction writer and historian
Lemony Snicket Daniel Handler Author of A Series of Unfortunate Events
Leslie Charteris Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction such as the Simon Templar series
Lester del Rey Leonard Knapp American science fiction author and editor
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson 19th century British author, mathematician, Anglican clergyman, logician, and amateur photographer, writer of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
Lewis Padgett Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore American husband and wife science fiction writers
Liisan-Antti ja Jussi Porilainen Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
Lu Xun Zhou Shuren 20th century Chinese writer and cultural critic
Maiju Lassila Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
Manuel Garcia-Carpintero Cameron Schwartz 21st century philosophical writer
Maddox George Ouzounian The Best Page in the Universe
Mao Dun Shen Dehong 20th century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and journalist
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens 19th century American humorist, writer and lecturer
Marton Taiga Martti Löfberg 20th century Finnish pulp writer, who also used several other pseudonyms
Mary Westmacott Agatha Christie 20th century British writer
Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt 19th century German philosopher
Megan Lindholm Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden 20th-century fantasy author
Shahriar (شهریار) Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat-Tabrizi (Persian: سید محمدحسین بهجت تبریزی) Iranian poet, writing in Persian and Azerbaijani
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
N. W. Clerk C. S. Lewis Used to publish A Grief Observed
Natsume Sōseki Natsume Kinnosuke Early 20th century Japanese novelist
Nicci French Nicci Gerard and Sean French British crime fiction team
Nicolas Bourbaki composite A group of mainly French 20th-century mathematicians
Nino Culotta John O'Grady Australian writer
O. Henry William Sydney Porter American author of short stories and novels
Ouida Marie Louise de la Ramée 19th century English novelist
P. Mustapää Martti Haavio 20th century Finnish poet
Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto 20th century Chilean poet, Nobel laureate
Papa Balloons Dominic Mance Author, artist and radio broadcaster who has chronicled his experiences as an international banker turned homeless vagabond
Pat Frank Harry Hart Frank 20th century author of the apocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon
Patience Strong Winifred Emma May 20th century English poet
Paul Éluard Eugène Grindel 20th century French Dada and Surrealist poet
Paul French Isaac Asimov U.S. science fiction author
Pauline Réage Anne Desclos 20th century French author and critic who wrote Histoire d'O
Peter MacAlan Peter Berresford Ellis 20th century British novelist
Peter Tremayne Peter Berresford Ellis 20th century British novelist
Petri Pykälä Ilkka Remes 20th and 21st-century Finnish writer
Peyo Pierre Culliford 20th century creator of The Smurfs comics
Professor X unknown 21st century author of In the Basement of the Ivory Tower
Q Arthur Quiller-Couch Late 19th and early 20th century British author, poet, and literary critic
Quinn Fawcett Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Bill Fawcett American mystery writers
Rhys Bowen Janet Quin-Harkin British mystery writer
Richard Bachman Stephen King Contemporary American horror author
Richard Castle Richard Alexander Rodgers Best-selling mystery writer mystery fiction author
Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney, Jr. Author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series
Robert O. Saber Milton K. Ozaki Mid-20th century journalist, author and detective novelist ("Dressed to Kill" and many others)
Robin Hobb Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden 20th-century fantasy author
Saki Hector Hugh Munro Early 20th century British satirist
Sandy Beech Unknown American author of children's books
Sapphire Ramona Lofton 20th century African-American poet and author
Sayeh (ه‍. ا. سایه) Hushang Ebtehaj 20th century Iranian poet (هوشنگ ابتهاج)
Shawn Haigins Ashwin Sanghi Indian writer of historical fiction thrillers including The Rozabal Line and Chanakya's Chant
Silence Dogood Benjamin Franklin founding father
Sirin (and Vladimir Sirin) Vladimir Nabokov 20th century novelist, who used it early in his career
Sjón Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson Icelandic novelist, poet, lyricist
Stan Lee Stanley Martin Lieber comic book pioneer
Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle 19th century French writer
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)
Sue Denim Lewis Shiner science fiction writer
T. H. Lain Philip Athans and Bruce Cordell a collective pseudonym used by nine separate authors writing under Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons novels imprint
Theo. LeSieg Theodor Seuss Geisel 20th century American writer and cartoonist best known for his children's books
Toegye Yi Hwang 16th century Korean Confucian scholar
Tom Tomorrow Dan Perkins 20th century editorial cartoonist
Tori Carrington Tony Karayianni and Lori Schlachter Karayianni American husband and wife romance novelists
Trevanian Dr. Rodney Whitaker 20th century American spy novelist
Tudor Arghezi Ion N. Theodorescu 20th-century Romanian poet and children's author
Uriah Fuller Martin Gardner Wrote Confessions of a Psychic
Väinö Stenberg Algot Untola 20th century Finnish author
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet 18th century French Enlightenment writer, deist and philosopher
W. N. P. Barbellion Bruce Frederick Cummings 20th century diarist
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
William Lee William S. Burroughs American novelist, short story writer, essayist and spoken word performer.
William Penn Jeremiah Evarts 19th century activist against Indian removal
Wonkette Ana Marie Cox Political gossip weblog writer
Yukio Mishima Hiraoka Kimitake 20th century Japanese novelist, essayist, and playwright
Yulgok Yi I 16th century Korean Confucian scholar

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, pen and/or names:

    “The advice of their elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.”
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935)

    “I am opposed to writing about the private lives of living authors and psychoanalyzing them while they are alive. Criticism is getting all mixed up with a combination of the Junior F.B.I.- men, discards from Freud and Jung and a sort of Columnist peep- hole and missing laundry list school.... Every young English professor sees gold in them dirty sheets now. Imagine what they can do with the soiled sheets of four legal beds by the same writer and you can see why their tongues are slavering.”
    —Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)

    “Translate a book a dozen times from one language to another, and what becomes of its style? Most books would be worn out and disappear in this ordeal. The pen which wrote it is soon destroyed, but the poem survives.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “There are names written in her immortal scroll at which Fame blushes!”
    —William Hazlitt (1778–1830)