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A pseudonym or allonym is a name (sometimes legally adopted, sometimes purely fictitious) used by an individual as an alternative to their birth name.
Pseudonyms in print When used by authors, a pseudonym is also called a pen name or (in French) nom de plume.
Authors use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons; for example, to experiment with a new genre, with reduced risk of upsetting regular readers; the same author may have several pseudonyms depending on the genre. This use of pseudonyms is especially common if the new genre is of a somewhat risqué nature; such was for instance the case of Pauline Réage, name under which an editorial secretary with a reputation of near-prudery published Histoire d'O, a sadomasochistic erotic novel.
Occasionally, it is to avoid overexposure. Robert Heinlein often had two and sometimes three short stories in one issue of a magazine; the editor introduced two pseudonyms so that readers would not realize this. In other cases, it is simply to protect the author from persecution following unpopular opinions.
Noms de guerre: Pseudonyms in war and guerilla Pseudonyms are adopted by resistance fighters, terrorists and guerrillas for various reasons: to make enquiries more difficult, to seek and create an aura of mystery, to protect the identity of their families etc. The expression nom de guerre ("name of war", coined from the French nom de plume) is often used for such pseudonyms (this expression is rarely, if ever, used in French). This expression is occasionally used instead of nom de plume in some publications in English.
Noms de guerre were frequently adopted by recruits in the French Foreign Legion as part of the break with their past lives. Pseudonyms used by some members of the French resistance were integrated into their last names after World War II; for instance, Jacques Delmas, alias Chaban, became Jacques Chaban-Delmas.
Pseudonyms in entertainment When used by actors, performers, or models, a pseudonym is also called a stage name (or sometimes "screen name")
Actors—and others in show business—rarely use a pseudonym to disguise themselves; rather the opposite, it is intended to build a distinct and visible persona, in most cases. In some cases, it will help to separate the public persona from the private life, but with today's intrusive media, particularly the paparazzi, a change of name will be little help.
John Wayne, building a reputation as a tough guy, felt that Marion Morrison was not the image he sought. Stan Laurel, born Arthur Stanley Jefferson was apparently happy to be known as Stan Jefferson until he realised that it had thirteen letters.
In some cases, changes were made simply because a studio manager did not like the real name. However, the most common reason for actors to adopt a pseudonym is simply that someone else had already achieved fame with that name.
Most hip hop artists prefer to use a pseudonym that represents some variation of their name, personality, or interests. Prime examples include Ol' Dirty Bastard (who is known under at least 6 aliases) and also Ludacris, LL Cool J, and Chingy. See List of hip hop musicians.
Other pseudonyms Others in public life adopted pseudonyms for many reasons. In the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, it was established practice for political articles to be signed with pseudonyms, the most famous example being the pen name "Publius" used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in writing The Federalist Papers. Malcolm X, the civil rights campaigner, (born Malcolm Little), adopted the 'X' to represent his unknown African ancestral name. Many Jewish politicians re-adopted Hebrew family names on return to Israel, dropping westernized versions that may have been in the family for generations; Golda Meir, for example, was born Golda Mabovitz in Russia, and lived in USA before emigrating to Palestine; she adopted her Hebrew name on becoming a government minister in 1956.
Famous pseudonyms of people who were neither authors nor actors include:
- Le Corbusier, the architect, was Charles Édouard Jeanneret.
- Aphex Twin, prolific techno artist Richard D. James, who uses up to 11 other different names on various releases.
- Alan Smithee is a name commonly used by directors who want to disown their own movie.
- George Spelvin is a name used in American theater when the actor playing the part is unkown at printing time, wishes to remain anonymous, or the part is double cast or played by an actor who also appears on the roster playing an additional character.
- Luther Blissett is a shared pseudonym often used for activist and artistic purposes, especially in the Italian art scene.
- David Agnew is used on BBC programmes where a writer's name cannot be used for contractual reasons.
- Nicolas Bourbaki was a famous pseudonym for a group of mathematicians.
- Student was William Sealey Gosset, discoverer of Student's t-distribution in statistics.
- Carlos the Jackal is the nom de guerre of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a terrorist
- Hambali is Riduan Isamuddin, the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist group; he was born Encep Nurjaman
- Abu Mazen is Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority
- Abu Ammar was PLO leader Yasser Arafat's nom de guerre, although this name is no longer widely used
- Abu Ala is the name that Ahmed Qurei uses
On the internet, pseudonymous remailers utilising cryptography can be used to achieve persistent pseudonymity, so that two-way communication can be achieved, and reputations can be established without linking a physical identity to a pseudonym.
Users on Namespaces such as Wikipedia also often use a pseudonym instead of their birth names.
See also
External links - An extensive list of pseudonyms (http://www.famousfolk.com/)
- List of pseudonyms (http://go.to/realnames)
- Another list of pseudonyms (http://www.trussel.com/books/pseudo.htm)
- The U.S. copyright status of pseudonyms (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl101.html)
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