WELL-KNOWN WRITERS AND THEIR PEN NAMES

Is Stephen King a pseudonym? Discover 10 famous authors’ real names

Image: Aaron Burden

What do Lewis Carroll, George Sand, Mark Twain, and Dr. Seuss have in common? They are all pseudonyms for some of the most celebrated writers in history. Whether for reasons of gender discrimination, insecurity, shyness, fear of social repercussions, or simply to have more freedom to write, many authors have chosen to sign their work under different names. Read on to discover 10 writers who, by hiding their identity, changed the course of literature.

Image: Hannah Smith

British sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë hold a privileged place in the 19th-century literary canon thanks to great books such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. However, their literary careers were marked by the male names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

Throughout their lives, the authors insisted on anonymity, and the only people who knew their true identities were their publishers. They made this decision because their writing style and ideas were not considered "feminine," and they didn't want to be subjected to the prejudice of the time. After Emily and Anne's deaths, Charlotte revealed the identity of the Bell siblings to the public. However, she continued to publish under the Currer Bell name until her last book, Villette, in 1853.

Image: Cstovall

Samuel Langhorne Clemens worked as a prospector, journalist, typographer, and river steamboat pilot before publishing the often-called "Great American Novel" The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn under the pseudonym Mark Twain.

Although the satirist used several pen names throughout his career, the one that went down in history was Mark Twain. The origin of this name is not entirely clear, since the author made sure to spread different stories that only contributed to feed the legend. The most widely accepted theory is that it is an expression used by river workers: mark twain, meaning "mark two", in reference to two fathoms, the minimum draft necessary for ships to navigate and maneuver safely.

Image: MJ S

Few Victorian-era personalities had a more fascinating life than Mary Anne Evans. Born into a religious and aristocratic family, she opposed all conventions, writing numerous significant works. Under the male pseudonym George Eliot, Mary Anne fought for equal opportunities and marked an unprecedented turning point in Anglo-Saxon literature.

The chosen pen name derived from the first name of her then-partner, George Lewes. Regarding the name Eliot, the author said it was "a good mouth-filling, easily pronounced word." Although by that time women were signing their works, she wanted the freedom to write about subjects other than those typically considered feminine, such as lighthearted romances.

Image: Julia Valk

Stephen King, the great American horror author, was already well known when he began writing under a pseudonym in the late 1970s. At that time, his publishers only allowed him to publish one book a year; moreover, King wanted to test whether his success was due to the quality of his work or to the fame of his name.

Therefore, in 1977 he published the novel Rage under the pen name Richard Bachman. He went on to publish four other novels: The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982), and Thinner (1984). He planned to release Misery (1985) under the same pseudonym, but a bookseller found similarities with his previous work and uncovered his identity. After his true identity was revealed, the writer issued a press release stating that Bachman had died of "cancer of the pseudonym, a rare form of schizonomia."

Image: Pexels

Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, better known as George Sand, was one of the most popular writers of the 19th century and a prominent figure in European Romanticism. She was also a very controversial figure: she criticized the institution of marriage, smoked, and dressed in men's clothing.

An advocate of women's rights, Sand used a male pseudonym to generate confusion regarding her identity and thus be able to insert herself into the predominantly male literary circle. The origin of the chosen pen name is quite simple: George is a feminization of the classic name Georges, and Sand is a diminutive of "Sandeau," the surname of her lover at the time.

Image: Annie Spratt

Lewis Carroll, best known for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is the pseudonym used by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a 19th-century British Anglican priest, mathematician, photographer, and writer. The reason for choosing a pen name to publish his works was that Dodgson, as an instructor at Oxford, was a very modest gentleman who wanted to preserve his privacy.

He presented several options to his publisher who ultimately chose the one that would make him famous. This name was created by Latinizing his first name and his mother's surname: Lutwidge was Latinized as "Ludovicus," and Charles as "Carolus." The resulting "Ludovicus Carolus" was translated back into English as Lewis Carroll.

Image: Josh Applegate

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer and cartoonist, mostly known for his children's books written under his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Even as early as his time contributing to his college newspaper, the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, Theodor used his mother's surname, Seuss, as a pseudonym.

The "Dr." came a few years later and is a tribute to his father's wishes, who wanted him to earn a Ph.D. at Oxford. The first time he signed his work as Dr. Seuss was for the humor magazine Judge, where he had begun working in 1927. Over the years, Dr. Seuss published more than 60 children's books, which were translated into more than 20 languages.

Image: Ethan Rougon

Eric Arthur Blair, better known by the pseudonym George Orwell, was a British writer, novelist, essayist, and journalist. His work, fundamental to 20th-century literature, includes masterpieces such as the allegorical novel Animal Farm and the dystopian novel 1984.

In 1933, when he was about to publish Down and Out in Paris and London, Blair decided to use a pen name to spare potential embarrassment to his parents. Among several options, he finally decided on "George" —inspired by the patron saint of England—, and "Orwell" —in homage to the Orwell River in Suffolk, one of his favorite places.

Image: micheile henderson

Louisa May Alcott is best known for her juvenile novels such as Little Women and Good Wives. However, the American author, who was an abolitionist and a feminist, also wrote sensation stories, gothic thrillers, and adult novels anonymously or under pen names, such as A. M. Barnard.

It is believed that Alcott published those texts under pseudonyms to preserve her reputation as a juvenile writer. These stories were less optimistic and followed more obscure themes, such as incest, murder, secret identities, sensuality, and suicide. Some historians even claim she wrote one of the first works of detective fiction in American literature —preceded only by Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin stories.

Image: akufh1110

This list would not be complete if we didn’t include Daniel Foe. The 18th-century English novelist, journalist, and spy is probably the writer who signed under the largest number of different pseudonyms during his literary career.

The creator of Robinson Crusoe used at least 198 different aliases to write 400 works. Although the most popular is Daniel Defoe —he added the "De" to sound more aristocratic—, the author of numerous political pamphlets also signed works with pen names such as Eye Witness, Merchant, and Heliostrapolis, secretary to the Emperor of the Moon.

Potato, potahto

What does that mean? 10 terms unique to American English

English is the official language of more than 50 nations across the world, so it’s not surprising that English speakers from different parts of the world have developed dialectal variations with unique vocabulary. But, being English —especially American English— used as an international common language, one would think that American vocabulary would have spread to foreign English speakers. While it has in some cases, certain terms are still unique to American English. Let’s have a look at some of them!

This might be the best example of a uniquely American term, though it is technically derived from the original name of the sport. Internationally known as football, soccer was originally called ‘association football’ to distinguish it from ‘Gaelic football’. With time, the popularity of the sport became associated with the term football, except in the U.S., where Gridiron or American football was more popular. So, for Americans, American football became just ‘football’, and association football became ‘soccer’.

Eggs are an integral element of American diners, where a specific vocabulary was developed to quickly explain the type of egg desired in the least amount of time. Where other English speakers would simply ask for a fried egg, Americans know that there are several ways to fry an egg: over easy is just one of them.

Have you ever wondered why the U.S. has a Postal Service but not postal codes? It’s not that they don’t exist; they just have a different name. The ‘Zone Improvement Plan’, or ZIP, was created to make mail services more efficient, but nowadays it’s key for analyzing demographics, sales, and the types of data. While the name ‘Zone Improvement Plan’ might sound strange, it was chosen with the ZIP acronym in mind to suggest that mail would zip along using the system.

Whether you use condo to mean an owned apartment of any kind or as a certain type of building, both are terms mainly used in America. Other English speakers would just say flat or apartment, and would use the term commonhold (UK), strata (Australia and parts of Canada), or divided co-ownership (Francophone Canada) for a building with common areas and services.

Let’s address the obvious first: yes, bodega is a Spanish word. However, it has a unique meaning in American English. While for Spanish speakers it means a winery, in the U.S., it refers to a specific type of convenience store or deli, traditionally owned by Hispanics.

If you hear the word ‘silverware’ in the UK, it won’t mean what you think it means. Kind of. For Americans, the term ‘silverware’ encompasses all eating utensils, including forks, knives, spoons, and even chopsticks. Outside of the U.S., it is more common to say ‘cutlery’, while silverware is used for cutlery actually made from silver.

While words such as ‘university’ or ‘school’ are typical when discussing higher education, ‘college’ is the more commonly used term in the U.S., even present in the names of famous institutions. In other English variants, ‘college’ can be used to talk about trade schools, vocational training, or a university’s residential hall.

If we consider that Canadians also use the term ‘period’ for the punctuation mark, we could say that this term is uniquely North American, but it’s a term other English speakers commonly associate with the U.S. In other parts of the world, ‘full stop’ is the preferred name. What a mouthful!

Again, why do we have a Postal Service but prefer the term ‘mailman’? It’s just a matter of use. Originally, ‘post’ was used for domestic letters, while ‘mail’ was used for letters sent abroad. While the term ‘postal service’ is common to all English variants, mail and its derivatives, such as mailman, are now the norm in American English, while other English dialects tend to use post.

Although Canadians might sometimes use ‘nightstand’ to talk about this piece of furniture, outside of American English, it is common to use the term ‘bedside table’. Originally, the word nightstand implied a furniture piece with built-in storage, while a bedside table was simpler, but nowadays they are equivalent terms.