Editing Pseudonym (section)

====Literature====
[[File:Die junge George Sand.jpg|thumb|right|180px|A young [[George Sand]] (real name "Amantine Lucile Dupin")]]
[[File:William Sydney Porter by doubleday.jpg|thumb|[[O. Henry|William Sydney Porter]], who went by the pen name O. Henry or Olivier Henry, in 1909]]
A [[pen name]] is a pseudonym (sometimes a particular form of the real name) adopted by an [[author]] (or on the author's behalf by their publishers). English usage also includes the French-language phrase ''nom de plume'' (which in French literally means "pen name").<ref>Please note this is an English construction, and the idiomatic French phrase is ''nom de guerre'' discussed [[#Nom de guerre|below]]. See [[nom de plume]] for details.</ref>  

The concept of pseudonymity has a long history. In ancient literature it was common to write in the name of a famous person, not for concealment or with any intention of deceit; in the New Testament, the second letter of Peter is probably such. A more modern example is all of ''[[The Federalist Papers]]'', which were signed by Publius, a pseudonym representing the trio of [[James Madison]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], and [[John Jay]]. The papers were written partially in response to several [[Anti-Federalist Papers]], also written under pseudonyms. As a result of this pseudonymity, historians know that the papers were written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, but have not been able to discern with certainty which of the three authored a few of the papers. There are also examples of modern politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats writing under pseudonyms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-emails-fbi-228607|title=Obama used a pseudonym in emails with Clinton, FBI documents reveal|first1=Josh|last1=Gerstein|first2=Nolan D.|last2=Mccaskill|website=[[Politico]]|date=23 September 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/297255-former-epa-chief-under-fire-for-new-batch-of-richard-windsor-emails|title=Former EPA chief under fire for new batch of "Richard Windsor" emails|first=Dustin|last=Weaver|date=1 May 2013|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]}}</ref>

Some female authors have used male pen names, in particular in the 19th century, when writing was a highly male-dominated profession. The [[Brontë family|Brontë sisters]] used pen names for their early work, so as not to reveal their gender (see below) and so that local residents would not suspect that the books related to people of their neighbourhood. [[Anne Brontë]]'s ''[[The Tenant of Wildfell Hall]]'' (1848) was published under the name Acton Bell, while [[Charlotte Brontë]] used the name Currer Bell for ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' (1847) and ''[[Shirley (novel)|Shirley]]'' (1849), and [[Emily Brontë]] adopted Ellis Bell as cover for ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' (1847). Other examples from the nineteenth-century are novelist Mary Ann Evans ([[George Eliot]]) and French writer Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin ([[George Sand]]). Pseudonyms may also be used due to cultural or organization or political prejudices.

Similarly, some 20th- and 21st-century male romance novelists – a field dominated by women – have used female pen names.<ref name=maleauthors>{{cite news |last=Naughton |first=Julie |title=Yes, Virgil, There Are Men Writing Romance: Focus on Romance 2012 |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/52473-yes-virgil-there-are-men-writing-romance-focus-on-romance-2012.html |access-date=6 May 2014 |newspaper=Publishers Weekly |date=1 June 2012}}</ref> A few examples are Brindle Chase, [[Peter O'Donnell]] (as Madeline Brent), [[Christopher Wood (writer)|Christopher Wood]] (as Penny Sutton and Rosie Dixon), and [[Hugh C. Rae]] (as Jessica Sterling).<ref name="maleauthors" />

A pen name may be used if a writer's real name is likely to be confused with the name of another writer or notable individual, or if the real name is deemed unsuitable.

Authors who write both fiction and non-fiction, or in different genres, may use different pen names to avoid confusing their readers. For example, the romance writer [[Nora Roberts]] writes mystery novels under the name [[J. D. Robb]].

In some cases, an author may become better known by his pen name than their real name. Some famous examples of that include Samuel Clemens, writing as [[Mark Twain]], Theodor Geisel, better known as [[Dr. Seuss]], and Eric Arthur Blair ([[George Orwell]]). The British mathematician Charles Dodgson wrote fantasy novels as [[Lewis Carroll]] and mathematical treatises under his own name.

Some authors, such as [[Harold Robbins]], use several literary pseudonyms.<ref>[http://www.trussel.com/books/pseud_r.htm Rubin, Harold Francis (1916–)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114202003/http://trussel.com/books/pseud_r.htm |date=14 January 2010 }}, Author Pseudonyms: R. Accessed 27 November 2009.</ref>

Some pen names have been used for long periods, even decades, without the author's true identity being discovered, as with [[Elena Ferrante]] and [[Torsten Krol]].

[[J. K. Rowling|Joanne Rowling]]<ref>{{Cite web| title = J.K. Rowling| access-date = 5 August 2020| date = c. 2019| url = https://www.jkrowling.com/about/}}</ref> published the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series as J. K. Rowling.<!-- See article for further explanation, keep it simple here --> Rowling also published the [[Cormoran Strike]] series of detective novels including ''[[The Cuckoo's Calling]]'' under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

[[Winston Churchill]] wrote as [[Winston Churchill as a writer|Winston S. Churchill]] (from his full surname Spencer Churchill which he did not otherwise use) in an attempt to avoid confusion with an [[Winston Churchill (novelist)|American novelist of the same name]]. The attempt was not wholly successful – the two are still sometimes confused by booksellers.<ref>{{cite web |periodical=The Age, Hosted on Google News |date=19 October 1940|title=Two Winston Churchills |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19401019&id=QJZVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4893,3645349 |access-date=25 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=My Early Life - Related Books |date=11 May 2010 |isbn=978-1-4391-2506-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2EK2khQWfsC&q=%22mr.+winston+churchill+makes+haste+to+add%22&pg=PA218 |access-date=25 October 2013|last1=Churchill |first1=Winston |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

A pen name may be used specifically to hide the identity of the author, as with [[Exposé (journalism)|exposé]] books about espionage or crime, or explicit erotic fiction. [[Erwin von Busse]] used a pseudonym when he published short stories about sexually charged encounters between men in Germany in 1920.<ref>{{cite book | author = Granand |date= 2022 |title= Berlin Garden of Erotic Delights | publisher= Waterbury Press }}</ref> Some prolific authors adopt a pseudonym to disguise the extent of their published output, e. g. [[Stephen King]] writing as [[Richard Bachman]]. Co-authors may choose to publish under a collective pseudonym, e. g., [[P. J. Tracy]] and [[Perri O'Shaughnessy]]. [[Frederic Dannay]] and [[Manfred Lee]] used the name [[Ellery Queen]] as a pen name for their collaborative works and as the name of their main character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://queen.spaceports.com/Whodunit_1.html |title=Whodunit?|website=Ellery Queen, A Website on Deduction|access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> [[Asa Earl Carter]], a Southern white segregationist affiliated with the KKK, wrote Western books under a fictional Cherokee persona to imply legitimacy and conceal his history.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Dan T. |author-link1=Dan T. Carter |title=The Transformation of a Klansman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/04/opinion/the-transformation-of-a-klansman.html |access-date=18 May 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 October 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702011359/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/04/opinion/the-transformation-of-a-klansman.html?pagewanted=print |archive-date=2 July 2018}}</ref>

A famous case in French literature was [[Romain Gary]]. Already a well-known writer, he started publishing books as Émile Ajar to test whether his new books would be well received on their own merits, without the aid of his established reputation. They were: Émile Ajar, like Romain Gary before him, was awarded the prestigious [[Prix Goncourt]] by a jury unaware that they were the same person. Similarly, TV actor [[Ronnie Barker]] submitted comedy material under the name Gerald Wiley.

A collective pseudonym may represent an entire publishing house, or any contributor to a long-running series, especially with juvenile literature. Examples include [[Watty Piper]], [[Victor Appleton]], [[Erin Hunter]], and Kamiru M. Xhan.

Another use of a pseudonym in literature is to present a story as being written by the fictional characters in the story. The series of novels known as ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' are written by [[Daniel Handler]] under the pen name of [[Lemony Snicket]], a character in the series. This applies also to some of the several 18th-century English and American writers who used the name [[Fidelia (pseudonym)|Fidelia]].

An '''anonymity pseudonym''' or [[multiple-use name]] is a name used by many different people to protect anonymity.<ref Name="Home">{{cite book
|title= Mind Invaders: A Reader in Psychic Warfare, Cultural Sabotage, and Semiotic Terrorism
|last= Home
|first= Stewart
|author-link= Stewart Home
|year= 1987
|publisher= Serpent's Tail
|location= Indiana University
|isbn= 1-85242-560-1
|page= 119
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xdXfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Multiple-use+name%22}}</ref> It is a strategy that has been adopted by many unconnected radical groups and by cultural groups, where the construct of personal identity has been criticised. This has led to the idea of the "open pop star", such as [[Monty Cantsin]].{{clarify|date=April 2023}}