Picking a pen name

[nostalgicroxas]

It honestly just depends on what it's on... That reminds me, the art tumblr dump I use is "shimonstar" soooo lol
But like my main art dA is the veraca one, I started my writing on "nostalgicelle" before they allowed you to change your username, and made the "nostalgicroxas" account and then posted more on there, and I've just been signing a lot of my artwork as "hitoritabi" because I'll do freebies on GAIA which I post on my main dA art... so... But for instance, my instagram account is "hito.ritabi", while my personal tumblr is "veraca". And facebook fanpages I have one for NTN, my cosplaying (which is Kuro-Heise), and my art (which is both hito and veraca iirc)....
When I apply for artist alley tables I put my name as "veraca" and DBA as "hitoritabi" on their applications. It's kind of chaotic and I wish it was simplier but honestly, I just like the name "veraca" too much to give up- whereas "hitoritabi" has a fair number of results on Google

@ivanskilling - that actually reminds me about various articles that were abound back in the early 2000's about how you will sell more writing/art if your name is masculine or male and is the prime reason it's "JK" for J.K. Rowling's penname.

[ivanskilling]

watashiveracasan

Oh another person from deviantArt whoo! I post my writing under the name "windmeister8" over there actually.

Yes exactly! I remember those articles as well. Unfortunately, I myself used to gravitate towards male-sounding names when looking for certain book genres. But in general, my favorite authors end up being male. XD

[Panqiuyan]

I just use my Chinese name for my Pen name. Mine is Pen Qiu Yan.

[OttoGruenwald]

Mine comes from two comic writers I rather like--Mark Gruenwald and Otto Binder.

[Darkstrong]

Mine is actually a misspelling of this guy's name, who I frequently used during our HoMM3 sessions. It kinda stuck
http://heroes.thelazy.net/wiki/Darkstorn

[droidmonkey1]

My pen name took a while. I wanted a name that I could do anything under it.
I did find some people that use similar name but it wasn't active or near what I wanted to do.

[WriterLinXiaolong]

Used pen name because I didn't want my family members finding out what I write about. Didn't think long about it though.

Lin XiaoLong

Lin - This came from my real name. It's just a part of it.
XiaoLong - From when I was little, I love dragons. So I chose XiaoLong which means Little Dragon (which is also my discord name )

[TheBryceKrispy]

Wow. Thats a lot of pen names. I can't even come up with one.

[Trevor]

the pen name i went by is “Felix Pax” and to be frank i’m not sure if someone else is actively using it, the first results i get for searching it is some inactive instagram user that i think might be from Germany. However it is not just my pen name it’s also the name of one of my characters in a novel i’m working on, and it may sound kind of shitty, but the way I came up with it was going to google translate and seeing what “happy” and “peace” would translate into latin. Yes I know google translate is pure garbage but I figured “meh what’s the big deal anyways” heheh.

The basic point i guess i’m trying to make here is that regardless of someone else using it, it can still be “original” in a sense that you came up with it on your own and didn’t just copy off of someone else. I wouldn’t sweat over it too much if I were you.

[arcojawa]

I don't know how my brain works

With ArcoJawa it was one that came up when I was younger. I honestly can't parse where it came from other then it was probably two words I strung together (maybe a city near where I live combined with the Star Wars creature).
As for Softsful... I came up with a sci-fi post apocalyptic story idea where the main character had the name Softs -I think it was just meant to be a weirdly plain word for a name with the S tacked on to make it sound unusual.......... tried using it as a username and realized some folks had already though of it so I added "ful" on the end to distinguish it.

My naming conventions are weird even when I'm thinking rationally...

[Zemoore]

I got my from my forst OC ever. Character I came uo with when i was like 8. His name was Zachary Moore so thats my pen name for books but are and comics I use it shortened. Z. Moore, which then turned into Zemoore, which to this day I still think is kinds dope and original

[ryoko]

I've had my pen name forever...and it's because I really like Sailor Moon wnqs=Winged Neo-Queen Serenity and it was unintentionally unique, so I use it for everything.

[Maps]

I went with Maps (Maps Dylan for long) because it’s very vague. Kinda like J.K. Rowling went with “J.K.” instead if “Joanne”. I read that her publishers urged her to use a name that didn’t decipher between genders so that people wouldn’t be biased against reading her work (or something like that).
I just like having neutrality and being kept away from my real self. I’d die if my co workers or family or friends found my work. This is my hobby and I do it for me. I don’t like sharing my writing or art unless it’s with people who can appreciate it properly.

[joannekwan]

I've considered picking pen names for my novel-work, luckily I have the benefit of already having J and R as my first two legal initials.

I'd most likely keep my real name for a novella I have in the works, since it's about a Chinese-American and it lightly touches upon Asian identity and historical experience.

I would probably use a pen name starting with JR for some of my m/m work, to obfuscate my gender and ethnicity I suppose.

As for my current novel publishing on Tap. It is probably the most … racy work I have right now as an erotic romance. But funnily enough I'm okay with putting my real name on it, as I'm at a loss of what other name to use (same goes for my comics).

[winterpenwell]

I have a few. They’re not usually so random. When I made this one up, it was winter, and a well of ink came to mind. I chose not to go with Inkwell, but pens are ink-related, so…

[Anithia]

I just played a bit with the diminutive of my real name.
And with the last name.. i wanted to use the letter P from my real last name, and then i remembered 3.1416 (pi) and added a h in the middle...

I dont write novels, but i draw comics so, its a good name, i think

[AirisKiahin]

I've walked rather long path before I'be found the name that I use everywhere now.

I started as Decoy Ace when I was a teenager. I've thought that sounded great and mysterious. I feel so ashamed about it now XD

Then I've tried Illex. It sounded nice, but I once googled it and it appeared none of my works were found, but some fishing stuff. I didn't want to get associated with some squids or whatever XD

Then it was LettyDD
I used it for long time. Name "Letty" was nothing special, but "DD" helped me to make it more unique. And that was enough to he googled, though there were some unexpected results.

Then bad things happened and I had to change my pen name. I used the same formula and became NetsaTC. And it worked the same way. But that was the first time I had to feel the pain of changing ALL my accounts. My subscribers were very confused, when they found some unknown artist in their list. And some of them freakened out and unsubscribed without checking my page.

And finally I became Airis Kiahin. I like this name most of all. It is more mature, it sounds nice and it is easier to remember than two symbols which mean nothing for anyone but me. Moreover, name+surname give you more chances to make something unique. And it googles easily. I'm not a famous artsit, but Google finds all my social pages and many arts.

However, I think name is just a part of your total appearance. People will recognize you because of your name, your avatar, your art style and even your speech manner.

So just pick your name wisely, but don't get too stressed about it. It's OK if it is not absolutely unique, but the main thing is to stick to it for as long as possible si people could easier recognize it

[BlueDragon]

LOL, I did a video on this XD

Honestly, it just started cause..uh...I like Blue Dragons XD And I always have :3

But I also liked how a lot of my favorite mangaka had little personas that were a bit anthropomorphic (like CLAMP and Arakawa of FMA)

[sydneyrobbin]

I just choose nice-sounding names. Sydney Robbin is a pen name. I basically wanted an American name that sounded nice, and was available on most social media. I hate usernames with numbers or symbols. And in the future, if this writing thing ever amounts to anything.. this is a legit name.

I have around three-four pen names, but this is the one I've been using the past few years.

[Fascher]

My advice is, if you chose one make sure to look up the meaning of your pen name in all languages. Make sure it's easy to spell, say and remember. And make sure it's not super similar-looking to something you don't want to be associated with.

I have failed in all these aspects and am looking for a new pen name as well lol, good luck to you