Picking a pen name

[TheBryceKrispy]

If you picked a pen name, how did you do it? I've tried. Every time I think I settled on a pen name, I regret it. Every time a come up with a pen name, I google it and find out its taken or theres other results like Social Media info or public records.

Edit: Should I even worry about Social Media and Public Records? I know I won't be about to come up with a completely original name because somebody else will enviably have that name. In your opinion how original does a pen name have to be?

[yansusu]

Back when I had to look for one everyone was being advised that you couldn't succeed over here if you don't have an American-sounding name so that was the first thing I took into consideration.
I also wanted a name that really speaks to me and would somehow still be 'me' so I tried making something out of my own name. I tried everything from anagram generators (Didn't work too well. I guess my name isn't that great to make anagrams out of it ...) to similar names and finally came up with some kind of "translation". Like I looked at the meaning of my name and looked for names with essentially the same meaning, where those were coming from and if there were alternatives.
I narrowed the results down to what I liked, what sounded American enough and then didn't even bother to check if anybody had that name I guess what I came up with was original enough though since nobody else had that name. There were some similar ones around but no one had used that particular name.

And don't ask me what my pen name is. I'm still trying to keep that separate from what I'm doing here No, it's not like I'm hiding my dark past or anything ...

[rajillustration]

honestly, I'm kind of glad none of my pen names from when I was younger stuck. I had one that was basically unpronounceable that I used as a shop name even lol. So, what I recommend is to do a name that is 1.) easy to spell and pronounce and 2.) a real ass name and 3.) one you can get a website domain for so nothing that is the same of another famous person. You get real embarrassed when you're 30 and people are like "ah, so what is your blog?" and it's like ".......3AM octopus......" which was a sure funny joke when I was younger but no longer works now (which is why I now go by my acronym on all my accounts. Acronyms are a great way to go about it because they're gender neutral, they're easy to remember. Only downside is they're kinda boring)

The only reason I'd make a really wild pen-name again is if I started making stuff I never want my family to see or if I was worried about stalkers.

[silverraven0]

Me... It's has always been changing for a few years before I settled with my current pen name and I never change it since. Mine is pretty common name, which mean almost all of the nickname on the social media and stuff are already taken when I tried to sign in, which is pretty s*cky. ;v;

[tchotchkeco]

I used a few different pen names when writing (to keep the writings separated.) I just picked a name that I liked and thought would fit with the type of writings I would have. A few folks would take into consideration the genre they would mostly be participating in when picking a pen name.

Your pen name doesn’t have to be super original. After a while the name will be associated with you. I think a odd, but kind of funny, example of this is Harrison Ford. When he got started in acting they made him go by Harrison J. Ford because there was someone much more well known in the acting gig named...Harrison Ford. Eventually Harrison “J” Ford just became Harrison Ford and dropped the “J” because when you think of that name you think of him.

So don’t be afraid of taking a name you feel isn’t super original. You will eventually make the name your own.

[amberberry]

This video has a pretty nice basic info about choosing a pen name.

I guess I kind of use one here on Tapas. It's just my usual online name. It's a one of my old rp characters' name (Amberberry) I originally picked for DeviantArt and then just startes using pretty much everywhere online since it's almost always available and can be shortened to Amber easily. For actually publishing a book, I'd pick a different name or probably just use my own

[TheBryceKrispy]

Jenna Moreci.

Nice. Amazing. Awesome.

Glad you turned on your cyborg-brain along with me.

[amberberry]

Yeah I saw one of her videos posted here and got kinda hooked on them, lol. Very good content

[Rhonder]

Hmm for mine it's like... I started using Rhonder back in like 2009 for all of my online accounts and stuff, but I honestly have no idea how I came up with it LOL Like the story is: I went to sign up for a MMO that year and my usual online name prior, Raguna (which was one of my OCs at the time, the main char in a story I was working on), was already taken. So I decided to use the rival character's name instead, Rhonder, which was available. Then afterwards I started realizing that Rhonder was barely ever taken on sites that I wanted to use, (where as Raguna was somewhat commonly taken) so I just started using Rhonder as my go to.

The thing is tho- I have no idea where I pulled Rhonder out of to be the name for that OC of mine xD I honestly didn't even know it was a real name until a few years back, so that part baffles me.

It also accidentally almost works as an anagram of my real name: my name is Alex(ander) Roth,

Roth - T (& rearranged) -> Rho
Alexander -> nder
Rhonder

completely unintentional, but it works~

[VibrantFox]

i've gone through maybe 3 main pen names but coming up with each was difficult save for my current which I honestly have no plans on changing.

Like the first was during my deviantart days and i was solidly into sonic and mlp and went with something like blazewind. Then when I came to tapas started with insomniac (not too original really) and then settled with the current vibrantfox, which is still pretty unoriginal (another person/entity uses it on their store and socials grrr) but I like it and it suits me

the only time i'd consider an alternate pen name is for art or other content i dont want certain audiences or people finding

In all honesty finding pen names especially a unique one can be really difficult and there will almost always be someone out there with the same thing or something very close so the best i think could be done is just building your brand or style to help it stand out among others or differentiate

[Toastbuster]

My name is literally just a pun on the Ghostbuster movies. Its fun, easy to say/spell, and isn't going to be a hard name to remember. I'm sure there are other people on the internet who use Toastbuster as a name for something, but I don't worry about it because they're probably doing something completely different anyway. I'm Toastbuster, a writer on Tapas. I'm not going to be concerned about Toastbuster the YouTuber (dunno if that's actually a thing btw, I'm just using it as an example), because its a completely different person doing a different thing. Pen names are a lot like giving yourself a brand name, and as long as you're not getting confused with another writer, there shouldn't be an issue. Hope this helps!

[Wumbl]

Mine was just a gibberish phrase I made up with a friend - "wumblebum" which I inevitably shortened to just Wumbl and made it the name of my mascot character. The character's name is Prince Wumbl Chand... So yeah. It's the only pseudonym I have ever been able to keep bc I used to change it all the time.

[racarter]

Mine is my initials and a surname of my extended family. There’s someone else out there with the same name but eh, I liked it.

[Tanako]

i made mine up in my head because I like Japanese names only to find out its the name of a camp? lol it gets even more interesting. in Japanese, It means "FURNITURE CHILD", I was like WTF at first then I was like, after all, I'm always sitting and drawing so I'm kinda digging it. by the way, this is how to write it "店子". LMAO

[ben]

I use a pen name mainly because its just the name a I go by now irl anyway but it still just sounds like a regular name.

There’s something about seeing someone’s actual name (or at least something that looks like a real name and not some random words or a fantasy sounding pen name) that makes me always click through someone’s profile. It just looks more professional to me so I always assume they’re a professional.

I have close to 60k followers on Instagram and when I’m posting in my regular schedule make close to 100 followers a day and when I see someone’s username is JUST a name I always click through and I find and follow a lot of new artists that way.

[NickRowler]

Nick Rowler is a pen name. Tho, I prefer Nick over my real name.

The name was originally Nick B Rowler. I don't remember why I came up with the name, it was just random and was first used for a character in a cracked fan fic. The name was than used as a "John Doe" in my stories universe. I then noticed that NickBRowler and NickRowler were commonly available usernames on websites. I ended up dropping the B due to not wanting to be called "Browler". I also had bad gender dysphoria and I sort of needed a name to hide behind. I guess I just got used to it.

I does feel weird because it was originally a name for a "nobody". Before taking on the pen name, I had an idea for a story called "Finding Nick Rowler" which was about a girl who was looking for a man who doesn't exist.

[nostalgicroxas]

My pennames depends on my mood or what I'm advertising. My art goes under my longtime name of "veraca" (on dA it's watashiveracasan), and somehow my "art to sell" got the signature I use on dA (which is also an OC of mine) "hito_ritabi" and became "hito ritabi" and "hito.ritabi". And my writing is under either "Elle Doki" -> "nostalgicelle" or "nostalgicroxas" (because Roxas is my fav KH character ) As I've gotten older I just don't care as much but I recognize that I'm in a lil loop of using at least 3 names: nostalgicroxas, veraca, and hitoritabi - in some form or another. I don't really mind too much since I cross communicate between all three names and I'm so invisible online that no one's really complained. You can look up either of my nostalgic names and their dA pops up. The only outlier is "lancetti" on Booksie, but I make a point to link back to my nostalgicroxas/elle on dA on the account there.

tldr;
Veraca - everything
hito ritabi - art
nostalgicroxas - writing

[VibrantFox]

i respect your ability to keep up with this many names

[ivanskilling]

My current ID is a pen name: Ivan Skilling.

For me, it was a matter of choosing a pen name that would fit the genre (thrillers and science fiction) and my book material (Also had to choose a male-sounding name which is not my gender! ). I think I went through a couple of iterations and googled each pen name to see whether someone already had it. In the end, I think someone did have this name but they weren't famous. So I settled with it.

[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.