The topic of today's article: “How to come up with a pseudonym.” We hasten to warn you that there are a huge number of original methods, but we will try to tell you all about them!

Everyone who is associated with a certain subculture or creativity would like to take a pseudonym. For what? There are many reasons for this. Firstly, if a person is a high figure in his field, then, of course, he wants to glorify his name.

But what to do if he is unlucky with the name or it sounds extremely unoriginal, for example Ivan Ivanov.

There is only one solution - choose a pseudonym. It is also used if a person wants to hide his real identity (often on various social networks). Dmitry Larin, a famous blogger on YouTube, also has a pseudonym. His real name is, but his last name is Utkin. Agree, “Larin” sounds much more aesthetically pleasing than “Utkin”.

How to come up with a nickname for yourself

What is a pseudonym? This is changing your name to a fictitious one in order to present yourself to the public in a different guise. You will be surprised, but the names of priests are also to some extent pseudonyms.

Firstly, first you need to look at the main mistakes when choosing a second “Alter Ego”. Please note that they occur frequently in life.

• Never choose the nickname your best friends call you as a nickname. “Pakhan”, “Sanek”, “Dimych” are no good! Moreover, it is unlikely that people will appreciate you with such a pseudonym.
• Secondly, choose a name for yourself that can be pronounced without errors or difficulties. It is advisable that it be short. Let's say aspiring blogger Diana Elias often gets offended because her viewers mispronounce her fictitious last name. What was written in the comments under her video! “Alice”, “Elies”, “Elise” - this is what her new subscribers usually call her.
• Also, choose an adequate pseudonym for yourself, within the bounds of decency! Your subscribers or readers will not take you seriously, and may not even want to see your work. Remember the old saying: “Whatever you name a ship, that’s how it will sail!”
• It is not recommended to use several words for a nickname, the limit is a maximum of 2 or 3 words. Although, sometimes there are long nicknames, one of them is “Lonely Old Lady Hip-Hop.” Quite an unusual read, isn’t it?
• You can't choose a nickname that doesn't suit you. If you are a guy, then the female nickname “Alevtina” or “Beautiful Chick” is unlikely to suit you. Although if this reflects you as a person, then you can experiment. An example is the performer Sonya Marmeladova, who is a man.

Now let's look at how to come up with a creative name . Take a piece of paper and a pen and write down!

Which individuals used fictitious names?

It's no secret that many creative figures used pseudonyms. They are still called by fictitious names. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the names of these people.

Conclusion

So our article has come to an end. In it you learned how to come up with a pseudonym. In addition, the text highlighted examples of real pseudonyms of various people from certain cultures.

Top tip: choose a name that is as unique and easy to read as possible. We hope you liked the article. Remember one expression: “It’s not the name that makes a person, but his actions and talent!” Whatever nickname you have, it will not make you any better. Thanks for reading and for your attention!

Representatives of creative professions often use pseudonyms, the reasons for this can be very different, I have always wondered why people take a different name for themselves, and in general it can be surprising to find out that the name of the writer you are used to is not real. I decided to compile a selection of famous writers who used a pseudonym.

1. Boris Akunin, aka Anatoly Brusnikin and Anna Borisova - pseudonyms of Grigory Chkhartishvili

Initially he published his works as B. Akunin. The Japanese word “akunin” (Japanese 悪人), according to one of the heroes of the novel “The Diamond Chariot,” is translated as “scoundrel, villain,” but of gigantic proportions, in other words, an outstanding personality standing on the side of evil. And it was precisely these villains that Erast Fandorin encountered throughout his career. The decoding of “B” as “Boris” appeared a few years later, when the writer began to be frequently interviewed.

He publishes critical and documentary works under his real name.

2. Georges Sand - real name Amandine Aurora Lucille Dupin, married to Baroness Dudevant.

At the beginning of her writing career, Aurora wrote together with Jules Sandot (French fiction writer): the novels “The Commissioner” (1830), “Rose and Blanche” (1831), which had great success among readers, were published under his signature, since the stepmother of Casimir Dudevant ( husband Aurora) did not want to see her last name on the covers of books. Already on her own, Aurora began new work on the novel “Indiana,” the theme of which was the contrast of a woman seeking ideal love with a sensual and vain man. Sando approved the novel, but refused to sign someone else's text. Aurora chose a male pseudonym: this became for her a symbol of deliverance from the slavish position to which modern society doomed women. Keeping the surname Sand, she added the name Georges.

3. Richard Bachman - the pseudonym under which Stephen King published the books “Rage”, “The Long Walk”, “Road Work”, “The Running Man”, and “Thinner”

There are two versions about the reasons that prompted King to take a pseudonym. The first is to see if his alter ego can achieve the same success as himself. The second explanation is that the publishing standards of the time allowed only one book per year. The surname Bachman was not taken by chance; he is a fan of the musical group “Bachman-Turner Overdrive”.

4. Joe Hill Real name: Joseph Hillstrom King, son of Stephen King.

Wanting to achieve literary success on his own, without using the fame of his father's name, he took the pseudonym "Joe Hill". It was both an abbreviation of his real name Joseph and his middle name Hillstrom, and alluded to the person in whose honor Joseph Hillstrom was named - the famous American labor activist of the early 20th century and songwriter Joe Hill, who was unfairly accused of murder and executed in an American prison in 1915.

5. Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of JK Rowling, used for the detective series about Cormoran Strike.

According to Rowling herself, publishing a book under a pseudonym freed her from the pressure to meet readers' expectations and live up to a fixed level of quality, and, conversely, gave her the opportunity to hear criticism of work that does not have her name on it. She told the Sunday Times magazine that she hoped that her involvement in writing the novel would not be revealed soon.

The publisher's website claimed that Robert Galbraith was the pseudonym of a former member of the Royal Military Police Special Investigations Unit who left in 2003 and went into private security business.

6. George Elliott's real name is Mary Ann Evans.

Like many other writers of the 19th century (George Sand, Marco Vovchok, the Brontë sisters - “Carrer, Ellis and Acton Bell”, Krestovsky-Khvoshchinskaya) - Mary Evans used a male pseudonym in order to arouse in the public a serious attitude towards her writings and caring for the integrity of your personal life. (In the 19th century, her works were translated into Russian without disclosing her pseudonym, which was inflected like a man’s first and last name: “a novel by George Eliot”).

7. Kir Bulychev real name Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko

He published science fiction works exclusively under a pseudonym. The first work of fiction, the story “The Debt of Hospitality,” was published as “a translation of a story by the Burmese writer Maung Sein Ji.” Bulychev subsequently used this name several more times, but most of his science fiction works were published under the pseudonym “Kirill Bulychev” - the pseudonym was combined from the name of his wife, Kira, and the maiden name of the writer’s mother. Subsequently, the name “Kirill” on the covers of books began to be written in abbreviation - “Kir.”, and then the “abbreviated” period was used, and this is how the now famous “Kir Bulychev” turned out. The combination Kirill Vsevolodovich Bulychev also occurred. The writer kept his real name a secret until 1982, because he believed that the leadership of the Institute of Oriental Studies would not consider science fiction a serious activity, and was afraid that after revealing his pseudonym he would be fired.

8. Arkady Gaidar, real name Golikov

Vladimir Soloukhin in the artistic and journalistic book “Salt Lake” gives a story according to which the pseudonym “Gaidar” is associated with the activities of A.P. Golikov as the head of the 2nd combat region of the ChON of the Achinsk district of the Yenisei province (now the Republic of Khakassia) in 1922-1924 years:

“Gaidar,” Misha said slowly, as usual, “the word is purely Khakassian.” Only the correct sound is not “Gaidar”, but “Haidar”; and it does not mean “going forward” and not “forward-looking”, but simply “where”. And this word stuck to him because he asked everyone: “Haidar?” That is, where to go? He didn’t know any other Khakass words.

The name “Gaidar” reminded the writer of his school years, bearing in mind that the “G” in this name meant “Golikov,” the “ay” meant “Arkady,” and the “gift,” as if echoing the hero of Alexandre Dumas, D’Artagnan, “in the French manner” meant “from Arzamas.” Thus, the name “Gaidar” stands for “Golikov Arkady from Arzamas.”

The third version of the origin of the pseudonym and surname: from Ukrainian “gaidar” is a sheep shepherd. Arkady Golikov’s childhood is connected with the Gaidars, as he spent several summer months with them for several years in a row. He liked these places and his childhood memories so much that he chose the pseudonym Arkady Gaidar.

9. Teffi Real name Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya

For the first time, the name Teffi (without initials) appears in the 51st issue of the Theater and Art magazine, in December 1901 (this is the second publication of the writer). Perhaps Teffi took a pseudonym because long before the start of her literary activity, her older sister, the poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya, whom critics nicknamed the “Russian Sappho,” gained fame. (By the beginning of her literary career, Teffi had already separated from her first husband, after whom she bore the surname Buchinskaya). According to researchers of Teffi’s creativity E.M. Trubilova and D.D. Nikolaev, the pseudonym for Nadezhda Alexandrovna, who loved hoaxes and jokes, and was also the author of literary parodies and feuilletons, became part of a literary game aimed at creating an appropriate image of the author.

The version of the origin of the pseudonym is set out by the writer herself in the story “Pseudonym”. She did not want to sign her texts with a man’s name, as contemporary writers often did: “I didn’t want to hide behind a male pseudonym. Cowardly and cowardly. It’s better to choose something incomprehensible, neither this nor that. But what? We need a name that would bring happiness. The best name is the name of some fool - fools are always happy.” She “remembered one fool, truly excellent and, in addition, one who was lucky, which means that fate itself recognized him as an ideal fool. His name was Stepan, and his family called him Steffy. Having dropped the first letter out of delicacy (so that the fool would not become arrogant),” the writer “decided to sign her play “Taffy””. After the successful premiere of this play, in an interview with a journalist, when asked about the pseudonym, Teffi replied that “it’s... the name of one fool..., that is, such a surname.” The journalist noted that he was “told it was from Kipling.” Taffy, who remembered Kipling’s name, as well as the song “Taffy was a walesman / Taffy was a thief...” from Trilby, agreed with this version.

10. Mark Twain Real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Clemens claimed that the pseudonym Mark Twain was taken by him in his youth from river navigation terms. Then he was an assistant pilot on the Mississippi, and the cry of “mark twain” (literally - “mark two”) meant that, according to the mark on the lotline, the minimum depth suitable for the passage of river vessels had been reached - 2 fathoms (≈ 3 .7 m).

However, there is a version about the literary origin of this pseudonym: in 1861, Vanity Fair magazine published a humorous story by Artemus Ward (real name Charles Brown) “North Star” about three sailors, one of whom was named Mark Twain. Samuel was very fond of the humorous section of this magazine and read Ward's works in his first appearances.

In addition to “Mark Twain,” Clemens once signed himself in 1896 as “Sieur Louis de Conte” (French: Sieur Louis de Conte) - under this name he published his novel “Personal Memoirs of Joan of Arc of Sir Louis de Conte, her page and secretary."

11. Max Fry is the literary pseudonym of two authors - Svetlana Martynchik and Igor Stepin

The book series was written by Svetlana Martynchik in collaboration with Igor Stepin and published under the pseudonym “Max Frei”. The authors maintained some anonymity, not disclosing their pseudonyms and not appearing in public specifically as the authors of novels (they were known as artists). On the website “Physionomy of the Russian Internet”, under the name Max Fry, there was a portrait of an unknown black man. Coupled with jokes from the Azbuka publishing house that Max Fry was a blue-eyed black man, this fueled rumors that “literary blacks” were writing under a pseudonym.

My pseudonym was chosen precisely because of my hero. I wanted the name of the author and the name of the character from whom the story is told to match. Svetlana Martynchik

Maria Zakharova notes that the language game characteristic of Max Frei’s texts is also manifested in the choice of pseudonym: “for example, Max Frei - max frei (German) - “maximum freely”” and “it is important to note that both Max Frei and Holm Van Zaichik - fictitious, “game”, pseudonyms of Russian-speaking authors"""

12. O. Henry real name William Sidney Porter

In prison, Porter worked in the infirmary as a pharmacist (a rare profession in prison) and wrote stories, looking for a pseudonym. In the end, he chose the version of O. Henry (often incorrectly spelled like the Irish surname O'Henry - O'Henry). Its origin is not entirely clear. The writer himself claimed in an interview that the name Henry was taken from the society news column in the newspaper, and the initial O. was chosen as the simplest letter. He told one of the newspapers that O. stands for Olivier (the French name Olivier), and indeed, he published several stories there under the name Olivier Henry.

According to other sources, this is the name of the famous French pharmacist Etienne Ocean Henry, whose medical reference book was popular at that time.

Another hypothesis was put forward by writer and scientist Guy Davenport: “Oh. Henry" is nothing more than an abbreviation of the name of the prison where the author was imprisoned - Ohio Penitentiary (Ohio State Penitentiary). Also known as the Arena District, which burned to the ground on April 21, 1930.

Al Jennings, who was in prison with Porter and became famous as the author of the book "Through the Dark with O. Henry" (there is an option to translate the title "With O. Henry at the Bottom"), in his book says that the pseudonym was taken from a famous cowboy song , where there are the following lines: “My beloved returned at 12 o’clock. Tell me, O Henry, what is the sentence?” .

There is an opinion that “The famous American writer W. Porter took the pseudonym O. Henry in honor of the physicist J. Henry, whose name was constantly uttered with admiration by the school teacher: “Oh! Henry! It was he who discovered that the discharge of a capacitor through a coil is oscillatory in nature!’” He wrote his first story under this pseudonym, “Dick the Whistler’s Christmas Gift,” published in 1899 in McClure’s Magazine, in prison.

13. George Orwell. Real name Eric Arthur Blair

Starting with the story “Pounds of Dashing in Paris and London” (1933), based on autobiographical material, he was published under the pseudonym “George Orwell”.

14. Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov

Ilya Ilf - Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg The pseudonym is formed from part of the first name and the first letter of the surname: ILYA Fainzilberg. Evgeny Petrov - Evgeny Petrovich Kataev The younger brother of the writer Valentin Kataev did not want to take advantage of his literary fame, and therefore came up with a pseudonym derived from his father's name.

15. Alexander Green real name is Grinevsky

The writer's pseudonym became the childhood nickname Green - this is how the long surname Grinevsky was shortened at school.

16. Fannie Flagg Real name Patricia Neal

At the beginning of her acting career, she had to change her name, because despite the sonority, it was the same name of the Oscar winner.

17. Lazar Lagin Real name Ginzburg

The pseudonym Lagin is an abbreviation for Lazar Ginzburg, the writer’s first and last name.

18. Boris Polevoy Real name Kampov

The pseudonym Polevoy came about as a result of one of the editors’ proposal to “translate the surname Kampov from Latin” (campus - field) into Russian. One of the few pseudonyms invented not by the bearer, but by other persons.

19. Daniil Kharms Real name Yuvachev

Around 1921-1922, Daniil Yuvachev chose the pseudonym “Kharms”. Researchers have put forward several versions of its origin, finding sources in English, German, French, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. It should be noted that in the writer’s manuscripts there are about forty pseudonyms (Kharms, Haarms, Dandan, Charms, Karl Ivanovich Shusterling and others). When submitting an application to join the All-Russian Union of Poets on October 9, 1925, Kharms answered the questionnaire questions as follows:

1. Last name, first name, patronymic: "Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev-Kharms"

2. Literary pseudonym: “No, I’m writing Kharms”

20. Maxim Gorky real name - Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov

The pseudonym M. Gorky first appeared on September 12, 1892 in the Tiflis newspaper “Caucasus” in the caption to the story “Makar Chudra”. Subsequently, the author said: “I shouldn’t write in literature - Peshkov...”

21. Lewis Carroll real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

This pseudonym was invented on the advice of publisher and writer Yates. It is formed from the author's real names "Charles Lutwidge", which are equivalents of the names "Charles" (Latin: Carolus) and "Louis" (Latin: Ludovicus). Dodgson chose other English equivalents of the same names and swapped them.

22. Veniamin Kaverin real name Zilber

The pseudonym “Kaverin” was taken by him in honor of the hussar P. P. Kaverin, a friend of the young Pushkin, whom he introduced under his own name in the first chapter of “Eugene Onegin”

23. Voltaire's real name is Francois-Marie Arouet

Voltaire - anagram of "Arouet le j(eune)" - "Arouet the younger" (Latin spelling - AROVETLI

24. Kozma Prutkov

The literary mask under which the poets Aleksey Tolstoy (the largest contribution in quantitative terms), the brothers Aleksey, Vladimir and Alexander Zhemchuzhnikov (in fact, the collective pseudonym of all four)

25. Stendhal's real name is Marie-Henri Beyle

As a pseudonym he took the name of Winckelmann’s hometown, whose laurels he claimed. Why Frederick is often added to the pseudonym Stendhal is a mystery.

26. Alberto Moravia

His real surname was Pinkerle, and his later pseudonym Moravia was the surname of his Jewish paternal grandmother.

27. Alexandra Marinina real name - Marina Anatolyevna Alekseeva

In 1991, Marina Alekseeva, together with her colleague Alexander Gorkin, wrote the detective story “The Six-Winged Seraphim,” which was published in the magazine “Police” in the fall of 1992. The story was signed with the pseudonym “Alexandra Marinina,” made up of the authors’ names.

28. Andrey Platonov - real name Andrey Platonovich Klimentov

In the 1920s, he changed his last name from Klimentov to Platonov (the pseudonym was formed on behalf of the writer’s father).

29. Eduard Limonov real name is Savenko

The pseudonym “Limonov” was invented by cartoonist Vagrich Bakhchanyan

30. Joseph Kell - the novel “Inside Mr. Enderby” by Anthony Burgess was published under this pseudonym

Fun fact - the editor of the newspaper where Burgess worked did not know that he was the author of the novel “Inside Mr. Enderby,” so he assigned Burgess to write a review - thus, the author wrote a review of his own book.

31. Toni Morrison Real name: Chloe Ardelia Wofford

While studying at Harvard, she acquired the pseudonym “Tony” - a derivative of her middle name Anthony, which, according to her, was given to her when converting to Catholicism at the age of 12

32. Vernon Sullivan

Alias ​​Boris Vian, who has used 24 aliases, Vernon Sullivan is the most famous of them.

33. Andre Maurois Real name - Emil Erzog

Subsequently, the pseudonym became his official name.

34. Mary Westmacott (Westmacott)- the pseudonym of the English writer, master of detective stories, Agatha Christie, under which she published 6 psychological novels: “The Bread of Giants”, “An Unfinished Portrait”, “Separated in the Spring” (“Lost in the Spring”), “The Rose and the Yew”, “A Daughter is a Daughter” ", "Nosha" ("Burden of Love").

35. Moliere's real name is Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

36. Yuz Aleshkovsky real name Iosif Efimovich Aleshkovsky

37. Sirin V. - pseudonym of Vladimir Nabokov

38. Pamela Travers real name Helen Lyndon Goff

39. Daria Dontsova - real name - Agrippina

40. Knut Hamsun real name Knud Pedersen

41. Anatole France real name - Francois Anatole Thibault

42. Daniel Defoe - real name Foe

43. Ayn Rand née Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum

44. Irving Stone's real name is Tennenbaum

A surname is given to a person at birth and accompanies him throughout his life. A surname is a connection with ancestors; it is passed on from generation to generation. Some scientists argue that a person’s surname protects him, because it contains the strength of all previous bearers of this surname, and through the surname the entire clan protects the current owner. But there are people who change their last name to another, take a so-called pseudonym. What forces people to do this?

First, let’s figure out what kind of animal this pseudonym is. This word comes from the Greek “pseudo” - false. Accordingly, a pseudonym is a false, fictitious name.

Why is it needed? Why are people not satisfied with their own first and last names? There are many reasons for this phenomenon. For an ordinary person, this reason is most often the lack of sound of the existing surname. Well, for example, Mikhail Gey or Ivan Loch. You won’t explain to everyone that the surname Gay is associated not with the sexual orientation of the owner, but with the calling cry “gay!”, which means “hear, listen, come here.”

It is possible that Michael's ancestors were grooms or cow drivers, who constantly shouted to the cattle in this way. And Loch is not at all a fool who is easy to fool, it’s just that most likely his ancestors were either fishermen (salmon during spawning were called lokh) or healers who knew how to treat the loch bush.

Well, everything is clear with ordinary people, but what about the many pseudonyms of famous people? They usually have slightly different reasons for changing their last name. The most common one is a too simple, silent surname. A striking example is Natasha Rip. The surname is not at all suitable for the stage, but Koroleva is a completely different matter. This is how pop star Natalya Koroleva appeared on the horizon. And the modest David Kotkin became the great David Copperfield. Another reason is the desire to replace a surname that is too long. So Marina Vladimirovna Polyakova-Baydarova became simply Marina Vladi, taking a shortened middle name instead of a long double surname. And Alexander Grinevsky, who wrote “Scarlet Sails,” is known to everyone as Alexander Green. It was not for nothing that the Italian sculptor Donatello took a pseudonym, because it is very difficult to remember his real name and surname Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi.

The next reason for the appearance of a pseudonym is the desire to take a “speaking” name associated with the chosen type of activity. Proletarian writers who sought to be closer to the common people, peasants, took appropriate pseudonyms. Mikhail Epstein became Mikhail Golodny, Efim Pridvorov became Demyan Bedny. And the Russian singer Nadezhda Zasedateleva took the pseudonym Nadezhda Babkina.

Another reason for changing a surname is the presence of a famous namesake or relative. Not everyone wants to be associated with other famous people. So, due to the presence of the famous brother Samuil Marshak, the writer Ilya Marshak became Mikhail Ilyin, because he did not want to be in the shadow of his brother.

It is also impossible not to remember such a reason as the desire to hide one’s origin and nationality. It's no secret that previously surnames like Levenshtein and Ofshtein were undesirable for famous people. That is why Lazar Weinsbein became Leonid Utesov. And the director of the film in which Semyon Ferdman starred said that he would not write such a name in the credits and personally came up with the pseudonym Semyon Farada for him.

Some nicknames arise from a combination of a first and last name. For example, Nikolai Korneychukov made himself a pseudonym from his last name - he became Korney Chukovsky. And Bon Jovi was Jon Bongiovi.

Well, how can one not remember the famous political pseudonyms, which were designed to hide the real name of the owner from enemies. This is how the well-known Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Joseph Stalin appeared, whose passports contained completely different surnames - Ulyanov and Dzhugashvili. And Hitler is actually none other than Schicklgruber.

By the way, Lenin had a great many pseudonyms, as many as 146. The most famous of them are Basil, Bolshevik, Uncle, Ivan, Ivanov, V. Ilyin, Ilyich, Karich, Karpov, Konstantinov, Kubyshkin, Kupriyanov, Lenivtsev, Meyer, Miryanin, Observer , Illiberal skeptic, Osipov, Petrov, Piryuchev, Outsider, Pravdist, Richter, Silin, Employee, Old Man, Statistician.

And finally, a few pseudonyms of our stars:

Apina Alena - Levochkina Elena
Allegrova Irina - Klimchuk Inessa
Bilan Dima - Belan Victor
Borzov Nike - Barashko Nikolay
Valeria - Perfilova Alla Vitas - Grachev Vitaly
Glucose - Natalya Ionova
Gubin Andrey - Klementyev Andrey
Decl - Tolmatsky Kirill
Valley Larisa - Myachinskaya Larisa
Jasmine - Semendueva Sara Lvovna
Kelmi Chris - Kalinkin Anatoly
Krug Mikhail - Vorobiev Mikhail
Lada Dance - Volkova Lada
Lel Katya - Chuprinina Ekaterina
Malinin Alexander - Vyguzov Alexander
Rasputina Masha - Ageeva Alla
Rousseau Abraham - Apjyan Efrem
Tutta Larsen - Tatiana Galstyan

Names in history. Fatal names. What secret is hidden in a person's name?

“An honest name is the most magnificent tomb one can have,” as Pierre Buast once said.

The name appears with us at birth and goes with us to the grave. Many try to find out what their name means, some even manage to recognize their character and destiny by their name. Most likely, everyone knows what meaning their name hides and what it means. But it is no less interesting to learn about names in general, because there are so many unusual facts associated with them in the world.

For example, did you know that there are fatal names?

And the 18th century scientist and doctor Eisenach Paulini conducted a study and discovered that such names exist. The list of such names included Henry (all the kings of France with this name did not die a natural death), Donald (the Scottish kings with the same name also did not die a natural death), Nikephoros (this name brought misfortune to all the rulers of Byzantium), Philip (seated on the Spanish throne Philippi ended badly), Richard (English kings with that name died a violent death).

Pablo Picasso, a brilliant abstract artist, is a well-known personality. Does everyone know his full name and surname? Together they make 93 letters: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispin Crispiano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz and Picasso. Although such a long name is understandable, because the artist comes from Spain, and there such names are par for the course.

Sostratos, famous for creating the great and famous Pharos lighthouse, was incredibly proud of his creation and, of course, wanted everyone to know the creator of this masterpiece. But King Ptolemy decided that only his name and no one else should be imprinted on the lighthouse. Then the inventive Sostratus resorted to a trick - he still wrote his name on the wall of the lighthouse, but put plaster on top of it, on which he wrote “Ptolemy”. The king was pleased. But years passed, Ptolemy died, the plaster crumbled and only the name of the creator remained - Sostratus.

The famous book "Taras Bulba" is popular not only in Russia. It was even translated into Japanese. And in Japan, by tradition, the names of the characters in the book are replaced with hieroglyphs that symbolize the character of the hero.

What did our famous heroes in the land of the rising sun come to call? Taras Bulba was named Tadatsugu Furuba, which means “Faithful successor of the traditions of antiquity.” Taras's son Ostap, following in his father's footsteps, received the appropriate name - Okidata ("He who raised Tadatsugu's cause high"), and Andriy, who betrayed his father, became Anri ("He who takes cheap advantage for himself").

In Catholic families, parents tried to give the child as many names as possible, because each new name meant the appearance of a new patron saint in heaven who would protect the child from troubles and misfortunes.

But in those days, the Catholic Church demanded payment for each new name. The inventive French, who did not want to waste money, found a way out. In order not to give the child many different names, they came up with one name that combines all the heavenly patrons - Toussaint.

Everyone knows about fortune telling by hand, by cards, by coffee grounds. What about fortune telling by name? But it was created a very long time ago. It was created by the Pythagoreans and called onomancy. If you know how to use onomancy, you can easily answer the question of why Wellington defeated Napoleon, Clinton defeated Bush, Capablanca defeated Lasker, and even why Achilles defeated Hector.

Don't know the answer? And onomancy knows. Because, according to fortune telling by name, the winner should be the one whose name is longer.

When written by the Romans, all names were abbreviated. This was due to the fact that the Romans had very few personal names - only 70 at most, and only about 20 of them were used. And in the recording they could be shortened to 1-3 letters, because there would be no matches anyway. The name Publius could be shortened to just 1 letter P, because there were no other names starting with the letter P and it was impossible to confuse it with another name. Among the same Romans in ancient times, it was customary to give a full name only to the first four children, and simply name the rest in order of Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh) and so on.

Erokhina V.V. 1

Zhurakhova S.A. 1

1 Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education Belgorod State Agrarian University named after V. Ya. Gorin

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Introduction.

One of the most important sections of modern Russian onomastics is anthroponymy is the science of human names, which includes personal names, patronymics, surnames, nicknames, pseudonyms, etc.

We decided to classify surnames according to the method of their formation, hoping that such work would be of interest to students: everyone is interested in knowing the method of forming their surname, its origin.

We decided to start working in this direction and chose for research such an object of anthroponymy as a pseudonym.

If the main anthroponymic units (first names, patronymics, surnames) have long been the subject of interested attention of scientists, they are collected, described and studied in various aspects, then pseudonyms - a large layer of unofficial names - are analyzed mainly in the works of literary scholars, cultural experts and have not been sufficiently studied from the point of view from the point of view of linguistic theory, therefore they are of particular linguistic interest.

The relevance of research.

A pseudonym is a word, and as a word it forms an integral part of the language, is subject to its laws and must be studied by linguistic methods.

Recent studies have identified over fifty different types of pseudonyms, but a satisfactory classification of them still does not exist, and not all types have been described. The science of pseudonyms, which can be called pseudonymy (i.e., the science of false names), is equally close to linguistics and literary criticism. The task of bibliographers is to determine whether a pseudonym belongs to one person or another, to compile dictionaries of pseudonyms; The task of literary scholars is to explain the origin of pseudonyms, to reveal the reasons for a person’s use of a fictitious name; Linguists should study the methods of formation and semantics of pseudonyms. Studying pseudonyms allows us to more fully imagine historical events.

In our work, we do not pursue the goal of improving the classification of pseudonyms, since this is not yet within our capabilities. But to classify the pseudonyms of Russian writers and poets into groups, based on the methods of their formation, will be the purpose of our research.

People who are interested in literature, picking up another book and looking at the author's name, often have no idea what is hidden behind these names - a real surname or a pseudonym. We have no time to think about this seemingly trifle. We are interested in the content. Guided by this hypothesis, we decided to conduct a small survey among 2nd year students of the Belgorod State Agrarian University.

35 people took part in the survey, these are students of the agronomic and veterinary faculties

The survey results fully confirmed the hypothesis put forward, thereby once again confirming the relevance of our work.

Objectives of our research:

1. Identify the reasons for the appearance of pseudonyms.
2. Explore ways to form pseudonyms.
3. Classify them into certain groups.

The object of the study is branch of the science of anthroponymy - pseudonymy.

Subject of study: pseudonyms of famous Russian classics.

Methods:

During the work, the following research methods were used:

• theoretical (analysis of facts from literary and Internet sources, generalization of material);
• empirical (conducting statistical research);
• mathematical (statistical processing of material).

Practical significance of the research work: materials and results of the work can be used in special courses and elective classes; in the course of teaching Russian language and literature, both at school and in secondary specialized institutions; in the work of a librarian.

1. I. Main part.

1.1. Reasons for the appearance of pseudonyms.

Before naming the reasons for the appearance of pseudonyms, we turned to the explanatory dictionary and the etymology of the word pseudonym.

A pseudonym is a general name for a fictitious or changed name and surname that has replaced the real name and surname in the signature.

The Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary says that a pseudonym - the conventional name of the author or artist, which replaces his real name or surname (or both). It is not permitted to disclose a pseudonym without the consent of the author, except in cases where the pseudonym is used for the purpose of falsifying authorship.

Turning to the etymology of the word, we read “Pseudonym - borrowed in the 19th century from French, in which pseudonyme<греч.рseudonymos (рseudos «ложный» и onymа «имя».

There are many reasons for the appearance of pseudonyms. Conventionally, they can be divided into the following groups.

1. Attempt at writing. This is perhaps one of the most common cases. It is a rare beginning author who is one hundred percent confident in his success. Why not use a pseudonym or not sign up at all?

A textbook example here is the case of N.V. Gogol. Gogol signed his first work - the romantic poem "Hanz Küchelgarten" - with a pseudonym V. Alov. Unfortunately, the fear of being subjected to harsh criticism was justified. F. Bulgarin ironically noted in his review that “the world would not have lost anything if this first attempt of a young talent had been hidden under a bushel.” Gogol took the failure painfully, and even the positive response of the critic Orest Somov, who saw in the author of Hanz Küchelgarten “a talent that promises a future poet in him,” did not stop the desperate determination of the future creator of Dead Souls. He bought the remaining copies of the book from bookstores and burned them.

One more example. My first literary experience was a book of poems “Dreams and Sounds” - N.A. Nekrasov signed with initials N.N., following the advice of V.A. Zhukovsky, to whom he brought the manuscript to find out the opinion of the master of poetry. Zhukovsky positively assessed only two poems, saying: “If you want to publish, then publish without a name, later you will write better, and you will be ashamed of these poems.” Belinsky, according to Nekrasov himself, “also cursed the book,” so the aspiring author destroyed the remaining copies of the collection and “refused to write lyrical and generally tender works in verse.”

1. Censorship. This is one of the tools to combat dissent. Not always effective, but always painful. However, getting around it is considered a matter of honor. And here a pseudonym comes to the rescue: less attention is paid to the unknown, anonymous author, but for the time being. Subsequently, the careless censor is fired, and the author - if he's lucky - is found and punished (remember the case of Radishchev, who was not saved by the anonymity of his "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow").

The dissident poet of the 20th century I. Brodsky published under the pseudonym Boris Osipov, children's writer S.Ya. Marshak - Doctor Fricken.
3. Class prejudices or discontent of relatives.

Writing, and even for money, was considered an unworthy activity among the upper class. I had to disguise myself so as not to displease my relatives. Once Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev published his “Symphony” under a pseudonym because he was afraid to upset his father, a professor of mathematics at Moscow University, who prophesied a scientific future for his son. This is how the famous symbolist poet Andrei Bely appeared. At the beginning of her creative career, Anna Akhmatova was also forced to take a pseudonym due to the protest of her father, who did not see a great poet in his daughter. As a girl, Gorenko, she began to sign with her grandmother’s surname.

1. Another profession. In 1824 In the I Cadet Corps, an order was issued: to give 25 rods to each cadet noticed in composing prose and 50 rods for poetry. As you can see, poetry was considered a more seditious activity than prose.

Representatives of other professions, however, were not punished with rods, but they were not averse to using a pseudonym, thus distinguishing between their literary and professional incarnations.

A. Kuprin and K. Paustovsky began publishing during their apprenticeship years. The first was a cadet, the second was a high school student. In military educational institutions, writing was punished especially strictly. The pseudonym Al did not help young Kuprin. K-rin. Apparently he was too transparent. For “scribbling papers,” the future author of “Junkers” served two days in a punishment cell. K. Paustovsky was luckier. His first story, “On the Water,” appeared in the Kiev magazine “Delo” without any unpleasant consequences for the debutant (the editors advised him to take a pseudonym). High school student Paustovsky, under the fictitious literary name K. Balagin, turned out to be invulnerable to his superiors.

The author of the fairy tale “The Black Hen, or the Underground Inhabitants”, Antony Pogorelsky, in life was a trustee of the A.A. educational district. Perovsky, and the exposer of the Russian bureaucracy, the author of “The History of a City,” N. Shchedrin served as vice-governor, chairman of the treasury chamber and was called M.E. Saltykov.

1. Presence of namesakes. A completely objective reason for changing the name. The author of the beloved book “Tema’s Childhood” could not sign his work with his real surname Mikhailovsky, because the editor of the magazine “Russian Wealth”, where he began to publish, was also Mikhailovsky. Even the names were the same: both were Nikolai. The writer took the pseudonym N. Garin.

Writer-ethnographer N.F. Leskov warned the reader against misconceptions about the author of “Lefty” and signed himself with the pseudonym Korelsky. M. Sholokhov’s namesake did the same. He also chose the pseudonym Sinyavsky. And the writer and literary critic with his native surname Sinyavsky signed the pseudonym Abram Tertz.

The writer Boris Lavrenev (Sergeev), famous in Soviet times, author of the play “The Fault” and the story “The Forty-First,” was forced to take the name of one of his relatives as a pseudonym. There are more than enough namesakes in literature. Due to the prevalence of the same native surname Sergeev, the author of the novel “Sevastopol Strada” signed the pseudonym Sergeev-Tsensky.

Relatives often appeared in print: father and son, brothers, brother and sister. The names and patronymics of two poets coincided - father and son K.K. Sluchevsky. The son, who served in the navy, took the pseudonym Lieutenant S.

The son of the poet K.M. Fofanova, also Konstantin, was known as the decadent poet of Olympus.

Sister of the poet S.Ya. Marshak, Liya Yakovlevna, took the pseudonym Elena Ilyina. Generations of Soviet children read Elena Ilyina’s book about the heroine of the Great Patriotic War, Gula Koroleva, “The Fourth Height,” without suspecting the author’s relationship with another favorite writer. Marshak is the real name of playwright Mikhail Shatrov, who in Soviet times was famous for plays written in the genre of historical chronicles about post-revolutionary events, Lenin and his comrades. The editor advised the aspiring author to take a pseudonym, since the name Marshak already had considerable merit on the literary Olympus.

To avoid confusion with his brother, the already famous writer Valentin Kataev, one of the authors of “The Twelve Chairs” and “The Golden Calf” took the pseudonym Evgeniy Petrov, being in fact Evgeniy Petrovich Kataev.

1. The cacophony and ordinariness of a real surname.

One day Chekhov was asked to read the poems of the lyrical poet Gusochkin. He refused: “What kind of surname is this for a lyric poet - Gusochkin?! I won’t read him.”

The author of the novel “Lapti”, famous in the 20s, but today forgotten by the reader, P. Zamoyski had his own surname Zevalkin, which was not suitable for a writer. His contemporary writer Elizar Maltsev, laureate of the USSR State Prize, author of the novel “From the Heart,” also changed his native surname Pupko. Ukrainian Soviet writer Yakov Bash, author of the novel “Hot Feelings,” was forced to shorten his surname Bashmak in order to give it some respectability.

7.On the advice of other people.

On the advice of the editor, 14-year-old schoolboy Borya Kampov took a pseudonym. First, he borrowed a pseudonym from his favorite literary hero, signing a note in the Tverskaya Pravda newspaper B. Gadfly. But the editor recommended taking something original. The editor translated the “tricky” Latinized surname Kampov into Russian. “Campus” in Latin means “field, plain,” which is how the author of “The Tale of a Real Man” got his surname Polevoy.

1. Comic effect.

Pseudonyms, the purpose of which was to create a comic effect, are called paizonyms (from the Greek paizein - to joke). As a rule, they were temporary and arose not so much to hide the real name, but to emphasize the satirical nature of the work.

Thus, V.A. Zhukovsky published under the pseudonyms Maremyan Danilovich Zhukovyatnikov, chairman of the commission on the construction of the Muratovsky house, author of the cramped stable, fire-breathing ex-president of the old vegetable garden. A.P. Chekhov - The Man Without a Spleen.

In addition to the reasons considered for the emergence of pseudonyms, there are many more that cannot be classified. In addition, it is not always possible to accurately determine the motives for which certain pseudonyms are taken.

1.2. Classification of pseudonyms.

All pseudonyms, no matter what they are, are divided into certain groups, which are based on the principle of their formation.

Many authors of works take their pseudonyms from the groups listed below, but this classification of data does not take into account certain factors, because the Russian language is constantly evolving, i.e. New pseudonyms are added, new ways of their formation are added, and new groups are added accordingly.

I would like to stop and define the following classification groups of pseudonyms.

The classification belongs to Dmitriev V.G., described in the book “Hidden their name: groups of pseudonyms”.

1.3. Stages of research. Research results.

At the first stage of our research, we turned to the theoretical part. Having found, analyzed and summarized the material, we identified the reasons for the emergence of pseudonyms and classification groups based on the principle of their formation. At the same stage, we began to select literary pseudonyms in order to compile the largest possible list of writers and poets known to us. Here we would like to emphasize that our list included only those classics who entered Russian literature under well-established pseudonyms, those whose surnames we perceive as real.

The second stage turned out to be the most labor-intensive and significant. We researched the reasons for the emergence of pseudonyms, how they were formed, and compiled a classification table.

Method of education

Nickname

Real name

World fame did not come under the names that were given to them at birth. There is an opinion that a person’s fate depends on his name. Consequently, sonorous can radically change the path of life. A clear confirmation of this idea can be considered the Top 10 pseudonyms known throughout the world.

10. George Sand

In the 19th century in France, George Sand's books became a real breakthrough. Ordinary people were not ready to accept the frankness with which these books were permeated. But in literary circles, the works of George Sand became truly revolutionary. Describing a series of whirlwind romances, the author tells the story of his life. And if such a reputation would only add points to a male writer, then such a lifestyle was unacceptable for a married woman of the 19th century. And although marriage has long turned into a formality, for the sake of her husband’s relatives, Amandine Aurora Lucille Dupin was forced to create under a pseudonym George Sand. And if the name Georges was born spontaneously, then the second part of this nickname owes to the writer’s then love, Jules Sandot. There were many other hobbies in her life, among which was Frederic Chopin himself, but the name of Jules Sandot became happy for her.

9. Salvador Dali

The great eccentric Salvador Dali conquered the world thanks to his brilliant works. In addition to painting, he was involved in sculpture, directing, and even designed logos for famous world brands. Thus, the famous chamomile, the symbol of Chupa-Chups caramel, is his handiwork. He is one of the few creators whose works received recognition and commercial success during the author's lifetime. Dali is considered the king of surrealism. His works are exhibited in the best. And their participation in auctions is invariably sensational. At the same time, Salvador Dali is known for his obnoxious character and shocking actions. So, out of love for shocking, he admitted his sexual attraction to the back of Adolf Hitler. I could show up for a lecture on art in a spacesuit. And one day he appeared before the public while lying in a coffin. The latter was filled with money and infested with ants. Oddly enough, at birth the future artist received a name of incredible length, quite traditional for Spain. His names were Salvador Domenech Felip Jacinth Dali and Domenech, Marquis de Pubol. But as time shows, a more concise option is sufficient for success.

8. Lewis Carroll

Nickname Lewis Carroll, author of the famous work "Alice in Wonderland", is a derivative of his own name. Despite the fact that fame came to him thanks to his success in the literary field, first of all, Carroll was a talented mathematician. So to create a literary pseudonym, he used a rational scheme. To do this, he translated his name into Latin. Thus turning from Charles Lutwidge into Charles Louis. And after that I found other matches for the new names in the English version. And finally, he swapped them. So, from Charles Lutwidge Dodgson he became Lewis Carroll. By the way, the writer signed his works on mathematics exclusively with his real name. But for works of art he used a fictitious surname.

7. Marilyn Monroe

Due to the turbulent personal life of Gladys Pearl Baker, the history of the name of her youngest daughter seems very confusing. At birth, the girl received the name of the man who was presumably her father. Thus, Norma Jeane Mortenson was born. But already at baptism, her mother changed her last name to Baker. From now on, the girl was named after her mother’s first husband, who, of course, was not the child’s father. Gladys suffered from mental problems and was constantly broke. Therefore, she could not fully care for the baby. Little Norma Jeane's first family were her grandmother's neighbors. Seven years later, her own mother took her grown daughter into her home. But due to mental illness, the mother was placed in a clinic, and the mother’s friend took care of raising the girl. But the child’s misadventures did not end there: an orphanage and a nomadic life in the homes of numerous relatives awaited her. No wonder that at the first opportunity the pretty orphan got married. She was 16. After 2 years, the beauty, who worked at an aircraft factory, was noticed by a photographer. He invited Norma Jeane to work as a model. This is how her career began and her first marriage ended. Just four years after marriage, the future star was free again. Thanks to her bright appearance, the aspiring model was noticed in Hollywood. It was at the film studio that she was offered to change her name to a more sonorous one. Of the many options, the one that included the actress’s mother’s maiden name was chosen. So, in 1946, the world recognized Marilyn Monroe. Since then, this pseudonym has become a symbol of femininity, sexuality and beauty.

6. Marilyn Manson

The controversial rock singer Marilyn Manson, who is also the leader of the band of the same name, had a very ordinary appearance and a completely boring name as a child. His name was Brian Hugh Warner. But being carried away by music, Brian decided to take a creative pseudonym. He borrowed part of his new name from the legendary Marilyn Monroe. The second part was the name of the bloody maniac Charles Manson, who committed a number of brutal murders. Shocking in its purest form is the musician’s main motto, his appearance speaks to this. With the help of makeup and colored lenses, Marilyn Manson creates a recognizable, frightening image every time.

5. Pele

In the case of the famous Pele, choosing a nickname was not his conscious decision. The athlete himself does not know where this nickname came from. There is an assumption that this apt word is derived from the word “pelada”. This is the name of Brazilian street football - the favorite game of local boys. There are also more poetic versions. So, in Hebrew this word means “miracle.” And in Hawaiian mythology, Pele is the deity who patronizes fire. Despite the variety of versions, there is still no clear answer. By the way, at the very beginning of his career, the football player was very irritated when his name was Pele. But with the advent of deafening popularity, he was forced to come to terms with this nickname. In fact, the Brazilian's name is Edson Arantis do Nascimento, and his family has affectionately called him Diko since childhood. The irony is that only real football fans know him by this name, but the whole world knows him as Pele.

4. Freddie Mercury

Farrukh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar. But his parents sent him to India to receive secondary education. There at school, it was difficult for the English-speaking children to call the boy Farrukh. Therefore, his name was simplified to Freddy. So, even in childhood, the first part of the singer’s pseudonym appeared. The Mercury prefix replaced the singer's real surname already during the recording of Queen's first album. This word in English refers to mercury: a shiny, flowing and dangerous chemical element. It seems that it was this combination of letters in the singer’s name that became a symbol of good luck for him. After all, before that he tried himself in different groups. But it was only with Queen that he became a real king of the stage.

3. Muhammad Ali

The greatest of our time, known to the world under the pseudonym Muhammad Ali, began his career as Cassius Marcellus Clay. However, later he became interested in the ideas declared by the Nation of Islam organization. This religious association fights to improve the living conditions of black people in the United States. Its postulates are far from the ideals of traditional Islam and are replete with manifestations of intolerance towards representatives of other races and religions. All this did not prevent the boxer from being inspired by the ideas of the Nation of Islam. So, at the age of 22, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. The name change did not diminish the athlete’s popularity; he is still the most recognizable and popular boxer in the world.

Lady Gaga, known not only for her excellent vocal abilities, but also for her passion for incredible outfits, owes her pseudonym to Freddie Mercury. During her first performances, the girl used the same gestures as the Queen frontman. This reminded her producer of the song “Radio Ga Ga” performed by Mercury. Moreover, the real name of the aspiring singer was completely unsuitable for the stage. After all, Lady Gaga is actually Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

Famous British singer performing under a pseudonym Sting, oddly enough, owes the appearance of his stage name to a striped sweater. This yellow and black thing in his wardrobe, according to the musicians of his group, made the singer look like a bee. And every bee has a sting - sting in English. Under this pseudonym, the musician became an incredibly popular solo artist. And now even close friends sometimes call Sting Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner.