We know some writers and poets under an assumed name and surname. Many of them take pseudonyms so that they are not compared with namesakes or well-known relatives, in order to simplify their complex name or to make it more harmonious and spectacular.
10. Anna Akhmatova (Anna Andreevna Gorenko)
The father of Anna Gorenko was the hereditary nobleman Andrei Gorenko, who had once worked as a fleet mechanical engineer.
She wrote her first poems after a serious illness, she was then only 11 years old. For several days the girl was delirious, her relatives no longer hoped for her recovery. But when she woke up and regained strength, she was able to pick up her first rhymes.
She read the verses of French poets and tried to compose verses herself. But the father did not really like his daughter's hobby. He was not only not interested in her poems, but also scornfully spoke of them.
Realizing that Anna still decided to become a poet, he forbade her to sign with her real name, because was sure that she would dishonor his name. Anna did not argue with him. She decided to choose a pseudonym for herself. Upon learning that her maternal grandmother had a sonorous surname “Akhmatova,” she took it.
So the famous Russian poetess chose the Tatar surname for herself, which supposedly went to her ancestors, because they were from the clan of the Tatar khan Akhmat.
9. Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Fainzilberg)
The famous author of “12 Chairs” took his pseudonym so that it would be more convenient to sign his work.
His daughter recounted that his real name, Feinsilberg, was too long for a newspaper article. And in order to shorten it, he often signed “Ilya F” or “IF”, and gradually his nickname “Ilf” turned out by itself.
But there is another version. At birth, he was Jehiel-Leib Arievich Fainzilberg, was born into a Jewish family. And his pseudonym is an abbreviation in accordance with the tradition of Jewish nominal abbreviations.
He sometimes signed with other names. So, acting as a literary critic, Ilya called himself Anton Krainy.
8. Evgeny Petrov (Evgeny Petrovich Kataev)
The elder brother of Evgeny Kataev was Valentin Kataev. He was a famous writer, founder and editor of the magazine "Youth".
Not wanting to use the fame and popularity of his brother, Eugene took a pseudonym. He became Petrov, having slightly redone the name of his father, Pyotr Vasilyevich Kataev.
7. Arkady Gaidar (Golikov Arkady Petrovich)
The writer himself never told why he decided to become Gaidar. When asked about this, he usually joked, never explaining anything.
There were several versions of the origin of his name. The most popular version was the writer B. Emelyanov. He was sure that the pseudonym came from the Mongolian word "gaydar", which meant the horseman jumping in front.
There is another version. Schoolmate of the writer A.M. Goldin is sure that a pseudonym is an encrypted message. Since childhood, he was a great inventor, loved to invent his own codes. “Gaidar” is deciphered as follows: “G” is the first letter of his surname Golikov, “ay” is the first and last letters of the name Arkady, “d” is from the French “de”, which means “from”, and “ar” is the first letters of his hometown. It turns out "Golikov Arkady from Arzamas."
6. Boris Akunin (Grigory Chkhartishvili)
The writer publishes critical and documentary works under his own name. He became Boris Akunin since 1998, after he began to write fiction.
At first, no one knew what the letter “B” means before his new last name. A little later, in an interview, he said that this is the first letter of his name - Boris.
There are several suggestions why he took this pseudonym. "Akunin" can be translated from Japanese as "a supporter of evil or a villain." Someone believes that this pseudonym is associated with the name of the famous anarchist Mikhail Bakunin.
The writer himself explains that his novels are not like his other occupations. For Akunin, the idea does not work as it does for Chkhartishvili, who deals with articles. They are two completely different people, Akunin is an idealist, kind, and believes in God. In addition, you should not write detective stories with such an unpronounceable surname.
5. O. Henry (Hive Sydney Porter)
He was once charged with embezzlement and was in a hard labor prison. He had a pharmacist education, so William was allowed to work in the infirmary as a night pharmacist.
At night, while on duty, he composed his stories. Some of them fell into the wild. But the writer did not want readers to know about his hard labor past. He was always ashamed of him and was afraid of exposure. Therefore, it was printed only under a pseudonym.
It is believed that he became O. Henry by redoing the name of the pharmacist Etienne Osean Henry. This was the author of the reference book, which was also used in the prison pharmacy.
William himself assured that he chose the initial “O” only because it is the simplest letter and stands for Oliver. And he took the surname "Henry" from the newspaper.
4. Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwich Dodgson)
The writer was a famous English mathematician, graduated with honors from Oxford. To become a professor and give lectures, according to the charter, he had to take the dignity, which he did, becoming a deacon.
After that, it was dangerous for him to sign humorous stories in his own name, because both the church and colleagues could react painfully to his work. Moreover, he did not like his own name, it seemed to him boring and dissonant.
Dodgson had a double name in honor of his father and mother. He translated both parts into Latin, it turned out “Carolus Ludovicus”. After that I changed their places and again translated into English. So it turned out his pseudonym Lewis Carroll. But he always signed his mathematical work with a real name.
3. Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorn Clemens)
Once a novice writer worked as a sailor on the Mississippi River. A safe depth through which the ship could pass was considered a mark of 2 phantoms or 3.6 m. On the slang of sailors, this depth was called the “twins”. The boaters measured it with a special stick, and if everything was all right, they shouted “by mark twain”. This combination of words pleased the writer.
2. Daniil Harms (Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev)
The writer came up with this pseudonym while still a schoolboy, signing his notebooks with this surname. He later made it his official name.
It is still unknown why he chose such a surname, there are many versions of its origin. But the most common - Harms sounds almost like Holmes, and that was Harms' favorite character. From him, he adopted the style of dressing and often posed with a pipe in the pictures.
1. Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Nikolay Vasilyevich Korneychukov)
The writer was illegitimate. His father was Emanuel Levenson, and his mother was a peasant Ekaterina Korneychuk, who was his servant. Therefore, the boy did not have a middle name.
After he became a writer, he used the pseudonym Korney Chukovsky, adding a fictitious middle name to it. And after the revolution, the pseudonym became his name.