Welcome to another Road Trip Wednesday, a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway posts a weekly writing- or reading-related question and anyone can answer it on their own blogs.
This week’s topic is:
If you couldn’t use your own name, what would your pseudonym or penname be?
Well, as some of you know but many may not, I actually am using a pseudonym. Right now. At this very moment. Sarah Enni is, in fact, neither my given nor my married name.
I’ve always said I would use a pseudonym if I got published. Actually, I said this before I was even writing, when it was a kind of “when I circumnavigate the globe, I’ll fly the Finland flag!” kind of declaration, which is to say, a silly and far-fetched one said aloud purely for entertainment value.
But then I started writing, and decided to blog about it. I had to make the decision then if I wanted the blog to serve any kind of branding purpose, so I decided to go with Sarah Enni (Enni being a family name, and yes—it is Finnish, like my imaginary schooner’s flag). It’s unusual without being unpronounceable (en-knee), and though people frequently see my email and think I’m Sara Henni (a gross-looking and worse-sounding potato sack of a name, no offence to any Sara Hennis that are hopefully not lurking), I very much enjoy my writing name.
What about you?? Are you using a faux name? If you had to, what would you choose? Should we use the “name of the street you grew up on + name of your first pet” combo for pseudonyms (in which case I should change this blog to kristenaurora.com)?
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice pen name. Glad it worked out better than your plans for the Finnish flag…though you could still accomplish that too.
*Names Jennifer first mate* *searches for Finnish flag in closet*
You know, I complain all the time about how common my name is…but as you pointed out, at least it’s easy to pronounce :D
I’ve been using my own name, so I’ll probably just continue doing so.
I like your name! It has a nice flow to it :) I stay, stick with it!
I like your pen name, then. I’ve always thought that if I started a writing blog, it’d be under a pen name because my whole last name is a tad too difficult for everyone to get right.
It would be kind of frustrating to deal with, I totally agree. Of course you could always go the Tahereh Mafi route and record yourself saying it, to ease some confusion! (http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/p/so-you-cant-pronounce-my-name.html)
I considered changing my name once upon a time, primarily because mine is two words and hard to pronounce. But it is also unique (I’m the only Nicki Pau Preto on the planet, according to google anyways…), which might be worth more than it being easy to say. Plus, I always kind of wanted people to KNOW it was me, you know? In case I ever become wildly famous :)
I always thought that if I did take a pen name it would be Nicki Blackwood (Blackwood being the translation of my Portuguese surname).
Cool! Not only is Sarah Enni a pen name (which I suspected, but couldn’t be sure), but it’s not totally made up. Using a name from your family heritage is great, especially when it’s an unusual (for us, anyway) name. And being Finnish is just cool upon cool! I’d love to visit Scandinavia–especially Iceland and Finland. When you consider that the Anglo Saxons, the Irish, the Scots, and the Normans (from northern France) were all originally Scandinavian, you’ve got to give the Scandinavians some respect.
You won’t be surprised to learn that this is my real name. Big surprise! :)
Colin, I am SHOCKED! ;) Yours is a great name because it’s uncommon without being unusual. Always helpful! And darn right, the Scandinavians get respect!!
Oh, I didn’t realize Sarah Enni was a pen name, but good choice, it is cute and easy to remember. You already know my online/blog name is a pen name – we should start a nom de plume club!
AH! We so should!
I didn’t know Sarah Enni was a pen name; I just thought it was a cool one. Nice choice!
That’s a cool pen name you’ve got there!
Hah, I forgot about that old naming trick involving the street name + pet. That turns me into Marshall Rogers. Sounds like a football player! Or, since my pet’s full name was “Mister Rogers” (three guesses what inspired that), I could be Marshall Mister.
I went to a dry toilet conference in Finland and it was so beautiful (the country, not the toilet conference). There was this flea market in Helsinki that had so many awesome things. I couldn’t afford any of them!
I did not know that was a pen name, but it’s a really good one. Well done!
‘A gross-looking and worse-sounding potato sack of a name’ –I’m still chuckling =) I like the name you chose. It’s simple, pretty, and still has meaning to you.
I always wondered where the name Enni came from! I think it’s perfect for you. You just ARE Sarah Enni. Hehe.
Poor Sara Henni–I just googled it, and there’s at least one. I use a pseudonym, too–started using it for photography, but always meant it for writing as well. Variations of Angela, after my grandmother’s middle name, are common throughout our family. What’s really hilarious is that after she died, we discovered that wasn’t the middle name her parents gave her–she just liked it and adopted it! So it has a nice pseudonym history also.
Street + pet name would give me a really weird faux name. Haha. For now, I’m blogging under a nickname, though my real first name has been slipped on the interwebs as well. My last name is pretty unique, but not sure if I want to share it with the world. :)
I like your pseudonym though! Easy to remember and different!
Mmmm.. street plus pet would make me Ridgefield Blackie. Weird to read and not sure what image it brngs to mind. Sarah is one of my faves and Enni is a bit different but not hard to read/pronounce.
Luckily Jessica Love works better than Grampion Nebo or Grampion Kitter (depending on if I want to use my childhood dog or cat for that name)
I love your reasons for choosing Enni…it sounds so good with Sarah. :-)
Sometimes, when I want to sass you, I like to call you Enni instead of your real last name. Mostly I just enjoy having a variety of ways to sass you/be exasperated at you.
When I embark on my porny fan fiction career, I plan on going by my middle names. I think the more I sound like a Japanese stripper, the better it will be for my career. Obvs.
It´s a very nice nom de plume…:-) And by the way I really like your first name, I always thought Sarah was beautiful :-)
I was using a pseudonym. For more than a year I gallavanted on the Twitters and the Interwebs as that name, determined to go that way because some somewhat famous people told me it was a good idea and I wanted to not be myself.
Then the real Moira Young published her post-apocalyptic YA novel, so I had to change it. So I went by my real name, and I feel stronger for it. No one can take my real name from me, and it’s a mix of common and unique enough that I am not afraid to use it anymore.