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Sometimes, [[fannishly]], '''''pename''''', a [[scientificombination]]: A false name or pseudonym used as a byline for publication or online purposes. These are used by both [[fans]] and [[pro]]s. 

In [[fan]] use, the distinction between a pename and a [[nickname]] is often immaterial, and when it comes to online “handles” and [[convention]] [[badge names]], we become hopelessly confused. Suffice to say that for purposes of privacy, efforts to keep their fan and [[mundane]] lives separate, or other reasons of their own, some [[fen]] like to use “[[fan names]]” that differ from those on their government-issued identification. 

Pros use penames for similar reasons, as well as [[professional]] ones. When [[prozines]] purchased many stories by the same author, editors didn’t like to run more than one by the same writer per issue, so extra stories might be assigned to a penname or [[house name]]. 

[[John W. Campbell]], infamously, did not like to see obviously [[Jewish]] bylines in his magazine, so some of his writers, among them [[Milt Rothman]], took ''goyische'' pseudonyms, and others with ethnic or hard-for-white-people-to-spell names have also taken that route. Some have gone in the opposite direction, such as Dexter Gabriel, who writes as [[P. Djèlí Clark]]; Wayne Woodward, better known as [[Hannes Bok]]; and Leonard Knapp, otherwise known as [[Lester del Rey]]. 

In a few cases, women writers used male pennames or initials to disguise their gender &mdash; [[Lilith Lorraine]] claimed to have done so &mdash; but more famous writers, such as [[C. L. Moore]], had different reasons. 

[[Author]]s who already have an audience for [[mainstream]] works sometimes prefer not to confuse extant readers with their [[sf]] output, so they use a different name. Collaborators often take a joint penname. [[Pro]]s with day jobs in stuffy professions hide behind false monickers, too. And, in recent years, some midlist writers who had trouble finding markets after disappointing sales have tried to get fresh starts under new names. 

The king of penames and [[nicknames]] was [[Forrest J Ackerman]]. He had so many that [[we]] have taken to calling them '''Forrynyms'''.


<tab head=top>
 colspan="2"| Some Famous Pro Pen Names 
'''Real Name''' ||'''Pen Name(s)''' 
[[Ilona Gordon|Ilona]] and [[Andrew Gordon]]||[[Ilona Andrews]]
[[Earl Binder|Earl]] and [[Otto Binder]]||[[Eando Binder]]
[[Wayne Woodward]]||[[Hannes Bok]] 
[[William Anthony Parker White]] || [[Tony Boucher]]
[[Caroline Cherry]]|| [[C. J. Cherryh]] 
[[Harry Stubbs]] ||[[Hal Clement]] 
[[Leonard Knapp]] || [[Lester del Rey]] 
[[Will F. Jenkins]] ||[[Murray Leinster]] 
[[Judith Zissman]]||[[Judith Merril]]
[[Alice Mary Norton]]||[[Andre Norton]]
[[C. L. Moore]] and [[Henry Kuttner]]||[[Lewis Padgett]]
[[Paul Linebarger]]||[[Cordwainer Smith]]
[[John W. Campbell, Jr.]] ||[[Don A. Stuart]] 
[[Philip Klass]]||[[William Tenn]]
[[Alice Sheldon]]||[[James Tiptree, Jr.]]
[[Arthur Wilson Tucker]] ||[[Wilson Tucker]], [[Bob Tucker]], [[Hoy Ping Pong]] 
[[Alfred Vogt]] ||[[A. E. van Vogt]]
</tab>

Several guides to SF pennames exist:
* ''[[Who's Hugh?]] An SF Reader's Guide to Pseudonyms''.
* ''[[Science Fiction and Fantasy Pseudonyms]]''.

===House Name=== 
A house name or house pseudonym is a pen name owned by a publishing company rather than by an individual [[author]].  Frequently, the firm would contract with multiple writers to write books to be published under the house name. As a rule, this doesn't yield many masterpieces.

Some well-known house pseudonyms:
* [[Victor Appleton]]
* [[Alexander Blade]]
* [[Ivar Jorgensen]]
* [[Volsted Gridban]]

{{fancy2|text=
To give variety where the same writer has several pieces in one issue of a [[fanzine]], to conceal the author's identity, or just because he likes the sound of the name, pen names may be used; the former purpose is a mere borrowing from the [[proz]], which follow it as a policy. Much ink was shed over the question whether they should be used freely, such counter-arguments being presented as: the reader has the right to know who's writing a piece; new [[fans]] are likely to get mistaken ideas of the size of [[fandom]] (or some sections of it, like the [[Futurians]] who used umpteen penames of the [[Conway]] family); that it hampers [[club]] [[officials]] in determining activity credits; [[ktp]]. But still they come. Some have been deep mysteries, and much speculation preceded their identification; others have seemed to be separate new fans, but turn out to be hoaxes. Something special is the [[house name]], a device of the [[proz]] under which hack-written stuff is tagged with a name belonging to the mag rather'n the author, like "[[Alexander Blade]]" in the [[Ziff Davis]] [[pulps]]. Here, too, we may note that [[fans]] have sometimes used interconnected penames, as [[Lynn Hickman]]'s "[[Plato Jones]]" which provoked [[DAG]] to take the byline "[[Socrates Smith]]" and [[Mary Wilson]], "[[Pancho Picasso]]". 
}}

{{fancy1|text=
To give variety where the same writer has several pieces in one issue of a [[fanzine]], or just because he likes the sound of the name, pen names are often used. Much ink has been shed over the question of whether they should be used so freely, it being maintained that the reader has a right to know who's writing a piece, that no [[fans]] are likely to get mistaken ideas of the size of [[fandom]] or some section of it, and that it hampers the [[secretary]] of the [[FAPA]] in determining [[minac|activity]] credentials and the [[Laureate Committee]] in giving honors. But still they come. Certain ones, such as [[Solitaire]], [[Azygous]], [[Star-Treader]], [[the Professor]], and the [[S-f-cynic|S-F Cynic]], have been made deep mysteries, and much speculation preceded their identification. Others have seemed to be separate new fans but turned out to be [[hoaxes]]. The penames whose identity is not concealed are a mutation of the [[fan]]'s name, and entirely new name thot up, or descriptive of some characteristic real or imaginary. [[Jack Erman]], [[Lawrence Paschall]], [[Thomas G. Robertson]], [[J. Harry Vincent]], [[Erick Freyor]], and [[Pvt Ack-Ack]] are of the firstype; [[Sears Langell]], [[Braxton Wells]], [[Robert Bahr]], [[Weaver Wright]], [[Allen Zweig]], [[Samuel D. Gottesman]], [[F. Stanislaus Prosody]], [[Roy St John Le Claire]], and [[Conway|the Conways]] are the second; and [[Hoy Ping Pong]], [[Claire Voyant]], [[Erdstelulov]], [[(Himself)]], [[Dr Acula]], [[Vermyn Slinko]], [[Satyricus]], [[Sinn-yk-uhss]], and [[Panurge]] of the third. Many penames are [[nonce-word]]s and not worth compiling. Others may become indistinguishable from [[nicknames]]. 
}}


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