Pen Names Quiz

A pen name, or a nom de plume, is a name an author uses instead of his or her real name.  Why use a different name?  An author might want a more interesting or unique name.  An author also might want to hide his or her real identity.  In the past, especially during the 1800's, women writers sometimes used male names or just their initials because it was more difficult for women to get their work published at that time.

Can you match each author's pen name to the correct real name?  The names in red are pen names and the names in green are real names.

Mark Twain 
J. K. Rowling 

Lewis Carroll 

Stan Lee  

Dr. Seuss 

Theodore Geisel
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Joanne Rowling
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Stanley Martin Lieber

Click "Read more" to see if your answers are right!

Mark Twain = Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

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"Mark Twain" was a term used on the Mississippi riverboats where Samuel Clemens worked.

J. K. Rowling = Joanne Rowling

Author of the Harry Potter series

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Rowling's publishers wanted her to use initials instead of her first name because they thought boys would not want to read a book written by a woman. 

Lewis Carroll = Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

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Dodgson came up with his pen name by making a Latin version of his real name (Ludovicus Carolus), then making an English version of the Latin version (Lewis Carroll).

Stan Lee = Stanley Martin Lieber

Writer for Marvel Comics, Co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and other characters

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Stanley Lieber wanted to use his real name for novels and plays, so in 1941 he made up the name Stan Lee for his comics.  

Dr. Seuss = Theodore Geisel

Author and Illustrator of The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who!, and more 

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Seuss was Theodore Geisel's mother's maiden name.  When Geisel wrote a book that someone else illustrated, he used the pen name Theo LeSieg.  LeSieg is Geisel spelled backwards.

What pen name would you use if you were an author?