Pen Name Generator

How pen names are chosen

Authors use pen names to separate genres, to keep a day job private, to start over after a book that did not sell, or because their own name is hard to spell or already taken. A good pen name is easy to say, easy to spell and right for the shelf. Romance leans on soft, warm names, thrillers on short and hard ones, fantasy on an older or unusual sound, literary fiction on plain and serious names, and children's books on friendly ones. Initials are a common choice because they suit any reader and look good on a small cover.

Making a pen name last

Check that the name is free before you commit. Search the large bookshops, library catalogues and social media, and look for a matching web address. Say the name aloud, spell it for someone and see how it sits on a thumbnail cover. Then use it everywhere in the same form, on covers, author pages and email, because readers who like one book look for the next by name. If you write in more than one genre, give each name its own style so the shelf shows what is inside. Publishing under a pen name is common, but your tax and payment details still use your legal name.

Twenty example pen names

• Eleanor Hartwell a warm romance name that looks right on a pastel cover.
• Tessa Marlowe light and memorable for a contemporary love story.
• Camille Fontaine suggests a story set in a sunlit European town.
• Jack Brennan short, hard and easy to say for a legal thriller.
• JD Harlow initials keep the author's identity open and look clean.
• Kate Reeve a crisp name for a detective series.
• Dylan Cross plain enough to be trusted, sharp enough to sell.
• Elowen Ashdown a soft, old sound that suits a quest fantasy.
• Caspian Blackthorn a name for an epic with a dark forest in it.
• Wren Larkspur a gentle pen name for a cosy fantasy.
• RM Sandford two initials give an epic fantasy extra weight.
• Margaret Ashby a quiet name for a family novel about inheritance.
• Julian Gilmore a literary name that sounds like a prize shortlist.
• Harriet Calder a restrained name for historical fiction.
• Penny Applegate friendly and round, ideal for a picture book.
• Barnaby Hazelwood sounds like a storyteller in a woolly jumper.
• Milly Thistlewood a cheerful name for a series about a village.
• Claire M Hollis a middle initial makes a common name feel unique.
• Nathaniel Pryor a serious name for a novel about the sea.
• Rory Sawyer works for a thriller or an adventure for older children.

Matching a pen name to a genre

Readers judge a book by its cover in a second, and the name is part of the cover. A romance author named Gideon Steel would raise a question; a thriller author named Poppy Applegate would raise a bigger one, unless that is the joke. The genre filter picks first names and surnames that suit the shelf, so the name supports the book rather than arguing with it.

If you write across genres, give each name a different style and consider a different first letter. That makes it easy for readers to find the right book, and it keeps the two catalogues from confusing each other in a search.

Initials, gender and cover design

Initials are popular in thriller and fantasy because they hide the author's gender and keep the name short on the cover. They are written here without full stops, which is the usual style on covers. Two initials and a short surname read as a brand, while a middle initial after a common first name makes it easier to search for.

Whatever you choose, test the name at thumbnail size and in a bookshop search. A name that is easy to read at 100 pixels wide and easy to type from memory will always do more work for you than a clever one.