Anthroponymy C‑class High‑importance

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According to the article Kunya, only Abu Ammar is a nom de guerre as opposed to an honorific. Abu Mazen refers to a son. I am unable to ascertain whether Abu Alaa refers to a son, so I shall leave it for the moment - the Palestinian National Authority website is down at the moment due to the Israeli 'incursion'. Oh, and only the "Che" part of Che Guevara is a nickname. Supersheep 14:30, 19 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"Abu <name> is a common kunya (honorific) for males in Arab cultures. It is translated to "Father of <name>." This is considered a measure of respect. From the kunya article: "Use of the kunya normally signifies some closeness between the speaker and the person so addressed, but is more polite than use of the first name." It is common for Israelis, for instance, to call Mahmoud Abbas by his given name, rather than by the kunya "Abu Mazzen." It is preferable to remove references to the kunya in the Nom de guerre section and place them instead in their own separate section, or simply move them to the kunya article. While it is true that in some cases these can be considered a nom de guerre(as with Yasser Arrafat, who has no son), it is also worth noting that this is a distinct practice in the Arab world, and the two terms are not synonymous.

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The French were great at pseudonyms. In many small towns in Quebec, and possibly other French areas, as well, people had the same identical first and last name because they were related or just because they had popular names. So they were given "dit" names or nicknames to distinguish them from the other holders of the same name. These frequently became surnames when they seemed to sound better to the recipient. Drives genealogists wild!Student7 00:46, 31 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I recall reading about conscripts in Sweden being assigned nom de guerres in the period before the reform on last names. They were assigned new last names when they didn't have one or had one that was deemed unfit, and the new last names were short words that were of a "warlike" and positive nature, such as Stål (steel), Kvick (quick) and Svärd (sword). This is all I know on the subject though, and I can't remember where I got it from. Does anyone know anything else about this?

Also, - and this is pure speculation on my part - could old officer's names like Stålhandske (steel gauntlet) have any connection with this practice? --82.182.132.58 22:45, 30 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Those "noms de guerre in Sweden" are called "soldier names" (sv:Soldatnamn#Sverige). They were assigned by the company commander to conscripts to avoid the problem of duplicate names as the variation in first names was low and as a consequence the most common sort of last name, the patronym would also have a high risk of duplicates. Initially those noms de guerre were not inherited, as last names in general weren't outside the nobility and later the bourgeoisie, until much later but now they are a major source of "traditional Swedish" family names, even in cases where not as obvious, such as when the commander named a conscript after the place they was from, so a conscript from a house known under the name "spinnaregården" for Spinning (textiles)-yard could become named "Spinnars", "Spinnare", etc. Some names that may to some "sound" like "old officer's names" are likely still just variations on the soldier name unless the founder of the name was made nobility. 94.234.38.136 (talk) 17:07, 23 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That's interesting to me: my Swedish ancestor was Ole Månsson until, in the army, he adopted a surname that replaced –by in his home town's name with –kvist. —Tamfang (talk) 04:37, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As there are a number of people who used several pseudonyms, pen names and other variants should there be a list? (Eleanor Hibbert and David Bowie are probably two of the best known: and perhaps a few of those who are known to have used 100 plus alternative names.) 22:29, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Now and then I read of someone known primarily for writing in pulp magazines that he is known to have used [list of a couple of dozen pseudonyms] and probably others. Sometimes that was to disguise writing two stories in the same issue. Likely it was sometimes done to keep editors unaware of how many of them the writer was working for. —Tamfang (talk) 05:29, 28 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The section of pen names was confusing. The best-written part - before I messed around with it - described European lady writers using male names to get published in the 18th or 19th centuries. The worst part was using Mark Twain and Lewis Carroll as examples of things that they didn't really exemplify.

Dodgson wanted to separate his literary life from his real life as a college professor and did not like to be addressed as Lewis Carroll - particularly on fan mail. Clemens was quite the opposite, enjoying his fame as Mark Twain. --Uncle Ed (talk) 12:33, 15 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Oh yeah, I think it's also cutious how people mystify their presence.@Jeylime 31.29.195.109 (talk) 04:58, 21 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

How about Franklin W. Dixon, the pen name used by a variety of different authors (Leslie McFarlane, a Canadian author, being the first)? We might mention whether the different authors chose this pen name spontaneously, or it was an idea that came from the publisher. --Uncle Ed (talk) 14:20, 22 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds nice. Plus I like the reference in the title. 31.29.195.109 (talk) 04:57, 21 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]