40 Authors: Pen Names and Real Names

Here's a list of 40 renowned authors along with their pen names and real names:

Classic Literature

Pen Name Real Name
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens
George Eliot Mary Ann Evans
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair
O. Henry William Sydney Porter
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet
Benjamin Franklin Silence Dogood, Anthony Afterwit, Poor Richard

Modern and Contemporary Literature

Pen Name Real Name
J.K. Rowling Joanne Kathleen Rowling
Stephen King Richard Bachman
Robert Galbraith J.K. Rowling
Sophie Kinsella Madeleine Wickham
Elena Ferrante Unknown
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel
Anne Rice Howard Allen Frances O'Brien
Samuel Beckett Anthony Burgess
George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin
C.S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis
P.G. Wodehouse Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Agatha Christie Mary Agatha Miller

Other Notable Authors

Pen Name Real Name
Andre Norton Alice Mary Norton
Stan Lee Stanley Martin Lieber
Bell Hooks Gloria Jean Watkins
Mo Yan Guan Moye
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee
Truman Capote Truman Streckfus Persons
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley
Jack London John Griffith London
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner
James Joyce James Augustine Joyce
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Stephen
D.H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence
Joseph Conrad Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski
Henry James Henry James Jr.
Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Jones
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