Derivative Forms of Names

Abstract

It is not uncommon for a person to be known by a name other than their primary, official name. Some of these other names may be alternate forms or derivatives of the officially registered name. Others may be completely different, with no connection at all to the official name. Such alias names may be used for many different reasons. Criminals may seek alternate identities to escape detection, entertainers may choose to perform under a stage name and writers may allow themselves the freedom afforded by a pseudonym. In these cases, there is no predictable connection between an individual’s official name and the alternate name they have chosen for themselves. Eric Arthur Blair, for example, is more widely known as the writer George Orwell, and many readers are unaware that the classics created by George Eliot are, in fact, the work of Mary Anne Evans.