Can you guys help find me a pen name?

I’m open to all suggestions :slight_smile: I write queer, Y/A fantasy, and I love adding a sense of whimsy to my stories. My real name is Sunay Correa, which I love and it suits me just fine, but I want a pen name which suits my stories better. I want something that is equally fun, unique, and flows nicely. Longer names are appreciated, but I’ll take all suggestions :smiley: Some names I have thought of but have turned down:

  • [name]Soleil[/name] [name]Corrine[/name] (kind of a remix of my name)
  • [name]Shiloh[/name] [name]Saide[/name]
  • [name]Siobhan[/name] Sohler
  • [name]Raven[/name] [name]Blair[/name]
  • [name]Lydia[/name] [name]Lynn[/name]
  • [name]Luella[/name] [name]Sinclair[/name]
  • [name]Vittoria[/name] [name]Worth[/name]
    If you could please help, it would mean the world to me :stuck_out_tongue:

None of those names scream ‘teen queer fantasy’ to me (which is surely a bit of a niche market?)

Lyyki L’Ambouselli
Panagiota [name]Pax[/name]
Phryne Frobisher
[name]Arcadie[/name] [name]Lars[/name]
[name]Maxie[/name] Montmorency

[name]Pen[/name] names are always really fun to play around with! Here are a few ideas based off the ones you’ve cut:
[name]Violet[/name] [name]Sparrow[/name]
[name]Nora[/name] [name]Flint[/name]
[name]Stella[/name] [name]Rafferty[/name]
[name]Aisha[/name] Blewett
Freema Arlotte
[name]Catalina[/name] [name]Blythe[/name]
[name]Maura[/name] Muskett
[name]Marlena[/name] [name]Perry[/name]
[name]Ivy[/name] Hotchkiss
[name]Sharona[/name] Peat
[name]Esmerelda[/name] Kitts
[name]Evelyn[/name] Thrush
[name]Cara[/name] Tamblin
[name]Scarlett[/name] Beauclerk

I don’t know if any of those things are similar to what you’re looking for, but I hope that helps!

Have you thought about using names that have meaning to you? Like a variation on a street you grew up on, your middle name, your mother’s maiden name, a place that you used to go on holiday as a child, your old school, a pet? I think pen names should reflect you somehow. I came up with a pen name which I was all ready to use based on two of the above until I discovered it was far too close to a pretty well-known song by a pretty well-known band. Huh.

Using Sunay Correa, what I’d do personally is:

  • Swap your names around. Correa Sunay.
  • [name]Sun[/name] is close to [name]Son[/name]. [name]Son[/name] is a popular surname ending. Ay-sun is close to [name]Mason[/name], [name]Jason[/name] or [name]Grayson[/name]. What about one of those as a surname?
  • The ending of Correa is close to the girls’ name [name]Ria[/name] or [name]Rhea[/name], which can be extended to [name]Rhian[/name], [name]Rhiannon[/name] or [name]Rhianna[/name] (or variant spellings of). [name]Cor[/name]- can give you [name]Corrie[/name], [name]Corrine[/name], [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Cornelia[/name], [name]Corby[/name]. You could even take [name]Corby[/name] as a surname if you wanted to.

So that would give you something like Rhiannon Corby or Cordelia Mason. Of course, you could add the name of a road in - Buckworth Street would give you Buck, Buckley, Buckingham, Worthy, Worthington as surname options. George Washington High School could give you Georgia, Georgina, Georgiana, Georgie, Ash(er, ley), Toni (Antonia?) as first name options. Just play around with names and something will click.

I feel like you should use [name]Sunday[/name] in there somewhere since it’s so close to your first name.

[name]Sunday[/name] [name]Corrine[/name]
[name]Cynthia[/name] [name]Sunday[/name]
[name]Sunday[/name] [name]Sinclair[/name]
[name]Sunday[/name] [name]Brynn[/name]

I also like the word/name [name]Reverie[/name]:
[name]Reverie[/name] [name]Lynn[/name]
[name]Reverie[/name] [name]Blair[/name]
[name]Reverie[/name] Sohler
[name]Lynn[/name] [name]Reverie[/name]
[name]Brynn[/name] [name]Reverie[/name]
[name]Reverie[/name] [name]Brynn[/name]

Other ideas:
[name]Brynn[/name] Sohler
[name]Brynn[/name] [name]Winter[/name]
[name]Winter[/name] [name]Brynn[/name]
[name]Winter[/name] Sohler (Reminds me of [name]Winter[/name] solstice)

I think you should use inspiration from your birthday/zodiac signs.
What’s your birthday? What time of the day were you born? What’s your sign? What are you gemstones?
What kind of animal do you identify with most? Are you into [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]? If so, take a patronus test and see what animal would be yours.

Work from there for new ideas. :slight_smile:

Thanks so much you guys! :smiley: all these suggestions were stellar and exactly what I was looking for. When I was reading your suggestions, I was inspired, and this is what I came up with: [name]Pandora[/name] [name]Renee[/name], which I like :stuck_out_tongue: thanks again!

[name]Pandora[/name] is a great first name (it’s got that sly sexual connotation via [name]Pandora[/name]'s Box) but I wouldn’t use [name]Renee[/name] as a last name.

What about [name]Andromeda[/name] Correa?

The thing I find with pen names (and I’ve had many of them) is that in order for them to stick, they have to be similar to your name- at least they did with me. When I was little, I was certain I was going to be [name]River[/name] [name]Ann[/name] Wyllow. But it never stuck because my family and friends couldn’t tell it was me. I ended up using my real first name, [name]Michaila[/name], and my little brother’s middle name, [name]Curtis[/name], as a last name instead of my real last name. (my little brother died two days after he was born, so it’s an honor name). People know it’s me because they recognize my first name, but I’m still using a pen name. I’d at least keep one of your names- maybe do Middlename Correa or Sunay Middlename or something like that.