OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Alias Generator
Pen Names and Pseudonyms for Authors, Plus Fake Identities for Test Data
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How the Alias / Pseudonym Generator works
This alias generator mixes real naming patterns into new names. Generate a plain-sounding alias, a pen name in the initialled style that authors favour, or a complete fictional identity block with a name, date of birth, street address and occupation for test data, fiction and role-play. Nothing here belongs to a real person or a real street.
Alias generator: choosing a name that fits
A good alias is forgettable. That is the whole design principle behind this page, and it is the opposite of most name generators, which try to make names memorable. Whether you need a pseudonym for a forum, a placeholder persona for software testing, a pen name for a manuscript or a cover identity for a spy character, the name should slide past without catching on anything.
The Alias mode therefore draws on the most ordinary names in the English-speaking world: the first names that have sat in the top hundred for fifty years (James, Sarah, David, Emma, Michael, Laura) and the surnames that are common enough to be unremarkable but not so common that they become a joke. Smith and Jones are left out for exactly that reason; Cooper, Marsh, Bennett and Reid are in.
The Pen name mode produces the forms authors actually use. The initialled name, "J. K. Rowling", "P. D. James", "E. L. James", "N. K. Jemisin", is the classic choice, partly because it hides the author's gender from readers and reviewers and partly because it looks established on a spine. The generator also produces the one-initial-plus-name form ("J. Michael Straczynski", "F. Scott Fitzgerald"), the name-plus-middle-initial form ("George R. R. Martin" without the double), and the hyphenated double surname that romance and literary fiction both favour. The Gender setting controls which first names feed the initials, so the pen name can match or deliberately mask the writer.
The Fake identity block builds a persona in four lines: name, date of birth, address and occupation. Every part is synthetic. The date of birth is a random date that makes the person between 18 and 72 years old, in day/month/year order. The address is a house number between 1 and 199 on a street assembled from a tree, monarch or landmark word and a street type, in a town whose name is built from common English place-name elements. Some of these town names coincidentally exist (there are several Ashfords), but no street list, postcode or real database is consulted, so the output cannot resolve to an actual door. The occupation is an ordinary job from a bank of forty. The whole block is fictional and must not be used to stand in for a real person's identity.
This makes the block suitable for populating test databases, filling in mock forms, writing a spy's cover story or giving a role-playing character a civilian life. It is not suitable, and not designed, for creating an account in a false name where a real identity is required, or for any purpose that would deceive a person or an institution to their detriment. The generator deliberately omits the things a fraudster would need: no national insurance or social security numbers, no card numbers, no email or phone, no real postcodes.
All names, dates and addresses are made in your browser with the system's cryptographic random source and are never sent anywhere. Generate as many as you need; a count of 100 identity blocks is around 400 lines of text.
FAQ
Are the identity blocks based on real people?
No. Every first name, surname, street, town and job is drawn from a fixed list and combined at random. The lists contain nothing but common words and names, no real records are consulted, and no combination is checked against or copied from any database of actual people.
Why are the addresses not real?
The address is assembled from parts, a number, a tree or landmark word, a street type and a synthetic town, so it looks right on a form without pointing at a real building. Real addresses would let the output be mistaken for genuine data or used to impersonate a resident, which is not what the tool is for.
How do I get a pen name that hides my gender?
Choose Pen name and set Gender to Any or to the opposite of your own. The initialled forms such as "J. K. Rowling" show only initials, so the reader has nothing to go on, and the generator will produce those about half the time.
Can I use an alias from here as a real account name?
For usernames, forum handles, pseudonymous writing and any context that allows a chosen name, yes. Do not use an alias where a service or a law requires your real identity, and never use one to impersonate a person or deceive someone into handing over money or data.
What date format is the date of birth?
Day, month, year with slashes, the common British and European order. If you need the American month-first order or an ISO date for a database, swap the first two numbers before use.
See also: all People tools, Fantasy & RPG, Sci-fi, Culture & Language, Online & Social, Business & Brand, Places & Things.
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