In the spirit of the last post, I rediscovered another gem from long ago which I’d always intended to blog about: Victorian pseudonyms!

Back in 1880–1885, Lewis Carroll—author of the Alice books and real-life mathematician—wrote a series of math story problems for magazine readers to try to solve. Some participants mailed their answers to him using their real names or initials, but others were more creative. After giving them a chance to solve each puzzle, Carroll published the correct answer, calling out certain lucky (or unlucky) individuals by their pseudonyms. The collection of stories and solutions was later published under the title A Tangled Tale.
Below, in order of appearance, are some of the names readers chose for themselves. You can just picture them wielding those usernames on blogs or forums today… Bonus points if you can identify which ones come from classic stories!
Victorian Pseudonyms
- A Nihilist
- A Mother’s Son
- A Redruthian
- A Socialist
- Spear Maiden
- Vis Inertiæ
- Yak
- A Marlborough Boy
- Sea Breeze
- Simple Susan
- Money Spinner
- Galanthus Nivalis Major
- Bog-Oak
- Bradshaw of the Future
- Alphabetical Phantom
- Dinah Mite
- H.M.S. Pinafore
- Old Cat
- Rags and Tatters
- Mad Hatter
- Scrutator
- The Red Queen
- Cheeky Bob
- Bo-Peep
- Financier
- Sea-Gull
- Thistledown
- Cheshire Cat
- Waiting for the Train
- Common Sense
- Veritas
- A Ready Reckoner
- Three-Fifths Asleep
- Dublin Boy
- Yahoo
- Duckwing
- Euroclydon
- Land Lubber
- Polichinelle
- Old Hen
- Mrs. Sairey Gamp
- An Ancient Fish
- Froggy
- Turtle Pyate (Lewis: “what is a Turtle Pyate, please?”)
- Old Crow
- The Shetland Snark
- A Christmas Carol
- Old King Cole
- Theseus
- An Old Fogey
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