If Victorians Surfed the Web: 50 Pseudonyms from the 1880s

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

1. A Nihilist
2. A Mother’s Son
3. A Redruthian
4. A Socialist
5. Spear Maiden
6. Vis Inertiæ
7. Yak
8. A Marlborough Boy
9. Sea Breeze
10. Simple Susan
11. Money Spinner
12. Galanthus Nivalis Major
13. Bog-Oak
14. Bradshaw of the Future
15. Alphabetical Phantom
16. Dinah Mite
17. H.M.S. Pinafore
18. Old Cat
19. Rags and Tatters
20. Mad Hatter
21. Scrutator
22. The Red Queen
23. Cheeky Bob
24. Bo-Peep
25. Financier
26. Sea-Gull
27. Thistledown
28. Cheshire Cat
29. Waiting for the Train
30. Common Sense
31. Veritas
32. A Ready Reckoner
33. Three-Fifths Asleep
34. Dublin Boy
35. Yahoo
36. Duckwing
37. Euroclydon
38. Land Lubber
39. Polichinelle
40. Old Hen
41. Mrs. Sairey Gamp
42. An Ancient Fish
43. Froggy
44. Turtle Pyate (Lewis: “what is a Turtle Pyate, please?”)
45. Old Crow
46. The Shetland Snark
47. A Christmas Carol
48. Old King Cole
49. Theseus
50. An Old Fogey