Pen Name

Pen Name:

A pen name (also spelled penname or pen-name) is a pseudonym used by an author or writer to conceal an identity. A pen name is called nom de plume or nom de guerre.*

*Nom de plume is literally translated from the French words as ‘name of feather’ while nom de guerre as ‘name of war.’

What is my real name?

First, my ‘real’ name is unique. The pronunciation itself is best said by those with a Romantic tongue, which in Spanish would mean ’faith’ (fe) and ‘pretty’ (linda). Or for those who know the basic hiragana of the Japanese language, the pronounciation would be: fu - ri - no - da, which appears as my epitaph located on the top in the header below my blog name.

The spelling of my first name has been derived taking the first letter of mother’s first name and creating a new one based on a popular version. Similarly, the son(s) take up after their father’s namesake. This is somewhat typical of Filipinos for reasons I do not understand and may be for convenience sake for those with larger families.

This brings me to my last name feeling ethnic in some way. People would assume I belong to any one group, namely Hispanic or Latinos, based on the appearance of my name, which contains the double letters of ‘L’. And this by itself gives the false assumption that I may be related to their ethnicity in any way possible.

I may be genetically predisposed to exhibit traits of mixed ancestry as a Filipino (Chinese, Spanish, or even South Asian Indian) but my physical appearance of looking more ‘Asian’ betrays my mostly unrecorded origins beyond my great-grandparents. I still have a hard time accepting who I am on the inside and what I’ve become on the outside simply because of my name.

How did I choose my pen name?

Below are three primary reasons as to how my brilliant mind came up with my first pen name.

1. Noun: My nickname is Flynn and is sometimes used by family and friends. I have modified this nickname used by my relatives and my full name for those who prefer to address me in that manner. Flynn is Celtic/Gaelic in origin. Someday I may dye my hair red but certainly not change my current gender as the meaning of the name implies.
2. Adjective: My blogs seem fluffy and the word means similar to fuzzy. My blogs may seem sarcastic at times, cynical as described by another forum blogger and loaded with dark themes of anger and hate. My imagery of the word fluffy, however, is the heartwarming feelings associated with cozy comforters, champion cats and cumulous clouds. I too am fuzzy all over but that is another topic to discuss. And you will notice a bit of humor whenever possible. Here is a sample of my funny side, if you care to read and understand my point.
3. Preposition: I needed to connect both the Adjective (Fluffy) and the Noun (Flynn). I came up with the words ‘of’ and ‘from’ as possible choices but those didn’t fit the creative aspect of my pen name. So I happen to love the picture of a fleur-de-lis or sometimes spelled fleur-de-lys, which if translated from French means ‘flower-of-read’ or ‘flower-of-lily,’ respectively. I tried ‘de’ but found that too short and came across the Germanic or Austrian version via ‘von’ and then ‘von de’ as my final choice.

So around 14-May-2007, I have created my pen name for former and newer blogs, going forward. And with five being the perfect number for me, the five syllables fit well with Fluffy von der Flynn.

Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.