• 2005-08-03
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I’ve played around with anagrams of my name before, and even had “A Chisel Writing” in the tagline for a while.

But now Jean Véronis takes the name-anagram fun one step further with his pen-name generator. (Yes, in French, but you won’t have any problems figuring out how to work it.)

Unlike the previous anagrams, these don’t need to be composed of words that have meaning. Instead, they ought to sound well as first and last names.

For me, the results have a satisfyingly Germanic or Slavic consonance — the first is what my real ethnic origins are, the second what I’m rather often taken for. The only thing that is less than ideal is that the first names too often sound male. Or maybe that’s just for me.

So … what’s the future nom de blog going to be? Walsh IRGIC? (Can I add diacritics?) Wira GHLISC? Lach WIGRIS?

Or slightly longer… Heilwig CATRINS? Leigha WISCRINT? (I like the second one.)

But nothing beats the full-length version: Gilchrist WANNE-ZIARASKIF.


Anagram poetry has taken hold. Here are three attempts, and several more are in the works.

Each poem is dedicated to an online or offline friend. Should you recognize yourself, you can keep yours.

ah bland honey jar

ann had herbal joy
rehab only had jan
oh jan, bleary hand!

handy banjo haler
heal nonhardy jab

posh hebetation

hip banshee toot
bathes hope into
this beaten hoop

bitnet op has hoe
hits at neophobe
toshiba potheen
beneath hips, too

seine bath photo
sabot pointe, heh!

galante longueur

ego glanant lueur
lorgnera geulant
étrangla gnou élu
alléguera tong nu
un langage loutre

glanage tue luron
nul lagunage rote