History Main / SueDonym

* On an adventure in Tokyo, ComicBook/MilesMorales introduced himself to his hostess as "Music/MilesDavis", which isn't a complete lie, as it could have been his name had his family used his father's name instead of [[NomDeMom his mother's]]. Tomoe [[RealityEnsues immediately recognizes it as some old American musician]], and Miles awkwardly backtracks to try and explain himself.

* Creator/StanLee was worried that making a name for himself in comics would hurt his chances of becoming a serious writer, so he split his first name in two; his real name is Stanley Lieber.

* In Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders, Jotaro Kujo signs a guestbook using the name "Qtaro Kujo" in order to pull a bluff using INeverToldYouMyName.

RealNameAsAnAlias takes the same concept to an even greater degree, where there is no distortion of a name, just plainly using part of their real name, possibly all of it. Compare UnpronounceableAlias. For slightly better pseudonyms, try CharacterNameAlias, LineOfSightName, and SdrawkcabAlias. See also LouisCypher, HughMann, StevenUlyssesPerhero and MrSmith.

* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': Drake realises his new girlfriend is the daughter of one of his teachers and quickly says that her name is "E...Liza Jum...Jumbal..aya. Liza Jumbalya!"

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* In ''Film/LeapYear'', when Anna and Declan have to pretend to be married and are asked about their surname, they both blurt out their own surnames (Brady and O'Callaghan, respectively), before finally settling on O'Bradycallaghan.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->'''Joey''': You seem like a swell dude. What's your name, pal?
-->'''Marik''': ''[thinking]'' Crap in a bucket! I didn't plan for this! Think of a fake name, think of a fake name! ''[Speaking]'' Um, my name is uh, um, Mmmmmmmmalik.
-->'''Joey''': Malik, huh? That sounds kinda like Marik, the guy we're trying to defeat in this season.
-->'''Marik''': Yeah, I get that a lot.

* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Coach Z believes himself to be superhero Damp Towel Man, and his mild-mannered alter ego Dan Towelman.
-->'''Strong Sad''': Coach Z, you have a real sucky imagination.
-->'''Coach Z''': That I do, my boy. That I do.
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Zoe Nesmith is codenamed Zenith.

* ''Literature/XWingSeries'': Face is disguised as an enemy bridge crewman and speaking to a planetary official when he turns to address his squadmate Jesmin, who happens to be the niece of the famous Admiral Ackbar. So he starts off with "Ensign Ack-", coughs, and finishes it as "Ackran".

* One of the undercover identities of ''Series/{Automan}'' was the FBI agent Otto Mann.

* In ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', a favorite alias of the Joker is "Joe Kerr". Ingenious! As one might expect, this habit was largely confined to UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, but it still comes up every once in a while as a MythologyGag.

* And in Creator/JackKirby's ''[[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternals]]'', the Eternal Ikaris sometimes used "Ike Harris". Creator/NeilGaiman made sure to revive this when he did his run on Eternals.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/WhoTookTheSuperOutOfSuperman'', villain Xviar's assumed name is "Mr. Xavier".

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' has a dramatic example: David Banner always used his first name and a last name that started with "B". If the name was common enough (David Brown, for example) he would use it multiple times.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', when Leela enlists for the army, she is pushed for a name. Quickly she replies "Lee... la... man. La... man. Lemon! Lee Lemon!".

* In the movie of ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian'', "he's Martian" evolves into "he's my Uncle Martin".

* ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'': Face is disguised as an enemy bridge crewman and speaking to a planetary official when he turns to address his squadmate Jesmin, who happens to be the niece of the famous Admiral Ackbar. So he starts off with "Ensign Ack-", coughs, and finishes it as "Ackran".

* ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' parodies this trope along with everything else in existence - in one episode Excel uses the alias ''Pseudonym Undercover''. On another occasion she actually does use "Sue Donym".

** '''S'''h'''ino''' Asada goes in game by the name of '''Sino'''n.

* In ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'', Steve Rogers, the Star-Spangled Man with the Plan, being the ingenious [[ClarkKenting "Master of Disguise"]] that he is, infiltrated Cable's island Providence as an immigrant with the name ''Roger Stevens''. Not only that, but his idea of hiding his signature blond hair is to wear a ''Brooklyn Dogers'' baseball cap.

* This is how ComicBook/BoosterGold became famous. After saving the President's life, he is asked what his superhero name is by reporters. Instead of using Gold Star like he planned, he started to introduce himself as "Booster" Carter, his nickname from his football days. He tried to correct himself midsentence and that gave the reporters his identity as Booster Gold.

* Contary to what one might think, ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' showed that its star character never read an issue of ''Deadpool'' in her life. (It was too meme-y for her tastes.) It's actually a corruption of her real name, Gwen Poole.

* Shirou goes under the assumed name Shane Rowe in the Fate/Stay Night fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7509812/1/Nails Nails]]. In fact when Rin mispronounces his alias with her Japanese accent he panics and assumes that she knows who he is.

* Partially a LineOfSightName, but in the ''Literature/WarlockOfGramarye'' book ''A Wizard in Absentia'', a very hung over Magnus tries to come up with a pseudonym. He starts out with "Mmma", but quickly realizes it and turns it into a groan. Before he subconsciously sees the E.D.G.A.R. patch on the guard's arm, and gives his name as Ed Gar.

* ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'': Face is disguised as an enemy bridge crewman and speaking to a planetary official, when he turns to address his squadmate Jesmin, who happens to be the niece of the famous Admiral Ackbar. So he starts off with "Ensign Ack-", coughs, and finishes it as "Ackran".

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when Buffy is investigating her mother's new boyfriend, one of his co-workers ask who she is. She says "Bu...Linda. Belinda."

* In an episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim wants to impress Bob Villa, who is guest starring on Tool Time to answer viewer questions. Tim tells Jill to call and ask a difficult question for him to answer, and when he answers the phone, her response is "Hello! This is Jill...een. Uh, uh, Jilleen!"

** Another more straight example is when they enter a TV show to win a house and when a woman ask their names:

* In "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" a first season episode of ''Series/{{Timeless}}'', Lucy introduces herself to Robert Todd Lincoln as "Juliet Shakes...man", a name she derives from a poster on the wall of the Ford Theater. When the time travellers return to the present they discover that there is a school in Ohio named after her alias. There is some fun with better thought out pseudonyms in the next couple of episodes but eventually the characters realise there is no real need for fake names and they can just use their real ones.

* In ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' during Red's quest he attempts to investigate a fighting tournament dressed in his superhero outfit. When asked his name at the sign-up counter he stammers part of his real name a few times, and winds up entered in as "Rerere".

* In ''[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos Trilby's Notes]]'', the ex-GentlemanThief Trilby (whose real name is never given) uses the name Terrance Railby while he's undercover. One character sees through the ruse, and makes fun of him for expecting to not be noticed.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'', Milo and Oscar do this while sneaking in to a girls' slumber party.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Joker's Millions", the impovershed Joker is living in a cheap apartment due to money issues. When heading in, he's addressed at the front desk as a "Mr. Ker" implying he signed his name as "Joe Ker" when renting the place.

* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': In "The Clock Strikes Back," the time travelling grandfather clock from "The Hickory Dickory Dock Dilemma" returns, piloted by a figure claiming to be King Arthur's original wizard. He indetifies as Hooter La Bec Longsnout, "but you may call me Nozzle." When DM introduces himself and Penfold, this line:

* Famed aviator UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart was also a published author, not only of books and magazine articles about her adventures, but also poetry, some of which was written by [[MustacheDePlume "Emil A. Harte".]]

* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner, Coach Z believes himself to be superhero Damp Towel Man, and his mild-mannered alter ego Dan Towelman.

* Used rather literally in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'', with a series of journal entries written by "Sudo Nim" - who turns out to be [[spoiler: the Luminary's adoptive father]].

* In ''VideoGame/SplinterCellPandoraTomorrow'', one of Sam Fisher's friends asks him what agency he works for. He guesses CIA, and Sam responds with "No, staying anonymous", the initials of the NSA, which he works for.