Remember in 1983 when Gerrie (pronounced the same as Gerhi) Coetzee defeated Michael Dokes to become South Africa’s first (and last)undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion? If I remember correctly, it was in Akron, Ohio. The American commentator pronounced Gerrie’s names as “Jerry Goatzie”, but what the hay? I didn’t care how he pronounced it.

I vote for Gerhi van Vuuren and I don’t think it matters a pair of dingo kidneys how it is pronounced.

here’s a couple:
1. Gerhard Jans
2. Gary Van Vuuren

Too bad you don’t have a maiden name to fall back on…

Camille Cannon (Eide)

So, on to the matter at hand:
- Keeping a link to your Dutch heritage is important, this practically rules out using initials.
- It has to be something most people (not all, you’ll never get them all) to pronounce your name somewhat correctly. This does not have to be something everyone can figure out just by reading your name. Plenty of famous authors or actors have names people mispronounce, until you get to set them straight. Then all of a sudden, everyone does it right. For example, I know how to pronounce Van Vuuren, but I’m pretty sure most of the other blog readers will pronounce it Van Vooren. This is not such a big deal I think. Once you start setting people straight, it will catch on. So I would definitely keep Van Vuuren. Furthermore, I think it’s an awesome name and has a very good Best-selling-author ring to it. It’s also an easy name to remember and not that common, which is excellent for you!
- Now for the first name: You’re right about thinking Gerhi will cause plenty of confusion. Now only will it get totally massacred upon pronounciation, but it also puts out some inaccurate clue as to what gender you are. A change is definitely needed here. I’m personally a big fan of one of your first names, Benjamin. It has class and you could shorten it to Ben whenever you want. Janse is also a cool name I think and I think people wouldn’t have that much trouble in pronouncing that, though it doesn’t solve the gender-prejudice thing that much as it could be a name used for both sexes.

So my vote ultimately goes to:
Benjamin (Ben) Van Vuuren

Good luck deciding which name to choose. I know it must be a tough decision.

You have an amazing name, each with great resonance and history. It is a shame that ‘we Americans’ sometimes lack the cultural awareness to handle such a name.

My suggestions are:
G.P. Vuuren
Benjamin Janse
or Benjamin Vuuren

I know both of those seem like a butchering of your name, but they both have a strong air about them.

Best of Luck.

1. Gerhance Vuren
2. Greg Jance
3. G. van Vuuren

Those are my best suggestions. I like and dislike the idea of keeping your real name. I like because it’s you; that’s how you’re identified. I dislike because you won’t have as much privacy once your real name is famous. If you’re famous and people see your picture and learn your name, some will probably come talk to you when you’re out, but they won’t be able to meet you as a person, but as an author. That’s why I would use a different name, so that when you meet people, you can tell them your real name and then you can tell them about your writing life in your own time.

Western society is very multicultural. Many of the children my daughters go to school with have really different sounding names. Everyday we come across names we cannot pronounce.

Remember Jacob, the deceiver? He lied to his father,Isaac, about who he was. He said he was his brother, Esau, to get his brother’s blessing. Later, when Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord and wouldn’t let go until he received a blessing, he was asked, “What is your name?” He had to set the record straight and give his real name.

Go with your real name and spelling and I believe you will receive a blessing too.

Also, if you provide a picture for the back cover of your books, people will know right away that you are male. It will be an interesting surprise for those who thought otherwise.

People shorten my first name to Deb all the time and I don’t like it. All I can do is correct them.

My last name is Norwegian and people say it wrong and spell it wrong all the time too. It’s humourous. Choose to see the funny side and laugh at the innocent mistakes others make in pronouncing your name. Have fun writing and publishing as you.

Have you thought of just using your first name only? I am not sure if that is allowed in writing.

I like the fact of using just your first initials and last name only, it keeps people in suspense.

I vote for door number 3 in Randy’s post.

OK, thinking American and future fame, as well as a name that the buying public might be interested in, how about J. V. Vuuren? People will ask you what your first name is, thinking the J. You can then correctly say your first name and then your whole name. Easy to sign at book signings. Your whole name would be in the book when they write about the author. There are Van Vuuren authors (I checked Amazon) but no just Vuuren–so would come up easier on search engines.
-Blessings

If I knew you were going to do this I would have given more details. For example Vuuren is not so difficult to pronounce. It is like van Buren, just replace the B with a V.

‘van’ means from and Vuuren is an old district in Belgium. Variant spellings are Vuren and Feuren. It means river.

I am not choosing yet in case there are more comments or updates. But variations with Benjamin as first name is out. I named my oldest Benjamin and I’m not going to steal his thunder.

Note: I normally access the blog from work and I have used my wife’s website domain so far. I’m of sick at home and I’m using my own domain so this might get stuck in moderation for a while, depending on how Randy had set his comment system up.

As to using initials in place of your names, as already mentioned, this lends an air of mystery and also shortens the name–better for book covers and PR material, plus for signings. I would include all your initials–that would be unique. G.P.B.J. van Vuuren. Using more than two initials didn’t hurt Tolkien. It’s the last name that’s most important. By using initials, you still have your identity. Then, if people come to know you by your first name, it doesn’t change who you are, and it makes them feel important to know you more intimately. I think this would have a psychological advantage.

Best of Luck

1. It’s your real name.
2. It’s different. If I were to go to a book store after hearing someone tell me about your book(s)and I couldn’t pronounce it right, I would remember that it’s a ‘different’ name and would know it when I spot it. I do that with several authors I hear of: finding a unique way to remember the name.
3. I wouldn’t worry about its being pronounced right as it’s your writing that will sell the book. The pronunciation will come.
4. Gerhardus or Gerhard would identify as you a male without having to look you up.
5. I don’t think I would worry as much about stalkers any more than I do just having a presence online. If someone is determined to stalk you, they’ll find you no matter what. People stalked the famous long before the internet came around.
6. If someone wants to look up your website, they’ll find you. If I know the book title, I search under it and find the author’s name. Also, the meta data in your web page as well as tags you set into it will come up in search engines. Make sure to add in all the possible spellings into that. My personal websites go under MySpiritProductions because I was into image/web stuff before considering writing as a prominent element in my online life. If I do get a domain name of my real name, which I probably will do, I’ll point it there, but my writing info will also go into meta data for searches.

Gerhardus Janse

It’s both masculine and unique. You Mom would probably be tickled if you go under your given first name rather than the short form (said the mother of children with strange names).

Or, add a more masculine second name:

Gerhi Benjamin Van Vuuren

Oh, and just for interests sake, what is the actual phonetic pronouciation?

My only suggestion would be to shorten your pen name to one first name and one surname, such as “Gerhi van Vuuren.” If you are really concerned about the gender and pronunciation confusion with “Gerhi,” then you could use a different combination, such as “Benjamin van Vuuren” or “Petrus van Vuuren.” Benjamin, as Christophe noted, would be very easy for most people to pronounce, and I don’t think Petrus would be too difficult either. (I personally like “Janse van Vuuren,” but that would be harder for the average American to pronounce.)

By no means, however, should you settle for a name just because it’s easy to pronounce or remember. After all, you will have to live with this name and see it on your book covers and sign it for the rest of your writing career, so it should be a name you will be proud of. Good luck!

Re writers’ conferences, as discussed last week. If you can’t attend, the next best thing is getting recordings of the classes and working through them. Much cheaper too. Many conferences have past years’ offerings available, just as Randy does his excellent courses. And you can listen over and over.

I’d go with “Gerhard van Vuren”. For initials, I’d just do “G.P. van Vuren”.

Go for it!

Why not just use your first name by itself? It is your name, it is ethnic, it is easy to remember, it is noticable, it is close to the beginning of the alphabet for placement on shelves.

When you do interviews, you bring up the whole name. When you do autographs you can sign your real name and make the book more of a collector’s item.

Putting a spin on your name will also give people something to talk about, and that is what advertizement is all about.

Good luck with your choice.

Mary Andrews

My vote is for either of these.

Here are a few short tongue names:

Gertrusben Janse van Vuuren (or Vanren, I suppose)
Getrusben J. van Vuuren
Gerpeben Janse van Vuuren
Getrusben van Vuuren
Getrusben Vuuren

It might be short tongue, but it’s still all you. You could also go with solely your sur name, which is terrific, or your first name stand-alone.

Janse van Vuuren
Gerhardus (love this despite pronunciation)

Or a simple pen name of Van Vuuren which is also nice and pronounceable.

Best wishes with your name choice.

Look at it this way: Your unique name will actually help you in promotion because any time you politely correct the pronunciation of your name, it lodges in people’s minds and lingers where it wouldn’t otherwise with authors sporting an easily pronounced name like Randy Ingermanson.

Garhy van V.

Easy to sign. Easy to remember. Unique. Closely enough related to your real name to work as a pen name. And www.gharyvanv.com is still available.

I’m coming late to the discussion here. Sorry. I kind of like your name. It’s unique, at least here in the States. It means people will likely remember it. However, you are correct in that we English speakers are going to mangle it in lots of interesting ways.

My suggestion is to not change the name, per se, but to alter the spelling a bit so that it becomes more obvious to English speakers how to pronounce it. Since I’m not sure I actually know how to pronounce it, I don’t have a suggestion for what that should be. The advantages of this are that it still sounds like your name. In fact, it really is your name just with some minor spelling alterations. Also, we silly English speakers might actually get it right more often than not.

~Andrew

For me, I chose a last-name pseudonym mainly because my own last name is both un-pronounceable and un-spellable. In that sense I you and I are in the same boat.

So why didn’t I go with something more common than “Treskillard”? It was because even though I wanted a pseudonym, I still wanted something that rang true of my identity and was unique.

So I reached back into my family’s history and took a name from my mother’s ancestors (~1600’s) that was more pronounceable.

The side benefit of this for me is that I am writing a historical fantasy that begins in Cornwall, and this name would be recognizable by anyone from that area as Cornish.

Also, the name is very rare, making it easier for someone to find me on the internet, and I was able to get the domain using just the last name, which makes it shorter.

So … for what it’s worth, you might be able to dig into your family’s past and find a name that is more pronounceable, but that still pleases you and is unique. And if you can tie this into the book you are writing, you may be ahead even more.