Robert Galbraith
1965
Robert Galbraith is the pen name for J.K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling). Rowling states that she chose Robert Galbraith since it was one of her favorite male names, because her hero is Robert F. Kennedy, and because she hadn’t used the name for a character in any of her many novels (most notably, Harry Potter). The last name derives from her desire to be called Ella Galbraith as a child even though she has no memories of meeting anyone with the name Galbraith. However, she remained fascinated with the name. She held this fascination so much that she considered calling herself L.A. Galbraith when writing the Strike Series, but she refrained from doing so since the obvious initials hinted at her writing it. Rowling even questioned using the pen name for The Cuckoo’s Calling when stumbling upon a popular economist named J.K. Galbraith. The same initials made her quite nervous that people would figure out her real identity, but, thankfully, no one researched into the name too much.