If you are reading this, I hope you are thinking of starting your journey into the wonderful and ridiculous world of pinup and vintage. If you’ve decided to become a pinup, there’s definitely an exciting world ahead of you as well as many challenges. If you’re at the beginning of such a journey, it’s time to set your foundations and figure out who you are as a pinup. One of the things you may be thinking about is what name to bestow upon yourself. Most pinups have a pinup persona name which separates them from who they are in the juggle world. Sometimes it’s for safety or personal reasons, or it could be for those interested in making pinup a business venture. Whatever your reason, choosing your pinup name is a very exciting time and part of your journey but how do you decide on a name?

Your pinup personal can be an over exaggeration of your true personality or someone completely different altogether; it’s a little like having two versions of yourself. Deciding on a name can be a little daunting (this pressure is what I imagine it feels like to name a kid, I mean, all my pets have had weird names). Your pinup name should reflect who you are; if you want to ooze glamour and opulence, many turn to the French language. If you are a bit more down to Earth, you can start looking at flowers as possible places to find a name.

If you do plan on using another language in your pinup name, make sure that you are using the word correctly. Many languages, such as French, have masculine and feminine pronouns which alter the meaning of the word and therefore may sound strange in your name. Also check that you have spelt your name correctly or else it could just be awkward.

As you continue down your pinup journey, you will definitely change your style. I’ve seen dozens of baby pinups a month or two into their journey try to convince me that they have found their signature hairstyle or dress style only to change it a few months down the track. We all evolve and grow and no pinup flies out the gate perfectly polished. If you’re the kind of person who changes their physical appearance a lot, try to avoid a name that describes your appearance. Some pinups use a specific hair colour in their name when they first start pinup but there’s a high chance you’ll want to eventually change your hair colour and your name may not suit anymore.

Start by brainstorming names and words that you connect with. They can be variations of colours (I find red is a very common pinup name such as Ruby, Scarlet and Rouge), flowers (most common being Rose, Lilly and Violet), objects (such as Diamond, Lipstick and Blush) and adjectives (such as Glamour, Vintage, Pocket Rocket, Lady). It’s good to have some sort of connection to the words you are finding; your name should be a reflection of you, your personality and your style.

If you happen to have a cute nickname already, it might be worth playing with that when finding your pinup name. This is the category I fell into, I have been called MonMon for many years so I just turned it into my pinup name by popping the “Miss” onto the front and thats it. I didn’t want my pinup self to be very separated from who I am normally so by using my nickname, it felt right and I’ve stuck with it ever since.

If you have a deep connection to your cultural background, see if you can tie that into your pinup name. By finding certain words that translate into something pinup related (eg. lipstick, beauty, glamour, vintage etc) it’s a great starting point when finding your name. You can also use words which have cultural significance to you such as certain flowers, specific foods, and art. You can also just use a countries name or the entire culture in your pinup name too eg. The Dutch Pinup.

Many pinups pull influence from vintage celebrities and characters. Finding your pinup name is a great way of maying homage to a figure from history or your favourite characters. Many pinups find their name using a combination of vintage celebrities or characters. Start by listing your favourite vintage celebrities (male or female because you can always use a male surname e.g. Gable, Bogart), and your favourite characters from film, tv or books. Pull different first and surnames to see if you land on a combination you really like. You can also look at what kind of personal you like to see what celebrity name you can play with.

When it comes to adding a title to your name, it’s completely up to you. You don’t need a title but the most common ones include Miss and Lady. Personally, if I had to change my name now, I wouldn’t bother with the Miss part but I suppose with my pinup name just being my nickname, it makes it just a little bit more ‘pinup’. You may also want to put a surname prefix in your pinup name. Sometimes a surname prefix can tie your name together and give you that perfect name that rolls off the tongue. The most common I see are Von, Van, La and de which can really work (e.g. Dita Von Teese etc).

If this is still really daunting for you, there are a couple of Pinup Name Generators online which generate a name for you (I did this one and got Siona Von Dame). Although they don’t really make your name overly personal, it’s a great place to start. If many years down the track, you decide you absolutely hate your pinup name, you can change it. It can be a dificult process, depending on how big of a pinup you’ve become but it’s certainly doable and has been done many times before.

Your pinup name should fit you like a glove so feel free to try on as many as you feel you need. Talk to friends, family and other pinups if you have multiple options to see what they vibe for you and why. Try saying your name outlaid to see if you like how it sounds and even write it down to see if you like the way it looks. There’s also a pinup registry which will help you see if your pinup name is already taken. It may also be worth Googling your pinup name to see if you find it in use elsewhere perhaps in a different industry (such as Burlesque, Roller Derby and Pornography).

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.