A bardic name is a pseudonym, used in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement.

The Welsh term bardd ("poet", which is the source of the English word bard) originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who might be itinerant or attached to a noble household. Some of these medieval poets were known by a pseudonym, for example Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr ("Cynddelw the Master Poet",fl.1155 - 1200) and Iolo Goch ("Iolo the Red", c.1320 - c.1398). The practice seems to have very ancient antecedents, witness the names of the presumably 6th century poets Talhaearn Tad Awen, Blwchfardd and Culfardd, mentioned by the Welsh historian Nennius alongside Taliesin and Aneirin, the latter referred to as Aneurin Gwenithwawd.

However, the use of so-called bardic names became something of a conceit following the re-invention of medieval tradition by Iolo Morganwg in the eighteenth century. The usage has also extended to Breton and Cornish poetry. In Cornwall, some of the pioneers of the Cornish language movement are generally referred to by their bardic names, e.g. 'Mordon' for Robert Morton Nance, or 'Talek' for E.G. Retallack Hooper.

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch ( /ˌkwɪlərˈkuːtʃ/; 21 November 1863 – 12 May 1944) was a British writer, who published under the pen name of Q. He is primarily remembered for the monumental Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900 (later extended to 1918), and for his literary criticism. He guided the taste of many who never met him, including American writer Helene Hanff, author of 84, Charing Cross Road and its sequel, Q's Legacy; and the fictional Horace Rumpole via John Mortimer, his literary amanuensis.

Quiller-Couch was born at Bodmin in Cornwall to the union of two ancient local families, the Quiller family and the Couch family, and was the third in line of intellectuals from the Couch family. His younger sisters Florence Mabel and Lilian M. were also writers and folklorists. His father, Dr. Thomas Quiller Couch (d. 1884), was a noted physician, folklorist and historian. His grandfather, Jonathan Couch, was an eminent naturalist, also a physician, historian, classicist, apothecary, and illustrator (particularly of fish) in the style of the time. His son, Bevil Brian Quiller-Couch, was a war hero and poet, whose romantic letters to his fiancée, the poet May Wedderburn Cannan, were published in Tears of War. He also had a daughter, Foy Felicia, to whom Kenneth Grahame inscribed a first edition of his The Wind in the Willows attributing Quiller-Couch as the inspiration for the character Ratty, auctioned by Bonhams on Tuesday 23 March 2010 for £32,400.

The Man in the Iron Mask (French: L'Homme au Masque de Fer) is a name given to a prisoner arrested as Eustache Dauger in 1669 or 1670, and held in a number of jails, including the Bastille and the Fortress of Pignerol (today Pinerolo). He was held in the custody of the same jailer, Bénigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars, for a period of 34 years. He died on 19 November 1703 under the name of Marchioly, during the reign of Louis XIV of France, 1643–1715. The possible identity of this man has been thoroughly discussed and has been the subject of many books, because no one ever saw his face, which was hidden by a mask of black velvet cloth.

In the second edition of his Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (French for "Questions on the Encyclopedia"), published in 1771, the writer and philosopher Voltaire claimed that the prisoner wore an iron mask and was the older, illegitimate brother of Louis XIV. In the late 1840s, the writer Alexandre Dumas elaborated on the theme in the final installment of his Three Musketeers saga: here the prisoner is forced to wear an iron mask and is Louis XIV's twin brother.