Meaning: Its source is a French expression meaning "The younger Arouet."

Languages: This boy's name is used in literature.

Narrative: The famous 18th-century Enlightenment figure Voltaire fashioned this nom de plume from an anagram of his surname, Arouet, and the letters ''l'' and ''j'' (standing for le jeune, ''the youth,'' in reference to his status as a younger brother). As in classical Latin writings, he changed ''u'' to ''v'' and ''j'' to ''i.''

Voltaire's writings, which attacked abuses by the established powers, kept him in constant trouble. He was the government's unwilling guest in the Bastille on two occasions, and lived much of his adult life avoiding the authorities by traveling, or living just across the Swiss border. The assumption of a pseudonym helped to deflect some of this controversy away from his family, and gave him an air of mystery and romance that served his purposes well.