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Samuel L. Clemens started using the pen name "Mark Twain" in 1863 (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:774). Its first known appearance was in a letter published in the ''Virginia City Territorial Enterprise'' on 3 Feb. 1863 (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:774).

The names' nautical origin (literally meaning "two marks" or 12 feet in measuring the depth of a river) were repeatedly explained to the general public in newspaper reports - sometimes in the form of a short article merely professing to present an interesting tidbit of information, sometimes in the form of longer musings and anecdotes about Clemens' life and his time as a Mississippi pilot.

"Mark Twain" was only one of the many pen names Clemens used, but it was the one he used most consistently in his publications (and sometimes in his private life) and which most shaped the perception of his public persona.

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