How did Anna Rosenbaum chose the pen-name "Ayn Rand"?

Answer 1

It's just an abbreviation of her own name.

One might go deeper in suggesting: "Rand is a Cyrillic contraction of her surname ... the name Ayn, is an adaptation of a "Finnish feminine name", most likely "Aino" or "Aina". She might have been referring to the Finnish author Aino Kallas. Her surname may also have come from the Estonian word rand, meaning coast or shore"

Answer 2

Here's a nice site that tells all, and is well documented:

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_faq_index2#ar_q3

This is cited in the Wikipedia article, giving the account about the Finnish thing. You could have some fun following the paper trail here, methinks.

(BTW, it's Alyssa/Alisa, not Anna. Just in the interests of accuracy.)

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It retains her initials while concealing her jewish ancestry.