What was Dear Abby’s last name?
Van Horn
Van Dyke
Van Williams
Van Buren
Dear Abby is the name of the advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name “Abigail Van Buren” and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. According to Pauline Phillips, she came up with the pen name Abigail Van Buren by combining the name of Biblical figure Abigail in the Book of I Samuel, with the last name of former U.S. President Martin Van Buren. A similar column, Ask Ann Landers, was written from 1955 to 2002 by Pauline Phillips twin sister.
The correct answer is Van Buren.