Throughout the book, Agee and Evans use pseudonyms to obscure the identity of the three tenant farmer families. This convention is retained in the 1989 follow-up book by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson And Their Children After Them: The Legacy of "Let us now praise famous men" : James Agee, Walker Evans, and the Rise and Fall of Cotton in the South. However Evans's photos that are archived in the Library of Congress American Memory Project have the original names of the photographic subjects.
| Pseudonym | Actual Name |
| Gudger Family | |
| George Gudger | Floyd Burroughs |
| Annie Mae (Woods) Gudger | Allie Mae Burroughs |
| George Gudger Jr. | Floyd Burroughs Jr. |
| Maggie Louise Gudger | Lucille Burroughs |
| Burt Westly Gudger | Charles Burroughs |
| Valley Few "Squinchy" Gudger | Othel Lee "Squeaky" Burroughs |
| Ricketts Family | |
| Fred Garvrin Ricketts | Frank Tengle* |
| Sadie (Woods) Ricketts | Flora Bee Tengle |
| Margaret Ricketts | Elizabeth Tengle |
| Paralee Ricketts | Dora Mae Tengle |
| John Garvrin Ricketts | ??? Tengle |
| Richard Ricketts | William Tengle (not confirmed) |
| Flora Merry Lee Ricketts | Laura Minnie Lee Tengle |
| Katy Ricketts | Ida Ruth Tengle |
| Clair Bell Ricketts | ??? Tengle |
| Woods Family | |
| Thomas Gallatin "Bud" Woods | Bud Fields |
| Ivy Woods | Lily Rogers Fields |
| Pearl Woods | ??? Fields |
| Thomas Woods | William Fields |
| Ellen Woods | ??? Fields |
| Others | |
| T. Hudson Margraves | Watson Tidmore (not confirmed) |
* There is disagreement over whether the family name is properly spelled Tengle or Tingle. The Library of Congress's spelling is used here.
| Pseudonym | Actual Location |
| Hobe's Hill | Mills Hill |
| Cookstown | Moundville, Alabama |
| Centerboro, Alabama | Greensboro, Alabama |
| Cherokee City, Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
