'Ballpoint' was the term used in the first patent for such a device. Later, the name 'biro' was coined from the name of László Bíró, who created the first comme

'Ballpoint' was the term used in the first patent for such a device. Later, the name 'biro' was coined from the name of László Bíró, who created the first commercially successful ball point pen. Finally, there is of course the famous company Bic, which was named by its founder Marcel Bich after himself. I would say that in my experience as a British person, 'ballpoint' is used frequently, 'biro' is probably the most common and has an almost colloquial feel to it, and 'bic biro' is used to refer to specifically to ones made by Bic, where people are usually imagining something like the Bic Cristal as a sort of 'standard' pen.