A pseudonym ( / ˈ sj uː d ə n ɪ m / ; from Ancient Greek ψευδώνυμος ( pseudṓnumos ) ' lit. falsely named') or alias ( / ˈ eɪ l i . ə s / ) is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym ). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's own. Many pseudonym holders use them because they wish to remain anonymous and maintain privacy, though this may be difficult to achieve as a result of legal issues.
58-406: " Death Ramps " is an alias for British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys . They usually go under this name in collaboration with Miles Kane and fellow Sheffield artist Richard Hawley , and have released five tracks, all B-sides to Arctic Monkeys singles. Domino , their label, stated: "Unfortunately, we're not allowed to tell you the true identity of the Death Ramps but needless to say they're
116-464: A Christian name , which should not be "foreign to Christian sentiment" and is often the name of a saint . In East Asia, in Africa and elsewhere, the baptismal name is distinct from the traditional-style given name. Traditionally, Orthodox and Catholic Christians celebrate their name day (i.e., the feast day of their patron saint), rather than their birthday. In some countries, it is common to adopt
174-411: A confirmation name , always the name of a saint , in addition to the baptismal name. The saint whose name is taken is henceforth considered to be a patron saint . In general, religious names are used among the persons of the consecrated life . In most religious institutes , a new member is traditionally either given a religious name or chooses one. This could be either the name of a beatified or
232-500: A "handle" (a term deriving from CB slang ), " user name", " login name", " avatar ", or, sometimes, " screen name ", " gamertag ", "IGN ( I n G ame ( N ick) N ame)" or " nickname ". On the Internet, pseudonymous remailers use cryptography that achieves persistent pseudonymity, so that two-way communication can be achieved, and reputations can be established, without linking physical identities to their respective pseudonyms. Aliasing
290-726: A Web server that disguises the user's IP address. But most open proxy addresses are blocked indefinitely due to their frequent use by vandals. Additionally, Misplaced Pages's public record of a user's interest areas, writing style, and argumentative positions may still establish an identifiable pattern. System operators ( sysops ) at sites offering pseudonymity, such as Misplaced Pages, are not likely to build unlinkability into their systems, as this would render them unable to obtain information about abusive users quickly enough to stop vandalism and other undesirable behaviors. Law enforcement personnel, fearing an avalanche of illegal behavior, are equally unenthusiastic. Still, some users and privacy activists like
348-511: A band with A Certain Romance (wink, wink)." In an interview with Another Magazine in 2013, frontman Alex Turner stated: We used to ride our BMXs on these little hills in the woods where we grew up in Sheffield . As six-year-olds they looked like death ramps to us – I always thought that'd be a cool name for a band. When we started using guest singers like Richard Hawley and Miles Kane on
406-445: A degree of privacy, to better market themselves, and other reasons. In some cases, pseudonyms are adopted because they are part of a cultural or organisational tradition; for example, devotional names are used by members of some religious institutes , and "cadre names" are used by Communist party leaders such as Trotsky and Lenin . A collective name or collective pseudonym is one shared by two or more persons, for example,
464-421: A favorable reputation, they are more likely to behave in accordance with the site's policies. If users can obtain new pseudonymous identities freely or at a very low cost, reputation-based systems are vulnerable to whitewashing attacks, also called serial pseudonymity , in which abusive users continuously discard their old identities and acquire new ones in order to escape the consequences of their behavior: "On
522-546: A field dominated by women – have used female pen names. A few examples are Brindle Chase, Peter O'Donnell (as Madeline Brent), Christopher Wood (as Penny Sutton and Rosie Dixon), and Hugh C. Rae (as Jessica Sterling). A pen name may be used if a writer's real name is likely to be confused with the name of another writer or notable individual, or if the real name is deemed unsuitable. Authors who write both fiction and non-fiction, or in different genres, may use different pen names to avoid confusing their readers. For example,
580-434: A good reputation. System operators may need to remind experienced users that most newcomers are well-intentioned (see, for example, Misplaced Pages's policy about biting newcomers ). Concerns have also been expressed about sock puppets exhausting the supply of easily remembered usernames. In addition a recent research paper demonstrated that people behave in a potentially more aggressive manner when using pseudonyms/nicknames (due to
638-481: A manner that the new name becomes permanent and is used by all who know the person. This is not an alias or pseudonym, but in fact a new name. In many countries, including common law countries, a name change can be ratified by a court and become a person's new legal name. Pseudonymous authors may still have their various identities linked together through stylometric analysis of their writing style. The precise degree of this unmasking ability and its ultimate potential
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#1733085824149696-559: A new name, called his regnal name or papal name . In the Lutheran Churches , those who receive the sacrament of baptism are given a Christian name . In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism , converts often take a new name at the time of their reception into the church. When deciding on a name for their child, Orthodox parents will often name the child after a saint whose feast day falls on either
754-488: A process known as de-identification . Nicolaus Copernicus put forward his theory of heliocentrism in the manuscript Commentariolus anonymously, in part because of his employment as a law clerk for a church -government organization. Sophie Germain and William Sealy Gosset used pseudonyms to publish their work in the field of mathematics – Germain, to avoid rampant 19th century academic misogyny , and Gosset, to avoid revealing brewing practices of his employer,
812-431: A pseudonym in literature is to present a story as being written by the fictional characters in the story. The series of novels known as A Series of Unfortunate Events are written by Daniel Handler under the pen name of Lemony Snicket , a character in the series. This applies also to some of the several 18th-century English and American writers who used the name Fidelia . An anonymity pseudonym or multiple-use name
870-412: A pseudonym is called a stage name , or, occasionally, a professional name , or screen name . Members of a marginalized ethnic or religious group have often adopted stage names, typically changing their surname or entire name to mask their original background. Stage names are also used to create a more marketable name, as in the case of Creighton Tull Chaney, who adopted the pseudonym Lon Chaney Jr. ,
928-401: A pseudonym representing the trio of James Madison , Alexander Hamilton , and John Jay . The papers were written partially in response to several Anti-Federalist Papers , also written under pseudonyms. As a result of this pseudonymity, historians know that the papers were written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, but have not been able to discern with certainty which of the three authored a few of
986-441: A pseudonym to disguise the extent of their published output, e. g. Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman . Co-authors may choose to publish under a collective pseudonym, e. g., P. J. Tracy and Perri O'Shaughnessy . Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee used the name Ellery Queen as a pen name for their collaborative works and as the name of their main character. Asa Earl Carter , a Southern white segregationist affiliated with
1044-441: A reference to his famous father Lon Chaney Sr. Chris Curtis of Deep Purple fame was christened as Christopher Crummey ("crummy" is UK slang for poor quality). In this and similar cases a stage name is adopted simply to avoid an unfortunate pun. Religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. In baptism , Catholics are given
1102-667: A right to speak using a pseudonym. This right does not, however, give citizens the right to demand publication of pseudonymous speech on equipment they do not own. Most Web sites that offer pseudonymity retain information about users. These sites are often susceptible to unauthorized intrusions into their non-public database systems. For example, in 2000, a Welsh teenager obtained information about more than 26,000 credit card accounts, including that of Bill Gates. In 2003, VISA and MasterCard announced that intruders obtained information about 5.6 million credit cards. Sites that offer pseudonymity are also vulnerable to confidentiality breaches. In
1160-459: A soldier prêt à boire , ready to drink). In 1716, a nom de guerre was mandatory for every soldier; officers did not adopt noms de guerre as they considered them derogatory. In daily life, these aliases could replace the real family name. Noms de guerre were adopted for security reasons by members of World War II French resistance and Polish resistance . Such pseudonyms are often adopted by military special-forces soldiers, such as members of
1218-440: A study of a Web dating service and a pseudonymous remailer , University of Cambridge researchers discovered that the systems used by these Web sites to protect user data could be easily compromised, even if the pseudonymous channel is protected by strong encryption. Typically, the protected pseudonymous channel exists within a broader framework in which multiple vulnerabilities exist. Pseudonym users should bear in mind that, given
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#17330858241491276-453: A venerable of the church, an honorific title of the Virgin Mary, or even a virtue or something similar. Apart from that, it is possible to keep the baptismal name as a religious name, too. The name is taken usually either upon investiture or on the occasion of taking the first vows , in some communities prior to the entry of a new postulant . A newly elected pope traditionally takes on
1334-406: Is a name used by many different people to protect anonymity. It is a strategy that has been adopted by many unconnected radical groups and by cultural groups, where the construct of personal identity has been criticised. This has led to the idea of the "open pop star", such as Monty Cantsin . Pseudonyms and acronyms are often employed in medical research to protect subjects' identities through
1392-618: Is attributable in large measure to its nearly non-existent initial participation costs. People seeking privacy often use pseudonyms to make appointments and reservations. Those writing to advice columns in newspapers and magazines may use pseudonyms. Steve Wozniak used a pseudonym when attending the University of California, Berkeley after co-founding Apple Computer , because "[he] knew [he] wouldn't have time enough to be an A+ student." When used by an actor, musician, radio disc jockey, model, or other performer or "show business" personality
1450-653: Is composed by Death Ramps "Bad Woman" was released as the B-side on vinyl edition of " Teddy Picker ", and on the CD edition together with "The Death Ramps" and "Nettles". The song was originally written and performed by Pat Farrell and the Believers. Richard Hawley is the lead vocalist for the cover and performed the song live with the band on 17 December 2007 in Manchester, for the final date of their Favourite Worst Nightmare tour. The concert
1508-471: Is considered ominous. All Buddhist denominations also practice this, with newly ordained Sangha members given new Buddhist names by their master or preceptors. Lay Buddhists ( Upāsaka and Upāsikā ) are also given Buddhist names during their Tisarana ceremony . All Taoist sects have similar practice like Chinese Buddhism , where all newly ordained Taoist priests or monks are given Taoist name related on their sect's lineage. Lay Taoists who participate in
1566-621: Is known to system operators but is not publicly disclosed), and unlinkable pseudonyms (the link is not known to system operators and cannot be determined). For example, true anonymous remailer enables Internet users to establish unlinkable pseudonyms; those that employ non-public pseudonyms (such as the now-defunct Penet remailer ) are called pseudonymous remailers . The continuum of unlinkability can also be seen, in part, on Misplaced Pages. Some registered users make no attempt to disguise their real identities (for example, by placing their real name on their user page). The pseudonym of unregistered users
1624-453: Is the use of multiple names for the same data location. More sophisticated cryptographic systems, such as anonymous digital credentials , enable users to communicate pseudonymously ( i.e. , by identifying themselves by means of pseudonyms). In well-defined abuse cases, a designated authority may be able to revoke the pseudonyms and reveal the individuals' real identity. Use of pseudonyms is common among professional eSports players, despite
1682-503: Is their IP address , which can, in many cases, easily be linked to them. Other registered users prefer to remain anonymous, and do not disclose identifying information. However, in certain cases, Misplaced Pages's privacy policy permits system administrators to consult the server logs to determine the IP address, and perhaps the true name, of a registered user. It is possible, in theory, to create an unlinkable Misplaced Pages pseudonym by using an Open proxy ,
1740-712: Is uncertain, but the privacy risks are expected to grow with improved analytic techniques and text corpora . Authors may practice adversarial stylometry to resist such identification. Businesspersons of ethnic minorities in some parts of the world are sometimes advised by an employer to use a pseudonym that is common or acceptable in that area when conducting business, to overcome racial or religious bias. Criminals may use aliases, fictitious business names , and dummy corporations ( corporate shells ) to hide their identity, or to impersonate other persons or entities in order to commit fraud. Aliases and fictitious business names used for dummy corporations may become so complex that, in
1798-527: The American Civil Liberties Union believe that Internet users deserve stronger pseudonymity so that they can protect themselves against identity theft, illegal government surveillance, stalking, and other unwelcome consequences of Internet use (including unintentional disclosures of their personal information and doxing , as discussed in the next section). Their views are supported by laws in some nations (such as Canada) that guarantee citizens
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1856-547: The Guinness Brewery . Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym of a still unknown author or authors' group behind a white paper about bitcoin . In Ancien Régime France, a nom de guerre ( French pronunciation: [nɔ̃ də ɡɛʁ] , "war name") would be adopted by each new recruit (or assigned to them by the captain of their company) as they enlisted in the French army. These pseudonyms had an official character and were
1914-453: The SAS and similar units of resistance fighters , terrorists, and guerrillas . This practice hides their identities and may protect their families from reprisals; it may also be a form of dissociation from domestic life. Some well-known men who adopted noms de guerre include Carlos, for Ilich Ramírez Sánchez ; Willy Brandt , Chancellor of West Germany ; and Subcomandante Marcos , spokesman of
1972-879: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). During Lehi 's underground fight against the British in Mandatory Palestine , the organization's commander Yitzchak Shamir (later Prime Minister of Israel) adopted the nom de guerre "Michael", in honour of Ireland's Michael Collins . Pseudonym was also stylized as suedonim in a common misspelling of the original word so as to preserve the price of telegrams in World War I and II. Revolutionaries and resistance leaders, such as Lenin , Stalin , Trotsky , Golda Meir , Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque , and Josip Broz Tito , often adopted their noms de guerre as their proper names after
2030-419: The online disinhibition effect ) as opposed to being completely anonymous. In contrast, research by the blog comment hosting service Disqus found pseudonymous users contributed the "highest quantity and quality of comments", where "quality" is based on an aggregate of likes, replies, flags, spam reports, and comment deletions, and found that users trusted pseudonyms and real names equally. Researchers at
2088-667: The B-side of our seven-inches we called ourselves the Death Ramps and my mate Reino Lehtonen-Riley, who owns The Great Frog, knocked up some rings. We've all got one. Turner lost his ring in June 2016. The Death Ramps / Nettles single was released on 3 December 2007 on 7" vinyl, limited to just 250 copies. The songs are the B-sides from the Arctic Monkeys single " Teddy Picker ", from their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare . All music
2146-431: The Death Ramps to have a video, which was shot in Sheffield near Dore , and directed by Focus Creeps. Pseudonym Pseudonyms include stage names , user names , ring names , pen names , aliases, superhero or villain identities and code names, gamer identifications, and regnal names of emperors, popes, and other monarchs. In some cases, it may also include nicknames . Historically, they have sometimes taken
2204-540: The French-language phrase nom de plume (which in French literally means "pen name"). The concept of pseudonymity has a long history. In ancient literature it was common to write in the name of a famous person, not for concealment or with any intention of deceit; in the New Testament, the second letter of Peter is probably such. A more modern example is all of The Federalist Papers , which were signed by Publius,
2262-462: The Internet, nobody knows that yesterday you were a dog, and therefore should be in the doghouse today." Users of Internet communities who have been banned only to return with new identities are called sock puppets . Whitewashing is one specific form of a Sybil attack on distributed systems. The social cost of cheaply discarded pseudonyms is that experienced users lose confidence in new users, and may subject new users to abuse until they establish
2320-502: The KKK, wrote Western books under a fictional Cherokee persona to imply legitimacy and conceal his history. A famous case in French literature was Romain Gary . Already a well-known writer, he started publishing books as Émile Ajar to test whether his new books would be well received on their own merits, without the aid of his established reputation. They were: Émile Ajar, like Romain Gary before him,
2378-811: The University of Cambridge showed that pseudonymous comments tended to be more substantive and engaged with other users in explanations, justifications, and chains of argument, and less likely to use insults, than either fully anonymous or real name comments. Proposals have been made to raise the costs of obtaining new identities, such as by charging a small fee or requiring e-mail confirmation. Academic research has proposed cryptographic methods to pseudonymize social media identities or government-issued identities, to accrue and use anonymous reputation in online forums, or to obtain one-per-person and hence less readily-discardable pseudonyms periodically at physical-world pseudonym parties . Others point out that Misplaced Pages's success
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2436-610: The author's true identity being discovered, as with Elena Ferrante and Torsten Krol . Joanne Rowling published the Harry Potter series as J. K. Rowling. Rowling also published the Cormoran Strike series of detective novels including The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Winston Churchill wrote as Winston S. Churchill (from his full surname Spencer Churchill which he did not otherwise use) in an attempt to avoid confusion with an American novelist of
2494-631: The books related to people of their neighbourhood. Anne Brontë 's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) was published under the name Acton Bell, while Charlotte Brontë used the name Currer Bell for Jane Eyre (1847) and Shirley (1849), and Emily Brontë adopted Ellis Bell as cover for Wuthering Heights (1847). Other examples from the nineteenth-century are novelist Mary Ann Evans ( George Eliot ) and French writer Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin ( George Sand ). Pseudonyms may also be used due to cultural or organization or political prejudices. Similarly, some 20th- and 21st-century male romance novelists –
2552-535: The co-authors of a work, such as Carolyn Keene , Erin Hunter , Ellery Queen , Nicolas Bourbaki , or James S. A. Corey . The term pseudonym is derived from the Greek word " ψευδώνυμον " ( pseudṓnymon ), literally "false name", from ψεῦδος ( pseûdos ) 'lie, falsehood' and ὄνομα ( ónoma ) "name". The term alias is a Latin adverb meaning "at another time, elsewhere". Sometimes people change their names in such
2610-469: The current state of Web security engineering, their true names may be revealed at any time. Pseudonymity is an important component of the reputation systems found in online auction services (such as eBay ), discussion sites (such as Slashdot ), and collaborative knowledge development sites (such as Misplaced Pages ). A pseudonymous user who has acquired a favorable reputation gains the trust of other users. When users believe that they will be rewarded by acquiring
2668-401: The day of the child's birth or the day of its baptism. Orthodox and Eastern catholic monks and nuns are often given a new monastic name at the time of their investiture . Converts to Judaism take a Hebrew name upon conversion. Born Jews generally have a patronymic Hebrew name which is used for religious purposes; this is frequently different from their legal name , especially when
2726-420: The fact that many professional games are played on LAN . Pseudonymity has become an important phenomenon on the Internet and other computer networks. In computer networks, pseudonyms possess varying degrees of anonymity, ranging from highly linkable public pseudonyms (the link between the pseudonym and a human being is publicly known or easy to discover), potentially linkable non-public pseudonyms (the link
2784-728: The form of anagrams , Graecisms, and Latinisations . Pseudonyms should not be confused with new names that replace old ones and become the individual's full-time name. Pseudonyms are "part-time" names, used only in certain contexts: to provide a more clear-cut separation between one's private and professional lives, to showcase or enhance a particular persona, or to hide an individual's real identity, as with writers' pen names, graffiti artists' tags, resistance fighters' or terrorists' noms de guerre , computer hackers ' handles , and other online identities for services such as social media , online gaming , and internet forums . Actors, musicians, and other performers sometimes use stage names for
2842-523: The form of a teknonym , either literal or figurative. Such war names have also been used in Africa. Part of the molding of child soldiers has included giving them such names. They were also used by fighters in the People's Liberation Army of Namibia , with some fighters retaining these names as their permanent names. Individuals using a computer online may adopt or be required to use a form of pseudonym known as
2900-460: The latter is of gentile or non-Hebrew origin. In Mandaeism , a baptismal (zodiacal) or masbuta name, also known as malwasha , is a name given by a priest , as opposed to a legal name . Mandaeans have matronymic Mandaean names which are used in Mandaean rituals. A malwasha is linked with the mother's name and time of birth in order to protect the individual from their zodiac sign which
2958-404: The papers. There are also examples of modern politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats writing under pseudonyms. Some female authors have used male pen names, in particular in the 19th century, when writing was a highly male-dominated profession. The Brontë sisters used pen names for their early work, so as not to reveal their gender (see below) and so that local residents would not suspect that
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#17330858241493016-432: The predecessor of identification numbers : soldiers were identified by their first names, their family names, and their noms de guerre (e. g. Jean Amarault dit Lafidélité ). These pseudonyms were usually related to the soldier's place of origin (e. g. Jean Deslandes dit Champigny , for a soldier coming from a town named Champigny ), or to a particular physical or personal trait (e. g. Antoine Bonnet dit Prettaboire , for
3074-614: The romance writer Nora Roberts writes mystery novels under the name J. D. Robb . In some cases, an author may become better known by his pen name than their real name. Some famous examples of that include Samuel Clemens, writing as Mark Twain , Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss , and Eric Arthur Blair ( George Orwell ). The British mathematician Charles Dodgson wrote fantasy novels as Lewis Carroll and mathematical treatises under his own name. Some authors, such as Harold Robbins , use several literary pseudonyms. Some pen names have been used for long periods, even decades, without
3132-473: The same name . The attempt was not wholly successful – the two are still sometimes confused by booksellers. A pen name may be used specifically to hide the identity of the author, as with exposé books about espionage or crime, or explicit erotic fiction. Erwin von Busse used a pseudonym when he published short stories about sexually charged encounters between men in Germany in 1920. Some prolific authors adopt
3190-571: The struggle. George Grivas , the Greek-Cypriot EOKA militant, adopted the nom de guerre Digenis (Διγενής). In the French Foreign Legion , recruits can adopt a pseudonym to break with their past lives. Mercenaries have long used "noms de guerre", sometimes even multiple identities, depending on the country, conflict, and circumstance. Some of the most familiar noms de guerre today are the kunya used by Islamic mujahideen . These take
3248-459: The words of The Washington Post , "getting to the truth requires a walk down a bizarre labyrinth" and multiple government agencies may become involved to uncover the truth. Giving a false name to a law enforcement officer is a crime in many jurisdictions; see identity fraud . A pen name is a pseudonym (sometimes a particular form of the real name) adopted by an author (or on the author's behalf by their publishers). English usage also includes
3306-436: Was awarded the prestigious Prix Goncourt by a jury unaware that they were the same person. Similarly, TV actor Ronnie Barker submitted comedy material under the name Gerald Wiley. A collective pseudonym may represent an entire publishing house, or any contributor to a long-running series, especially with juvenile literature. Examples include Watty Piper , Victor Appleton , Erin Hunter , and Kamiru M. Xhan. Another use of
3364-511: Was later released as the At the Apollo DVD. "Little Illusion Machine (Wirral Riddler)" was released as the B-side on " The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala " single. Miles Kane co-wrote the song and featured as the lead singer. "You and I" was released as the B-side on the " Black Treacle " single on 23 January 2012. It was co-written by Richard Hawley, who also provided lead vocals. It is the first song by
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