Pseudonym

A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to their legal name (whereas an allonym is the name of another actual person assumed by one person in authorship of a work of art; e.g., when ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a front such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the '50s, '60s, and '70s).

Nom de guerre

Pseudonyms are adopted by resistance fighters, terrorists and guerrillas often to make enquiries more difficult, to seek and create an aura of mystery, and to protect their families from reprisal, although other reasons may often be included. The expression nom de guerre ("name of war") is often used for such pseudonyms (though this expression is rarely, if ever, actually used in French). It is occasionally used as a stylish substitute for nom de plume.

Related Topics:
Resistance fighter - Terrorist - Guerrilla - Nom de plume

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Noms de guerre were frequently adopted by recruits in the French Foreign Legion as part of the break with their past lives. Pseudonyms used by some members of the French resistance were integrated into their last names after World War II; for instance, Jacques Delmas, alias Chaban, became Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Related Topics:
French Foreign Legion - French resistance - World War II - Jacques Chaban-Delmas

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Within Communist parties and Trotskyist organisations noms de guerre are usually known as party names. This took hold because revolutionaries were often persecuted by states (and also, in the case of Trotskyists, by pro-Soviet communist parties).

Related Topics:
Communist parties - Trotskyist - Revolutionaries - State

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Some of the more famous noms de guerre include:

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• Che Guevara
• Carlos
• Abu Mazen is the nom de guerre of Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority
• Abu Ammar was PLO leader Yasser Arafat's nom de guerre
• Abu Ala is the nom de guerre of Ahmed Qurei

Some famous party names include:

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• Fahd
• Lenin
• Freddy Forrest (Raya Dunayevskaya) and Johnston CLR James.