Pseudonym

A pseudonym (Greek: ψευδόνυμον, pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a person's true name.

In most legal systems, a name assumed for a nonfraudulent purpose is a legal name and usable as the person's true name, which is however preferred or required for various official purposes. The most common example is when a woman assumes her husband's surname without resorting to the formal statutory process (i.e. by petitioning a court; a few American states have a statutory provision for recording a new name at marriage.) Note that in some States only the given and surnames form the legal name; "a middle name or initial is not material in any legal proceeding". A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another actual person, usually historical, assumed by someone in authorship of a work of art; such as when ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a front such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Someone who is pseudonymous is someone who is using a pseudonym. The opposite is anthroponym, meaning a full legal name or some recognisable shortened form of it such as Fred Smith for Frederick John Smith, with or without titles.