I have also seen the expression اسم مستعار

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Note added at 2003-08-21 21:59:40 (GMT)
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Notes on the use of aliases:

An alias is any alternative name or spelling that a person has used for any number of reasons.

Aliases are often used to hide one\'s identity. This could be simply for privacy, as when one appears in a chat room with a name like \"notnow.\" But it could as be to facilitate a surreptitious act, whether legal or illegal, or to cover up a past history and start a new life.

But aliases are also used to establish a particular artistic or business identity, apart from personal identity. For literary figures, we call such a name a pen name (nom de plume). For actors, we call it a stage name.

Aliases are also used by converts to signify \"birth\" in the new religion (e.g., Muhammad Ali). Political activists have also been known to assume alternative names to signify a political message (e.g., Malcom X), or to signify solidarity with a movement (e.g., Abu Ammar). We call these names \"nom de guerre.\"

Some aliases are entirely free of any particular meaning. It could simply be a different spelling. I have a friend whose last name is قطري. He used to spell it Gatari, then switched to Qatari.

An alias could be any of these alternative names أسماء بديلة

An illegal alias is one that was either obtained to commit something illegal or established in a manner contrary to legal procedure.