moniker (or monicker)
noun

- a person’s name, especially a nickname or alias.

Dictionary dot com

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ORIGIN

Moniker — also spelled monaker and monicker — originates from the British underworld.

The term has been used for more than a century and originally referred to a mark on a building or a fence left by a homeless person to tell fellow travellers that he had been there.

Each traveller developed his own distinctive mark that identified him. As it was used as actual identification, a moniker served a different purpose than an alias, which is for hiding one’s identity. The word was probably a corruption of “monogram”, an identifying mark that usually consists of one’s initials.


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MAFIA MONIKERS

One of the most creative users of monikers has been the Italian Mafia. Some of the nicknames stem from other activities that the criminals carried out. Simone Rizzo “Sam” DeCavalcante was also known as Sam The Plumber because he operated a plumbing business as a front for his illegal activities.

Vincent “The Chin” Gigante was an ex-boxer, for instance. He was also known as the Oddfather (as opposed to the Godfather) because he pretended to be insane in order to avoid a prison sentence. Others, such as Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno got their monikers from physical characteristics.

European monarchs were also once famous for having monikers, such as Frederick I of Austria (The Handsome), William III of England (King Billy), Richard I of England (Lionheart), Ludwig II of Bavaria (The Mad) and Ivan IV of Russia (The Terrible).

My favourite for the best royal nickname goes to Ivailo, a 13th century Bulgarian king, who was also known as Ivailo the Cabbage, Ivailo the Lettuce, and Ivailo the Radish.

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SYNONYMS

affectionate name, alias, appellation, byname, cognomen, denomination, endearment, epithet, nickname, handle, informal title, nom de plume, pet name, pseudonym, sobriquet, stage name, trade name

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“David Bowie assumed the MONIKER ‘The King of Glam Rock’ in the early 1970s.”

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Paul Smith