Anom de guerre (French pronunciation:[nɔ̃dəɡɛʁ]ⓘ, 'war name') is a pseudonym[1] chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war.[2]
Inancien régimeFrance it 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 the predecessor ofidentification numbers: soldiers were identified by their first names, their family names, and theirnoms 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 namedChampigny), or to a particular physical or personal trait (e. g.Antoine Bonnet dit Prettaboire, for a soldierprêt à boire, ready to drink). In 1716, anom de guerre was mandatory for every soldier; officers did not adoptnoms de guerre as they considered them derogatory. In daily life, these aliases could replace the real family name.[3]
Noms de guerre were adopted for security reasons by members ofWorld War IIFrench Resistance andPolish resistance. Such pseudonyms are often adopted by military special-forces soldiers, such as members of theSAS and similar units ofresistance fighters, terrorists, andguerrillas. 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 adoptednoms de guerre include Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (Carlos the Jackal);Willy Brandt,Chancellor ofWest Germany;Subcomandante Marcos, spokesman of theZapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN); andAhmed al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Jolani),President of Syria.[citation needed] DuringLehi's underground fight against the British inMandatory Palestine, the organization's commanderYitzhak Shamir (later Prime Minister ofIsrael) adopted thenom de guerre "Michael", in honour ofIreland'sMichael 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 asLenin,Stalin,Trotsky,Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, andJosip Broz Tito, often adopted theirnoms de guerre as their proper names after the struggle.Georgios Grivas, the Greek-CypriotEOKA militant, adopted thenom de guerre Digenis (Διγενής). In theFrench 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.[citation needed] Some of the most familiar noms de guerre today are thekunya used byIslamic State'smujahideen andAl Qaeda members.[4][5] These take the form of ateknonym, either literal or figurative.
Such war names have also been used in Africa. Part of the molding ofchild soldiers has included giving them such names.[6] They were also used by fighters in thePeople's Liberation Army of Namibia, with some fighters retaining these names as their permanent names.[7]