Alias is a term used to connect alternate names of a person who has been known to use more than one for some reason, often in legal proceedings. Generally the presumption seems to be that an alias name is primarily used to conceal or disguise an identity. Quite the opposite was true in earlier times, however, when the intention was purely to identify one individual from another, before the use of surnames became commonplace.

The period during which aliases were most used in England coincided with the gradual development of surnames, approximately 1460 to 1650, and continued to be used even into the 1800s. The practice seemed to originate in the southern areas and slowly moved northward.