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DOCUMENTATION CENTER OF
CAMBODIA
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
‘alias and aka’
Raymund
Johansen:
Alias is just an
assumed name, but it tends to indicate that the person is trying to hide their
identity. AKA, or "also known as", indicates that a person is known by this
other name, and does not necessarily indicate that he or she chose it to hide
their identity. In practice, the two terms are used interchangeably, but I
believe that "alias" tends to show an attempt to hide identity, while aka is
less indicative of evil intent. "89" was Son Sen's "alias". Ray
John
Ciorciari:
There isn't very
much difference. An alias is a fake name that someone uses, often to conceal
their identity. "A.K.A." stands for "also known as." It is a relatively informal
expression. We often use it to introduce a person's popular nickname, but it can
also be used to note a person's alias. Here are some examples to make it
clearer:
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The alias of Mok was
Chhit Choeuan.
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Mok, alias Chhit Choeuan, was a former KR leader.
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Mok went by the alias of Chhit Choeuan.
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Mok, aka "The Butcher," was a former KR leader.
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Mok, aka "Chhit Choeuan," was a former KR leader.
In formal academic
writing, we would almost always use the word "alias." "AKA" is more common in
newspapers and informal writing.
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