Reading through the
14th page entitled ‘Freedom From Economics’ of The Economic Times 13/4/’13, I liked this on
‘Operation Cryptonym.’ I did not even know the meaning. I called up my Dad and asked him the meaning he simply
said ‘hidden name’ .
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used
clandestinely to refer to another name or word.
Code names are often used for military purpose, or in
espionage. They may also be used in industry to protect secret projects and the
like from business rivals.
The United States
uses code names for U.S.
Presidents, First Ladies and other persons and locations.
The use of such names
were originally for security purposes and dates. Today they simply serve for
purposes of brevity, clarity and
tradition.
The Secret Service does not choose these names. The White
House Communications Agency(WHCA) assigns them.
According to the established protocol good codewords are
ambiguous words that can be easily pronounced and easily understood.
Traditionally, all family member’s code names start with the
same letter(alliteration). They are often publicly known.
Here are some:
President John. F. Kennedy
: codename : Lancer
First Lady Jacqline Kennedy: codename: Lace.
Bill Clinton: codename: Eagle.
Hillary Clinton: codename: Evergreen.
Chelsea(daughter) codename: Energy.
Barack Obama: codename: Renegade.
Michell Obama: codename: Renaissance.
Malia Obama: codename: Radiance.
Sasha Obama: codename: Rosebud.
Pope John Paul: codename: “Halo”.
The White House:codename: Olympus .
Mockingbird: codename: Recruitment of American Journalist for
C.I.A. work.
Smiling Buddha: codename: for Pokhran-I,1974.The name chosen
to indicate the ‘peaceful’nature of India ’s nuclear ambitions.
… and there is an endless list, explore for yourselves!