The term sobriquet is equally applicable as a name for a person, group of people, historical event, or place.
[2] Sobriquets are "a form of identification that goes beyond a traditional name and offers insight into a person’s character, appearance, profession, or any other distinguishing feature".
[4] Candidates for public office and political figures may be described with sobriquets, while living or posthumously.
[5] An affectionate contemporary sobriquet for Ulysses S. Grant was the "American Sphinx" as a man of deeds rather than for verbal self-promotion.
[6] Early uses of sobriquets in writing and literature include the Dead Sea Scrolls[7] and in Tang and Song (Southern Sung) dynasty poetry.