Are "street names" the same as avatars?

Back in the 80s and 90s, people would have a “street name”, in order to hide their real identity from other people. This was very common among drug dealers, drug users, and criminals. One drug user’s street name i recall was “popsicle”. No intent meant for the good people on Fluther, but, is the purpose of avatars? The same as street names, to protect ones identification?