How to comment on YouTube without your name, but send from Gmail with your name?

Question

I have a friend whose Gmail account name is a fairly cryptic series of letters, and who filled out equally cryptic strings when Google asked for his first and last name, so that emails come from something like ilkwekjr nsdkfjlk <[email protected]>. He also doesn't have a Gmail signature.

When I mention that this makes it hard for people to know where his emails come from, he claims that he does this so he can comment on YouTube videos without his real name being visible.

What are the current rules/limitations about having one's Gmail name/address visible when one comments on a YouTube video? Or, how can one add identifying email to a Gmail account without it showing up when one comments on a YouTube video?

Answer 1

What are the current rules/limitations about having one's Gmail name/address visible when one comments on a YouTube video?

The answer is found under: Control what others see about you across Google services.

Note: Your name and photo (if you choose to add one) will be shown to other users across Google products, including when you communicate or share content.

It is stated even more explicitly under your My Account-->Privacy-->Email settings.

The address used to identify your Google account to you and others. You can't change this address.

---

How can one add identifying email to a Gmail account without it showing up when one comments on a YouTube video?

You should create an alias for your account and use that one for your emails.
Please see the answer to this post How to remove Sender header when sending from another Gmail on how to do that.
Your only other option would be to create and use (in a similar way) a new Google account. The drawback to this approach would be that toy would need to log-in to separate accounts to send emails and comment on YouTube.