This would be great even if it only served to separate real aliases from search hints. So yeah, please do

Instead of the suggested two types I would suggest at least three:

• localised canonical name

• the canonical name localised in other language / country / script
• the locale (possibly including script) must be specified
• there could be sub-types: translation and transliteration

• alternative name

• for example some works have multiple names
• the locale (possibly including script) should be specified
• there could be sub-types: in the original language, translation and transliteration
  (see also MBS-2240 Aliases: certain locale can be used only once in the list of aliases)

• search hint

• typos, misencodings, wrong translations and transliterations etc.
• the locale (possibly including script) could be specified
• there could be sub-types as examples above

Possibly other types could exist as nikki suggested.

Václav Brožík, I don't agree on focusing on the language of the alias as an alias is very extremely rarely a translation (I have no such example), it's always (~98%)the same language with a different script (ex.).

I agree that transcription and transliteration could be more important but translation of names surely exists. My older examples:
http://tickets.musicbrainz.org/browse/MBS-843?focusedCommentId=15833&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels%3Acomment-tabpanel#action_15833

Another example (though not exactly translation): Czech and Slovak surnames of women usually has suffix -ová. It is also common that foreign surnames of women gets this suffix too. (though I do not like it)
Examples: Janis Joplin -> Janis Joplinová, Audrey Hepburn -> Audrey Hepburnová, Aretha Franklin -> Aretha Franklinová, Mylène Farmer -> Mylene Farmerová

All schema change tickets will be scheduled separately from normal scheduling cycles, so I am removing these from scheduling.ocharles.org.uk.

http://chatlogs.musicbrainz.org/musicbrainz-devel/2012/2012-03/2012-03-26.html#T19-36-54-3898