We call them "association" hits.
Example...Officer runs John Doe, W/M with a DOB of 1/1/2007. Dispatcher gets a Wanted Persons hit on a Frank Doe, W/M with the same DOB.
Dispatcher will say "Showing an association on a white male, same last name, same dob, first name of Frank..." and then give descriptors, height, weight, eyes, hair, ssn, etc. to see if it may be the same person I have stopped.
Most agencies with unmarked units, whether they come back not on file, to a ficticious name/business, etc. will usually be flagged to alert the agency of who ran the plate, agency, date, time, etc. This is helpful in the event a "bad guy" has someone from a PD working for him too. Especially when you are conducting surveillance in queens and some agency in upstate NY runs your plate at around the same time. What's even funnier is listening to that person explain themselves when you are standing in the office with their Chief and IA.