diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
index cf6a07a8ea3783e6a55f5cdcf6655401e84aaf2c..88210f501608d6c1f13598d7a5bee7a41da4a4bf 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
@@ -526,6 +526,21 @@ sub username {
   $self->{_username};
 }
 
+=head2 user
+
+  Arg [1]    : (optional) string $arg
+               The new value of the username used by this connection. 
+  Example    : $user = $db_connection->user()
+  Description: Convenience alias for the username method
+  Returntype : String
+
+=cut
+
+sub user {
+  my ($self, $arg) = @_;
+  return $self->username($arg);
+}
+
 
 =head2 host
 
@@ -550,6 +565,21 @@ sub host {
   $self->{_host};
 }
 
+=head2 hostname
+
+  Arg [1]    : (optional) string $arg
+               The new value of the host used by this connection. 
+  Example    : $hostname = $db_connection->hostname()
+  Description: Convenience alias for the host method
+  Returntype : String
+
+=cut
+
+sub hostname {
+  my ($self, $arg) = @_;
+  return $self->host($arg);
+}
+
 
 =head2 password
 
@@ -582,7 +612,20 @@ sub password {
   return ( ref( $self->{_password} ) && &{ $self->{_password} } ) || '';
 }
 
+=head2 pass
 
+  Arg [1]    : (optional) string $arg
+               The new value of the password used by this connection. 
+  Example    : $pass = $db_connection->pass()
+  Description: Convenience alias for the password method
+  Returntype : String
+
+=cut
+
+sub pass {
+  my ($self, $arg) = @_;
+  return $self->password($arg);
+}
 
 =head2 disconnect_when_inactive
 
diff --git a/modules/t/dbConnection.t b/modules/t/dbConnection.t
index c448cf4f26c5e1935583342c5c6b18365fb3201b..cd9d569420752cd95f2ce815138beec619c85bf0 100644
--- a/modules/t/dbConnection.t
+++ b/modules/t/dbConnection.t
@@ -79,17 +79,25 @@ ok(test_getter_setter($dbc, 'dbname'  , 'ensembl_db_name'));
 # 6 username
 #
 ok(test_getter_setter($dbc, 'username', 'ensembl_user'));
+is($dbc->user(), $dbc->username(), 'Checking user() returns same as username()');
 
 #
 # 7 password
 #
 ok(test_getter_setter($dbc, 'password', 'ensembl_password'));
+is($dbc->pass(), $dbc->password(), 'Checking pass() returns same as password()');
 
 #
 # 10 dbhandle
 #
 ok(test_getter_setter($dbc, 'db_handle', $dbc->db_handle));
 
+#
+# dbname
+#
+ok(test_getter_setter($dbc, 'host', $dbc->host));
+is($dbc->hostname(), $dbc->host(), 'Checking hostname() returns same as host()');
+
 # Check the to_hash() works
 is_deeply($dbc->to_hash(), \%dbc_args, 'Checking to_hash() can roundtrip a DBConnection');