Username Generator

Usernames are a part of your identity—online, at least. So, naturally, you want them to be special and say something about you as a person! Here are some tips on formulating the perfect online username (and narrowing down the many ideas you’ll get from our generator):

Think about the kind of online persona you want. What kind of person do you want to present as? What interests or traits do you want people to notice when they discover your account? What type of audiences, if any, are you trying to reach? Do you want to be seen as someone funny? Creative? Knowledgable? A trendsetter?

Spend some time thinking about the overall “vibe” you might want to capture with your username (and if that’ll change based on the platform you need a username for).

Figure out if you want to be anonymous.
If the answer is yes, you do want to be anonymous, that’ll impact your username because you’ll want to leave out anything that overtly gives away your identity (including your name, of course, and any information that could reveal you or tip people off). Once you know if you want to stay anonymous or not, you’ll have a better idea of the criteria for your username.

Use any nicknames or personality traits you want to highlight.
If you have a nickname you’re particularly fond of (and don’t mind being known by), you could always use it in your username—especially since you’re more likely to have a unique username that way. Beyond that, think about which of your personality traits you’d want to include the most, if any. Usernames can’t be too long, so you really only have the space to highlight one or two of the most important things that make you…you!

Make a list of your favorite things.
You don’t have to stick to personality traits alone; you can also branch into hobbies, interests, and things you love—from favorite foods to sports, games, songs, or places in the world. It might help to make a list of things you love, then narrow the list down by thinking about what’s so important to you it could be featured in a username (or what might be relevant to the persona you want to project and the platform you’re making an account on).

Incorporate your location or hometown.
Obviously, you don’t want your address in a username—but you could include other, more vague pieces of information, like the name of the region or county you grew up in, your city or town, or notable landmarks near where you live. Any of those could play a part in your username!

Substitute a few letters (if necessary). Is your username of choice already taken by someone else? There’s an easy way around that (other than starting from scratch and thinking of another username): just substitute symbols, numbers or letters that are similar to the originals in your username. A few common substitutions include:

• A - @
• E - 3
• S - 5
• I - !

Feel free to come up with your own creative substitutions; it’s fair game as long as the symbol looks enough like the original letter or number!

Look to popular accounts for inspiration. Finally, don’t be afraid to take a look at what other people are doing! Check out a few accounts of content creators or other users you admire on the platform in question, and see what kind of username they have. What’s notable or memorable about their username? What grabs your attention right away? Can you do something similar (with your own spin on it, of course)? Taking inspiration from others could steer you in the right direction.