Change your username

This guide will show you how to change your username (the name you use to log in) and the display name (the name seen publicly on your posts and comments) in your WordPress.com account.

Your username is the identifier you use to log into WordPress.com. It displays publicly (like in the WordPress.com forums) if you have not entered a display name. Your WordPress.com username is your unique identifier on the platform. Two accounts cannot share the same username. 

To update your account’s username, take the following steps:

1. Visit your account settings.
2. In the box labeled Username, type the new username you wish to use for your account.
   • If you do not see this option available, please ensure you have activated your account by clicking the email we sent you when you signed up.
3. A box labeled “Confirm new username” will appear below. Type your new username again to confirm the correct spelling.
4. The next step will ask if you would like to create a matching blog address:
   • Selecting “Yes, create a new blog to match my new user name” will create a new site in your account for you. If your new username is newusername, the new site will be newusername.wordpress.com.
   • Selecting “No, don’t create a matching blog address.” will just change your username and not create a new site in your account. Select this option to continue with your existing sites as usual.
5. Read the information presented on the modal which informs you that:
   • You will not be able to change your username back to the original username.
   • You will not be able to register a new account with the old username. To prevent impersonation, the old username will be unavailable forever.
   • URLs for other services that use your WordPress.com account information, such as Gravatar and IntenseDebate, may be affected if you use those services.
6. Click the button labeled “Change username” to save your changes and update your username.

Your display name is how you would like your name to be displayed publicly. It can be your name, a nickname, your brand name, or something else. The name you type here is the author’s name when you publish content on your website and comment on other websites with your WordPress.com account.

If you do not wish for your username to be public, enter a Display Name to show instead. If you do not enter a Display Name, your WordPress.com username is shown instead.

To update your public display name, follow these steps:

1. Click on your account settings.
2. Scroll down to the “Public Gravatar profile” section.
3. In the box labeled “display name,” type the name you would like to use publicly with your WordPress.com account.
4. Click the button labeled Save at the bottom of the screen.