# How can I change my username? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 14, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172 "2004-03-14T02:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inoshiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Inoshiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inoshiro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/1 "2004-03-14T02:22:15Z")
I wrote an email to Tubadiva about this but of course there is nothing in the email that proves that the person writing the email is me so I thought I would post this here as well. I would like to change my username. I will not say the new name in public for fear of having it snatched away by some evil prankster 😉 but I would like to know how to go about this and who to contact to do this. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/2 "2004-03-14T02:54:14Z")
As long as you’re sending email from the account which is is registered in your profile, there should be no issue with identification. Also, be sure to mention the SDMB in the email title, along with your current username. You might also want to email more than one administrator, as you might get unlucky and find this is the time **TubaDiva** chose to vacation in the Bahamas for two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Inoshiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Inoshiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inoshiro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/3 "2004-03-14T03:43:07Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > As long as you’re sending email from the account which is is registered in your profile, there should be no issue with identification. Also, be sure to mention the SDMB in the email title, along with your current username. You might also want to email more than one administrator, as you might get unlucky and find this is the time **TubaDiva** chose to vacation in the Bahamas for two weeks. Forgot all about the email addr. field in the profile actually. Just looked it up and saw that it was my other address though. Guess I better send again. Thanks QED ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/4 "2004-03-14T03:50:20Z")
Can’t wait to see the new name. 🙂 Though as a fan of _Futurama_, I rather like the one you have. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/5 "2004-03-14T06:49:53Z")
Your new name looks cool, **Inoshiro**. I see you got through to the admins all right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/6 "2004-03-14T07:04:40Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > I see you got through to the admins all right. 🙂 And FAST! ---
**Author:** ![Inoshiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9adbd/32.png) [@Inoshiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inoshiro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/7 "2004-03-14T17:06:54Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > And FAST! Sure was, thanks Lynn. Didn’t know you guys worked Sat. nights. Shouldn’t you be out on the town 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/8 "2004-03-14T19:55:53Z")
I’ve got to say I prefered the old one. It would sure have got you remembered here. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/9 "2004-03-14T22:40:16Z")
> [@Inoshiro](#): > > Sure was, thanks Lynn. Didn’t know you guys worked Sat. nights. Shouldn’t you be out on the town 😃 Heh. That would requre me having a life, and we are expressly forbidden from having such things when we join the staff. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/10 "2004-03-14T23:01:50Z")
I certainly can’t claim to have a life (I post here, don’t I?), but I do blink sometimes. I must have missed it. In the interest of s_c_i_e_n_c_e, what was your previous name, **Inoshiro**? And what was wrong with it? Just asking. No biggie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/11 "2004-03-14T23:42:58Z")
Color me 😕 . In my CP, this thread shows the OP as **Dr. Zoidberg**. [sup][sub]Cute.[/sub][/sup] Above, this thread’s OP is **Inoshiro**. Yes, I have refreshed both. Assuming **Lynn** changed the name rather than adding a new one, which is the old and which is the new? And why don’t they match? The world breathlessly awaits. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/12 "2004-03-15T01:24:13Z")
I’ll probably just muddy the waters **Musicat** , but I think the software for the board doesn’t change a poster’s name in the thread starter column after a name change. If you do a search “find threads started by user” for \*\* Inoshiro\*\* you should get any threads he/she has started since the name change (OP **Inoshiro** ) and any from before the change (OP **Dr. Zoidberg** ). > [@](#): > > which is the old and which is the new Dr. Zoidberg, Inoshiro. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/13 "2004-03-15T04:17:26Z")
That may indeed be the case. If so, then it doesn’t follow the same rule as the name associated with a single post. If I were to change my name, all my old posts should then show the new name, even if they were made under the old, since I believe vBulletin stores a user number, not the actual name. Likewise, if my status were changed, from member to mod or banned or whatever, the display of old posts would also change. So it seems strange that the thread starter’s number isn’t saved with the thread, then the name generated from the number like a single post is. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/14 "2004-03-15T22:19:24Z")
I’m pretty sure that before the new release the thread starter would change if his/her user name changed. And some time before that the board behaved the same as it does now: the thread starter wouldn’t change. Just one more minor oddity of the new release. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-my-username/234172/15 "2004-03-16T04:11:37Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Just one more minor oddity of the new release. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! Maybe vB has decided that keeping the original thread starter’s original name on the thread is a GOOD thing. Otherwise it looks like odd programming. I don’t think I’ll worry about it much.