# Is it possible to change my name on this site? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 26, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277 "2017-04-26T12:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aag3981](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@aag3981](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aag3981)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/1 "2017-04-26T12:50:29Z")
I joined this site in 2012 and am not especially active. I would like to change my name on this site without starting a new account. Is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/2 "2017-04-26T12:52:35Z")
Yes, write to a moderator and they can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/3 "2017-04-26T13:07:46Z")
[Moderating] This question is much better suited for our About This Message Board forum, which is for questions about the message board itself. I’ll move it there for you. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/4 "2017-04-26T13:13:56Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Yes, write to a moderator and they can do it. Have a couple of alternate names in case your first choice is taken. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/5 "2017-04-26T13:34:29Z")
Good advice. If you haven’t already, toss me a note with some choices ranked by preference. I’ll send it up the line to get taken care of. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/6 "2017-04-26T13:35:39Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Have a couple of alternate names in case your first choice is taken. You can check for that in advance by going to “search” and clicking in “search by user name”. Most places other than this my internet name has been “Lurker”; by clicking in there and typing part of the name I can see that many variations are already in play from the basic Lurker to Lurkerfrombelow. It gives me a good idea of the directions I could head with that name. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/7 "2017-04-26T13:58:30Z")
Changing your name, while possible with mod approval, might not be a good idea. Any references to or quotes from your previous posts will have the old name, and it can get confusing to others sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/8 "2017-04-26T14:01:48Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > You can check for that in advance by going to “search” and clicking in “search by user name”. I just checked, and was surprised to find that **aag3982** is available. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/9 "2017-04-26T14:12:14Z")
Changeth not thy user name, but instead be proud of it, oh three thousand nine hundred and eighty first of the noble aag clan. Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/10 "2017-04-26T15:13:29Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Changing your name, while possible with mod approval, might not be a good idea. Any references to or quotes from your previous posts will have the old name, and it can get confusing to others sometimes. It’s not that big a deal, actually-we tend to adapt to new names rather quickly. Czarcasm(aka _slythe_) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/11 "2017-04-26T15:28:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I just checked, and was surprised to find that **aag3982** is available. I’m just surprised that he had to go through 3979 other "aag"s before he found one that was available. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/12 "2017-04-26T15:32:10Z")
Maybe they got the username and password mixed up? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/13 "2017-04-26T15:37:40Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Have a couple of alternate names in case your first choice is taken. I suggest **aag3982**. It’s got a certain ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/14 "2017-04-26T15:53:13Z")
To be more specific - it is possible to change your name, but it is not something you can do on your own. It must be done by the site admins so that is why Jonathan Chance said to send him your ranked name requests. Do not create another account as that would be against the terms of service. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/15 "2017-04-26T16:10:45Z")
And while the moderators can do this, it’s not something that you should do very often. Before asking for a name change, make sure you find a name you want to stick with permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/16 "2017-04-26T22:10:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And while the moderators can do this, it’s not something that you should do very often. I’ve been meaning to ask about this. How often is often? I had a name change not too long after joining, but it’s about a decade ago now. Unfortunately, the name I chose was no better thought out than the first, but ever since I’ve been stuck with it. I’ve been wanting to ask for another change, but I’m not sure if it’s kosher. I somehow remember hearing that we only get one name change, but maybe I’m imagining that. Would it be cool to ask for another one after all these years? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/17 "2017-04-26T23:31:52Z")
I think somewhere in the FAQs it used to say you only get one change. Heck, it may still say that somewhere. I’d have to look. We’re not that strict about it these days. Changing your name after a decade certainly isn’t a problem. If you decide for certain that you do want to change it, send me a PM and we’ll get it taken care of for you. We don’t have an official time limit for how often is too often. If you have a good reason for needing to change it, we’ll certainly help you out. If you just want to change it on a whim, that shouldn’t be too often, but again, we don’t have a formal definition of “too often”. Every few weeks is definitely too short of a time. Changing it after a few years is probably no biggie. No one has yet tried to change their name frequently enough that we’ve had to consider whether it is a problem or not. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/18 "2017-04-27T02:39:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I suggest **aag3982**. It’s got a certain ring to it. I would go **aag1776** — now _that’s_ the spirit! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/19 "2017-04-27T11:59:44Z")
As a longtime member of the American Association of Geographers (seriously), I say: keep the old name, and see you at our next annual meeting in New Orleans! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277/20 "2017-04-27T15:30:10Z")
Are the police after you? Did they finally track you down and you number’s up? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-change-my-name-on-this-site/785277.md?page=2)