Display names

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Display names help

• Display names
  • Usernames
  • Display names FAQ
  • How your feedback improved display names
• Download the Viewer 2.3 Beta!
  • Release notes for Viewer 2.3 Beta
  • SL Answers

Your display name is:

• a name you choose, and is shown to other avatars within the Second Life virtual world
• a string of characters that contains at least one script character (for example, a letter of the alphabet or number). It can include most Unicode script characters, spaces, and some punctuation
• separate from your username, which is your login
• not unique; other avatars may have the same display name as you
• only allowed to change once every seven days, but you can Reset it at any time (which makes it appear as your "classic" Second Life first name and last name)
• up to 31 characters long

You can choose to view the display names or usernames of others, both, or neither. If you choose to view display names and/or usernames, they will appear in the name tags above every avatar and in chat.

Punctuation characters allowed in your display name

Punctuation characters allowed in your display name are:

• ' (apostrophe)
• - (hyphen-minus)
• . (full stop)
• : (colon)
• · (middle dot)
• ֊ (Armenian hyphen)
• ׳ (Hebrew geresh)
• ״ (Hebrew gershayim)
• ་ (Tibetan tsheg)
• ‐ (hyphen)
• ’ (right single quotation mark)
• ‧ (hyphenation point)
• = (katakana-hiragana double hyphen)
• ・ (katakana middle dot)

Setting your display name

To set your display name:

1. Log into Second Life.
2. Open the My Profile tab of the sidebar.
3. Click Edit Profile.
4. Click the Edit Wrench under Display Name.
5. Enter your display name under New Display Name.
6. Enter your display name again, under Type your new name again to confirm.
7. Click Save.

Note: Once you've set your display name, it will take up to 24 hours to propagate your changes throughout all of Second Life's systems.

This video shows you how easy it is to set and reset your display name:

<videoflash type="youtube">nlhKvSnB6Z8|640|385</videoflash>

Resetting your display name

To reset your display name to be your username:

1. Log into Second Life.
2. Open the My Profile tab of the sidebar.
3. Click Edit Profile.
4. Click the Edit Wrench under Display Name.
5. Click Reset.

Note: Once you've reset your display name, it will take up to 24 hours to propagate your changes throughout all of Second Life's systems.

Showing or hiding display names

To show or hide display names inworld, both in chat and over every avatar in name tags:

1. Log into Second Life.
2. Choose Me > Preferences from the top menu.
3. Click the General tab.
4. Select the Show Display Names checkbox. If the box is checked, display names are shown. If the box is unchecked, display names are hidden.
5. Click OK.

This video shows you various name tag options, including toggling display names:

<videoflash type="youtube">BjktLldu_-w|640|385</videoflash>

Copying another Resident's display name to your clipboard

To copy another Resident's display name to your clipboard:

1. Open the Resident's profile.
2. Click the Copy to Clipboard icon at the right of the display name.

This video shows you how to copy to clipboard:

<videoflash type="youtube">lt3TXt6DAJ4|640|385</videoflash>

Learn more!

If you'd like to know more about the display names feature, please refer to the display names FAQ.

See also

Some smart and sharing Residents have contributed their tips on how to use Display Names effectively. See these, and feel free to add your own:

Posts and threads

• 2010-12-12 - A picture tells a thousand words: Usernames and Display Names explained - Blog post by Suella Ember detailing how Display Names and single Usernames work in practice with many example images.