Wikipedia:Username policy
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 | This page in a nutshell: When choosing an account name, avoid names which may be offensive, confusing or promotional. Use only one account unless there is a genuine need to do otherwise. |
The username policy describes accepted practices and behavior in naming and operating a user account on Wikipedia.
You may wish to create an account if you do not already have one. Creating an account provides a number of benefits; in particular, your contributions are attributed to your username. See Help:Logging in for help with logging in to an existing account.
Choosing a username
Depending on how much anonymity you want to preserve, you may wish to base your username on your real name or a familiar nickname, or use a pseudonym which you do not use elsewhere; see Real names below.
If you choose not to use your real name, you should pick a username that you are comfortable with, but also one that others are comfortable with, and which does not interfere with the project. A controversial name may give a bad impression to other users, and avoiding this is in your own interest.
Your username should not give the impression that your account has permissions which it does not have. Thus it should not contain the terms "administrator", "bureaucrat", "steward", "checkuser", "oversight" or similar terms like "admin", "sysop" or "moderator", or end with "bot", which is used to identify bot accounts.
Wikipedia usernames are case sensitive, and the first letter of all usernames is automatically capitalized. By default, your username appears in your signature on posts to discussion pages; for details on signatures and how to customize them, see Wikipedia:Signatures.
If your username is commonly misspelled, consider adding a redirect from the misspelled username to your actual username (any user page can be created by any contributor, whether an associated account exists or not).
Real names
Use of a real name allows contributions to be more easily traced to an individual. This may make a contributor more vulnerable to issues such as harassment. You should consider the benefits and drawbacks of making substantial contributions under your real name before doing so. While it is possible to rename accounts (see Changing your username below), a record of the previous name will still exist.
You should not register under any name that would lead others to assume your account is associated with any person other than yourself. If you share the same name as a well known person, or you are a well known person, and you wish to edit under your own name, then your userpage should make it clear whether you actually are the well known person or not. Usernames that appear to violate this policy to the extent of being problematic are likely to be blocked, as a precaution, until it can be confirmed that the user in question is using his or her real name.
If you have been blocked for using your real name, please don't take offense; this procedure is necessary to prevent impersonation. You are welcome to use your real name, but in some cases, you will need to prove you are who you say you are. You can do this by sending an e-mail to info-en@wikimedia.org; be aware that the OTRS system that handles e-mail is operated entirely by volunteers, and an immediate reply may not be possible.
Company/group names
Explicit use of a company or group name as a username will result in your username being blocked. Use of Wikipedia for promotion of a company or group is not permitted and accounts that do this will be blocked. Accounts that add promotional material or demonstrate a conflict of interest can be reported to the conflict of interest noticeboard or to administrator intervention against vandalism, where further action may be taken. Editing an article about your employer is not prohibited, but anyone wishing to do so is advised to read the Business' FAQ.
Accounts that represent a group or company are not permitted; see Sharing accounts below.
Non-Latin usernames
Contributors are welcome to use usernames that are not spelled using the Latin alphabet, but should bear in mind that scripts of non-Latin languages (such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Greek or Japanese) are illegible to most contributors to the English Wikipedia. To avoid confusion and aid navigation, users with such usernames are encouraged to use Latin characters in their signature.
Similar usernames
Usernames that are very similar to existing ones can only be created by administrators; if you wish to use such a username, you may request its creation at Wikipedia:Request an account. You should not use a username that could easily be confused with that of an active contributor; a username that is similar only to unused or inactive accounts should not be a problem. Special:ListUsers can be used to check for such usernames. The program is a bit over-sensitive - if the user name is different enough as to prevent other people from confusing the two users, the account should be approved regardless of how active the existing account is.
If your username is similar to that of another contributor or an article, you may wish to provide some form of disambiguation, for example by adding {{thisuser}} to the top of your user page. Linking to user pages within articles is not permitted.
Inappropriate usernames
- WP:IU redirects here. You may be looking for WP:INUNIVERSE.
Wikipedia does not allow usernames that are misleading, promotional, offensive or disruptive. Domain names and e-mail addresses are likewise prohibited for new users (a few pre-prohibition accounts remain in use).
- Misleading usernames imply relevant, misleading things about the contributor. For example, misleading points of fact, an impression of undue authority, or the suggestion that the account is operated by a group, project or collective rather than one individual.
- Promotional usernames are advertisements for a company or group.
- Offensive usernames make harmonious editing difficult or impossible.
- Disruptive usernames include outright trolling or personal attacks, impersonation, or otherwise show a clear intent to disrupt Wikipedia.
These criteria apply to both usernames and signatures. Usernames that are inappropriate in another language, or that represent an inappropriate name with misspellings and substitutions, or do so indirectly or by implication, are still considered inappropriate.
The line between acceptable and unacceptable user names is based on the opinions of other editors. If you want to seek approval for a username, you can do so by filing a request at Wikipedia:Request an account.
Dealing with inappropriate usernames
If your account has been blocked for using an inappropriate username, don't take it personally; it is intended to disable the username you chose, not to prevent you from contributing. Please read this page carefully and choose a more appropriate name. Please see Changing your username.
Usernames that are obviously inappropriate and require immediate attention should be reported at Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention, along with an explanation of the issue.
If you would like to try to work with another editor to help them choose a more appropriate username, you may place the {{uw-username}} template on their talk page. If this fails, then the matter can be reported at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User names. Also consider adding the user to Category:Wikipedian usernames editors have expressed concern over.
Confusing usernames
The purpose of a username is to identify contributors. If your username or your signature is unnecessarily confusing, editors may request that you change it. However, confusing usernames are unlike the disallowed usernames above because a confusing username cannot be so inappropriate on its own that it requires an immediate block without at least an attempt at substantive discussion.
Unnecessarily confusing usernames can be a red flag for other problems. An editor with a confusing username or signature may be blocked sooner than usual for other policy violations such as disruption or vandalism, if their confusing username contributes to the disruption. As with all other blocks, admins should use their discretion and common sense.
In the uncommon case that an otherwise good-faith contributor deliberately ignores requests to change their username, and goes on using a name that other editors agree is too confusing, then that username may be blocked to prevent further disruption. (Though the latter practice is considered somewhat controversial).
Changing your username
Usernames can be changed by bureaucrats; requests should be made at Wikipedia:Changing username. User accounts with few or no edits will not normally be renamed, as it is quicker and easier to simply create a new account.
Once a username has been changed, existing contributions will be listed under the new name in page histories, diffs, logs, and user contributions. Signatures on discussion pages will continue to use the old name; while these can be changed manually, it is not recommended unless a contributor wishes to remove as much information as possible about their previous name for privacy reasons. In such situations the old name will still be available in old versions of discussion pages. Username changes are listed in the user rename log.
Deleting your account
It is not possible to delete user accounts. One reason for this is the need for all contributions to be assigned to some identifier; either a username or, in the case of anonymous contributions, an IP address. However, you may request that your user page and user talk page be deleted, as explained at Wikipedia:User page, and have your account renamed as described above.
Sharing accounts
User accounts must only represent individuals. Sharing an account – or the password to an account – with others is not permitted, and doing so will result in the account being blocked.
Exceptions to this rule are limited to accounts that directly represent the Wikimedia Foundation or internal Wikipedia committees, though none are currently active, and bot accounts that are maintained by more than one contributor, provided the existence of such an arrangement is made clear and has consensus.
Using multiple accounts
It is recommended that contributors do not use multiple accounts without good reason, because the misuse of multiple accounts is a major problem on Wikipedia. Using multiple accounts to give the appearance of popularity to an idea, to avoid scrutiny, or to avoid a block or ban on another account are considered major abuses and are not tolerated on Wikipedia.
There are some legitimate reasons for forming multiple accounts: for example, experienced contributors might create a new account in order to experience how the community functions for new or inexperienced users, and contributors using their real name may wish to use a pseudonymous account for contributions they do not want their real name to be associated with. Contributors operating any sort of automated editing process should do so under an alternative bot account.
It is acceptable to create accounts with a username similar to your own in order to prevent impersonation by others. Such accounts are called doppelgänger accounts. The user page of a doppelgänger account should identify it as such (many editors utilise {{doppelganger}}), or redirect to your user page. Doppelgänger accounts should not be used for editing.
It is recommended but not required that multiple accounts be identified as such on their user pages; templates such as {{User Alternate Acct}} may be used for this purpose.