A username is the one thing on your profile you cannot casually change, because it is in every link anyone has ever shared to you. That makes it worth ten minutes of thought rather than the two most people give it.
Instagram lets you change a username, so this is not permanent in the strict sense, but every old link, business card, printed poster and tagged photo keeps pointing at the previous one, and Instagram may release the old handle to someone else. Treat it as a name you will keep.
The useful test is whether someone can hear it once and type it correctly. Numbers, doubled letters and creative spellings all fail that test, which is why they cause a slow leak of people who never find you.
Name based
- firstnamelastname
- first.lastname
- firstname.middleinitial
- lastnamefirstinitial
- name.thecraft, like ellie.bakes
- name.city, like jonah.leeds
- itsfirstname
- realfirstname
Name plus what you do
- ellie.bakes
- tomdoesjoinery
- marta.paints
- samruns
- theclarkkitchen
- annaonfilm
- writeswithdan
Business and shop names
- northgatetools
- millroadbakery
- thesmallceramics
- studio.ninetwo
- harbourcoffee.co
- greenlaneplants
Location based
- leedsbaker
- brightonfilmphoto
- cardiff.eats
- pennineclimber
- thamesrower
- eastsidejoinery
Niche and topic
- slowbreadproject
- coldwaterswims
- theallotmentdiary
- oldhousefixes
- twelvebooksayear
- smallgardenbigplans
Aesthetic and lowercase
- soft.hours
- quietkitchen
- foundandkept
- littlewarmthings
- paperandsalt
- slowsundayclub
Creators and portfolio accounts
- danedits.video
- frames.by.mara
- the.second.draft
- pixels.and.paper
- studio.of.small.things
- jbuildsfurniture
- notesonrunning
Short and memorable
- saltandsteel
- twoovens
- thirdcoast
- northlight
- slowcircuit
When your name is taken
- Add the craft rather than a number: ellie.bakes, not ellie123
- Add your city: ellie.leeds
- Add a definite article: theellieward
- Use a middle initial: ellie.j.ward
- Use your full formal name if the short one is gone
- Reverse the order: wardellie
Second and side accounts
- firstname.reads for a books account
- name.film for a photography account
Names to avoid
- Anything with a birth year in it
- Doubled letters that people will mistype
- Long strings of underscores
- A trend word that will date within a year
- A misspelling you have to correct every time
Couples and family accounts
- thewardhouse
- twoandadog
- theclarkkitchen
- ourslowrenovation
- themillroadfamily
How to pick one
Say it out loud before you commit. If you have to spell it for someone, or if it needs an explanation, it will cost you traffic every time somebody tries to find you from a conversation. Avoid numbers and underscores where you can, since both get lost when a name is spoken and underscores are easy to miscount. Keep it short enough to remember and consistent across platforms if you can, because one handle everywhere means anyone who finds you in one place can find you in the others. Check the name is free on the other platforms and as a domain before claiming it, even if you do not need them yet. Think about how it ages, too. A username built around your current job, your age or a trend you like this year is a name you will resent in three years, and by then it is embedded in every link to your profile. A name built around your own name, your craft or your place holds up. And if your first choice is taken, add a real word rather than a number, since a descriptive suffix helps people find you and a number just looks like a spare account. Once the name is settled, the Instagram post ideas generator is a fast way to check you have enough to post about under it. To think through what your account is actually about before naming it, the content pillar generator is a decent starting point.
Finally, write it down and look at it the next day before you claim it. Handles that feel clever in the moment often read differently once the enthusiasm has worn off, and this is a decision worth sleeping on.
It is also worth thinking about the display name separately. That field is searchable, so it can carry the plain descriptive words, which frees the handle up to be shorter. A handle of your name plus a display name saying what you do covers both jobs without cramming everything into one line.