Just wanted to offer some advice about choosing a YouTube username, as I see people making this mistake a lot. Read closely because naming your account is where you can really hurt your channel forever… or help it forever. NOTE: If you’ve already done this, please don’t panic and abandon your account! I’ll talk about that scenario further down. If you want to create a popular YouTube channel, it’s important that you create a strong and memorable “brand” of your own. A huge part of that is picking a good username. Unfortunately, most people spend about two minutes deciding this, when they should take two days, weeks, or more. Seriously. If you’re going to give YouTube a lot of time and effort, it’s a huge decision that should be made carefully.
Here’s what most people do…
Nope. In something of a panic, she starts throwing in random letters and numbers and comes up with “x1JenniferJones924x“. Yay! That’s not taken! *slap forehead* Jennifer then happily starts promoting her YouTube channel, and over the next year, wonders why it’s such an uphill battle. One big problem here of course is that “x1JenniferJones924x” is downright impossible to remember. Jennifer might make amazing videos – but her channel will always be handicapped by a username that is too clunky and cumbersome. Getting a YouTube account off the ground is hard enough, so why make it harder?
Here’s what I think you should strive for… You probably won’t be able to hit all of these, but cover as many as you can: 1. Keep it as short as possible. This has become increasingly difficult as the number of YouTube accounts has grown into the hundreds of millions. Even so, you should still make an attempt to nab a short username. Some of my favorite account/brand names are just a made-up words: Nalts, Onision, and Smosh. They’re short, fun, and easy to remember. Can you come up with a shortie of your own? Good. It’s probably taken, but give it a try anyway. 2. Make it catchy and memorable. “x1JenniferJones924x” obviously doesn’t fall into this category. If she had spent more time thinking about it, she might have come up with something more creative and cute, like Jonezie, MissJonzie, or JonezieJ. A catchy username will literally catch you. It recently happened to me with a channel called iCrazyBitchTV. I saw that name and just had to click. It’s an example of how a catchy name will work for you, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When I mention my friend HappySlip to people, the first thing they think of is something sexual. That’s the bad news. But when I tell the story of why she chose the username, they not only laugh, but they never forget it. That’s the good news – her brand name is very memorable and catchy. Some of the other account names I like are RoosterTeeth, VlogBrothers, MyBigImagination, RatedRR, and HouseholdHacker. Tough to forget those, isn’t it? 3. Consider your schtick. Are you doing a cooking show? Make-up tutorials? Sketch comedy? You obviously want to consider that when choosing a name. Make it relevant. I don’t care how many times you smack face-first into that UNAVAILABLE wall — you should never resort to jamming random numbers into your account name. Again, just think about all the massive amounts of time you’re going to put into this endeavor. The last thing you want something constantly slowing you down. Granted, there are exceptions like JPizzle1122 or JulianSmith87. These guys are extraordinarily successful, but I still think their usernames hurt them a bit. “But Matt, there’s nothing available! I looked up everything!” Time to dig deeper. Try this as an exercise: Take a piece of paper and write a column of 50 words on the left side. These words should describe you, your videos, or your brand (smart folks call them adjectives). On the right side, write your first name, then your name last below it. Start drawing lines to connect them. Connect different combinations of words, and flip them around until you find something catchy and memorable. Add more words. Really dig deep. It may take days or weeks, but when you find a name that crackles and is available, I promise you’ll be glad you put in the effort. DON’T GET DOWN. If you’ve been building your channel for months or years and your account name isn’t to be desired, don’t trash it. You’ve worked too hard for those subscribers. You might as well continue on. However, if you do want to switch, what I suggest you do is make a new account, and simply upload a video to the old one, letting your subscribers know that you’re “moving”. You won’t get everyone to switch over, but you’ll definitely get some. It’s better than starting from scratch anyway. Two more suggestions. When creating an account name, type in your chosen capital letters. YouTube often displays them accordingly. This helps because “bretttheintern” is much harder to read then “BrettTheIntern” – “ijustine” harder than “iJustine“. See what I’m sayin’? Still can’t find anything available? Take your favorite idea and try adding “TV” at the end, in all caps. After all, your channel is like your own TV show. I hope this helps you get started on YouTube. If you need specific help from me, I’m available for phone consultations. If you already grabbed that great username, what are you waiting for? Go subscribe to my channel! -Matt Koval PS. This post was primarily written for those subscribed to my newsletter about filmmaking and online video. Feel free to sign up in the upper-right of this page. |
Picking a YouTube Username You Won’t Hate Later
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i want to make a youtube channel with machinma halo vids and series i love halo and i want to then have it as my gamertag
hi can someone give me a free youtube account because im desperate for one
I want to make an youtube account. But, i have no idea for username. A Few hour i have an idea. My Youtube Username is “FreshOrangePresents”
Subscribe my channel okay!!
Hello:
My name is David and I am going to make minecraft videos.
I am a funny, nerdy, great commentary guy that needs a catchy name.
If you can help me, that would be amazinb! Thank you!
P.S. – You have earned a new subscriber!!! :D
This stinks
Thanks! I really like that! Its catchy too.
Hi :) My names Lily, and I don’t know what to do for a username, (That’s why I’m here just in case it wasn’t clear enough) and some of my traits are loving, quirky, random, and a major nerdd <3 Can you help? Thanks!
One more thing: I would like the name to be *Catchy*
To Ian:
I want to make a youtube account but can’t come up with a catchy name. Here are some things that I will do on my channel and my name.
- I am going to do Paper Mario Vids
- My name is Cole
- I am good at gaming
- Most of the vids on my channel are going to be gaming
Here is another thing:
- I DO NOT want there to be any numbers in it!!
Thx reply back asp!!
TO NINA:: okay! thank you for reading1 ill keep thinking for you!
Ian:
That’s a really good name, but Acrylic nails are a type of nail you can do that aren’t natural. I do all my nail art on my natural nails so it isn’t really appropriate for what I do :(
what about one for a gaming channel? im thinking along the lines of yogscast, with a madeup word like that
Jake::
If you wanna go for something funny, try
AnotherLameOldGamer
Something more serious???
Try taking your first name, or the first part of your fave console, and mashing it with the end of your fave game!
EX: JakeBrothers (Jake + Mario Bros…)
EX: PlayCraft (PlayStation + Minecraft)
EX: WiiDUTY (Wii + MW: CoD)
Have fun!
TO EMILY:::
Gymnastics, fitness, and dancing? WOW! How about flexANDflip … it IS open, and its catchy and easy to remember… TRY IT??? if you do let me know so i can check it out!!! Have fun
NINA:::
READ THIS QUICKLY!!! Since you are a NAIL tutorialist,,, I tried NINAcrylic… ITS OPEN! If you dont understand, which you obviously will understand it, Nina (your name) flows perfectly into Acrylic!!! Thats the nail hardener thingy right? I have no idea, but if it sounds cute to a boy, its probably right! Oh, tutorialist is not a word, i think, but it sounds nice! Hope you have fun with your channel
TO TATER:
Does this sound gooooood?
TATERtheMajorNerd
Its not in use, so take it while you can!
If not, I’ll keep thinking!!!
My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on some of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome site!
Me and my friend want to start a youtube account with tutorials for gymnastics moves and dance moves but cant think of a name
we love the name Fit for a feast !
something like thanks inluding fitness and gymnastics
PLEASE HELP !! ASAP
Thanks Emily <3
Hi!
I’m having trouble deciding a channel name for my youtube account. I was wondering if you could help think of one. My name is Pamelia but I go by Tater, but of course Tater was taken. A few adjectives that describe are unique, quirky, random, curious, and I’m a major nerd. The show I’m aiming to make will be random, basically I’ll just talk about whatever. Please help!
Thank you, Tater
Hmm, I wanted Nina’sNails but I googled it and there are already shops and things with that name. Same with Nina Nails.
Two channels that I love, inspiring and successful are: Cutepolish and TotallyCoolNails.
I want something like that. Hmmmm.
:)
@Nina How about NinasNails or NinaKnowsNails or Necessitude(*Actual word* Means the feeling of need) or NeoNails (btw neo means new so it’s like new nails)?
Hi :)
I’ve been wanting to set up a Nail Art Tutorial channel on YouTube but cannot think of a name! I have been trying to think of a good name for around a year now :|
I want something girly and cute or maybe including my name.
I want something catchy too that everyone will remember.
Can anybody help please??
Thanks, Nina :)
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