You can change your Gmail display name in Settings in under a minute

Your Gmail display name is what appears in the "From" line when you send an email. It is separate from your Gmail address itself — you can change the name without changing your email. Go to Gmail Settings (the gear icon in the top right), select See all settings, then click the Accounts and Import tab. Under "Send mail as", you will see your current name. Click Edit info next to it, change the name in the box that appears, and click Save changes. The new name takes effect on your next sent email.

If you have multiple email addresses set up in Gmail, each one can have its own display name. You edit them the same way — just make sure you are editing the correct "Send mail as" entry in your settings.

Key Takeaways

  • Your display name is what recipients see in the "From" line, and it is different from your actual Gmail address.
  • You change it through Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as > Edit info, and the change takes effect when ready on new emails.
  • Old emails you already sent will still show your old name, but future emails will show the new one.
  • If you have multiple email addresses in Gmail, you can give each one a different display name.

Where to find the display name setting

Open Gmail and look for the gear icon in the top right corner of the page. Click it and select See all settings from the dropdown menu. You will land on the General tab by default. Click the Accounts and Import tab instead — it is the second tab at the top of the settings page.

Scroll down until you see the section labeled Send mail as. This section lists every email address you can send from in this Gmail account. Your primary Gmail address will be listed first, usually with "(Default)" next to it. If you only have one email address, you will see only one entry here.

The exact steps to edit your name

Find your email address in the "Send mail as" section. To the right of it, you will see a small link that says Edit info. Click that link. A box will pop up with your current display name already filled in.

Delete the old name and type in the new one. You can use your real name, a nickname, a business name, or any text you want recipients to see. There is no character limit that matters in practice. Once you have typed the new name, click the Save changes button at the bottom of the box.

Gmail will confirm the change with a message at the top of the page. The new name is now active. Any email you send from this point forward will show the new name in the "From" line. Emails you sent before the change will still display your old name.

What happens to emails you already sent

Changing your display name does not alter any emails that are already in your inbox or sent folder. If someone received an email from you last week with your old name, that email will still show the old name when they look at it. The change only affects new emails going forward.

This is actually useful if you are changing your name for a reason — it creates a clear before-and-after point in your email history. People who know you by your old name will still be able to find old emails from you.

If you have multiple email addresses in Gmail

Gmail lets you send from multiple email addresses within a single account. Each address can have its own display name. For example, you might have a personal Gmail address that displays as "Sarah Chen" and a work email address that displays as "Sarah Chen, Marketing Director".

To edit the name for a different email address, find that address in the "Send mail as" section and click Edit info next to it instead. The process is identical — you are just editing a different entry. When you compose a new email, you can choose which "From" address to use, and Gmail will automatically use that address's display name.

Changing your Google Account name versus your Gmail display name

There is a difference between your Gmail display name and your overall Google Account name. Your Google Account name is what appears in Google Drive, Google Photos, and other Google services. Your Gmail display name is only what shows in emails.

If you want to change your Google Account name instead (the name that shows across all Google services), you do that in a different place: go to myaccount.google.com, click Personal info on the left, and edit your name there. That change will affect your entire Google Account, not just Gmail. For most people, changing the Gmail display name through Settings is what they actually want.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my Gmail address itself, or just the display name?

You cannot change your actual Gmail address (the part before @gmail.com). You can only change the display name that shows in the "From" line. If you need a completely different email address, you would need to create a new Gmail account. However, you can add other email addresses to your current account and send from them if you own those addresses.

Will changing my display name affect my password or how I log in?

No. Your login credentials stay exactly the same. You log in with your Gmail address and password, and changing your display name does not touch either of those. It only changes what name appears when you send an email.

How long does it take for the new name to show up?

The change is when ready. The next email you send will show your new display name. If you send an email within seconds of making the change, it will already have the new name in the "From" line.

Can I use special characters or emojis in my display name?

Gmail accepts most characters, including numbers and punctuation. Emojis usually work too, though some email clients may not display them correctly on the receiving end. If you want your emails to look professional, stick with letters, numbers, spaces, and basic punctuation.

What if I forgot what my current display name is?

Go back to Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as. The name shown next to your email address is your current display name. You can see it without editing anything.