Your Facebook name is used to help friends, family, and people you know to find you and get in touch with you easier. Keep reading, I will show you how to change your name on Facebook.
For a variety of reasons, you might want to change your Facebook name – whether you’ve changed your name in real life recently, if you’re unsatisfied with your current name, or if you just want a more professional look to your Facebook profile.
Although fake names are frowned upon, Facebook allows you to easily change your name up to four times. You can add a nickname, change the order of your name (e.g. “surname-name” as opposed to “name-surname”), one of your name, surname and middle name, or all of them altogether.
Things you should know before you begin
You can only change your name every 60 days
Facebook’s policy frowns upon fake profiles, so the system only allows name changes every 60 days. In addition, they offer the option to report fake profiles or profiles that pretend to be a celebrity or someone you know.
You can only change your name four times
As said above, in order to minimize the attempts to spam the feature to change your Facebook display name, each user is allowed a total of four name changes. If you’re unsure what your new Facebook name should be, we recommend that you wait and change it only when you are sure, in order to avoid using your name changes unnecessarily.
Steps for changing your Facebook name
First option: Using a web browser (such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.)
Step 1: Click the down arrow key (▼) in the upper right corner of your Facebook window, then click on Settings.
Step 2: In the left pane, select “General”, then click “Edit” in the General Account Settings panel.
Step 3: Type in your desired name, surname, middle name, or nickname when prompted, then click “Continue”.
Step 4: Choose the order of your new name, surname, and middle name.
Step 5: Enter your password to confirm the changes to your account. Click “Save Changes” to finish the process.
Step 6: You’re all set! Your displayed name should change effective immediately, although in some cases confirmation and processing might take up to 24 hours to complete.
Second option: Using the smartphone Facebook App
Step 1: Tap on the “Menu” button in the lower right corner to bring up your account’s options.
Step 2: Scroll down to the very bottom, and tap on “Settings”, then tap “Account Settings”.
Step 3: Once in the “Settings” menu, tap on “General” then tap on “Name” to bring up the option to change your Facebook name.
Step 4: Change your nickname, first name, middle name, or surname to your preference, then tap on “Review Change”.
Step 5: Pick the order for your first name, middle name, and surname, then enter your password in the box below to finish your changes. Next, tap on “Save Changes”.
Step 6: You’re done! Your Facebook display name will shortly be changed to your new preference.
I have explained how to change your name on Facebook but please note that sometimes (the update is not instant) it might take up to 24 hours for the change to take effect.
