Facebook Adds Alternate Names to User Profiles
In a bid to make it easier for people who have gotten married or who have names in multiple languages to clearly express their identity, Facebook has just turned on a new feature enabling users to display an “alternate name” on their profiles.
Users had previously been able to specify an alternative name so that they could be more easily found in search results. However, now the alternate name is displayed in parentheses next to their full name wherever it appears on their profile, in search results, and in friend requests. For example, here’s how Sophia Huang’s profile looks now that she’s specified an alternate name in Chinese:
This feature should be very handy for people who have names in multiple languages, have a maiden name, or otherwise changed their name. To enter an alternate name, go to the Account Settings page here.
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:03 am
More likely, people will use it to add stupid MySpace nicknames (excuse me, I meant to say “personal Internet brand names”) and job titles to search results.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I went by a name using initials in high school and nobody can find me. The problem is that when I try to key in the initials (C.J.), I get an error message about having too many periods. Any idea how to get around this?
Thanks
January 10th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
So it’s only been a year and a half Chris since you posted your question. I too went by my initials in high school and wanted to include this nickname. I was searching for an answer to this same question when I came across your post. I had no luck finding one so I just tried using some different characters around the letters (also was told I had too many capitals in alternate name) and found this to work, try surrounding your name in single quotes (‘C.J.’). The only difference I have is I didn’t user periods in my nickname so you may have to take those out.