How to Pick a Good YouTube Name

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: September 15, 2021 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to pick a unique, memorable name for your YouTube channel. Good names are typically a combination of short, clever, and easy to pronounce. If you want to leave your username up to chance, you can use a username generator site instead.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Brainstorming a Name

1
Understand what goes into a good username. YouTube usernames are often more about being punchy, unique, and easy to remember while being paired with content that has a distinct visual presentation in thumbnails. This means that you don't necessarily need to worry about creating a username with several different aspects to it.
- In many cases, finding a funny or weird nickname or moniker for yourself will be enough to build intrigue about you while making your YouTube channel easy to find and describe in a word or two.
2
Write down a list of your personal traits. Part of creating a YouTube channel is learning how to market yourself, so brainstorm words that apply to you and how you want to portray yourself on your channel.
- Maybe you want to make a comedy YouTube channel and you describe yourself as "funny," "hyper," and "friendly." You could name yourself "Great Greg" or "Mr. Hyper."
- You should also write down unique nicknames here.
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3
Think about traits of the content that you'll be creating. For example, if you want to create a channel that focuses on children movie analysis with a funny twist, you might use a lighthearted synonym for "friendly for children” (e.g.family friendly, "").
- Likewise, if you're planning on creating a serious, in-depth analysis channel, you might want to avoid synonyms altogether.
4
Try to limit your name to three simple words or fewer. Jamming your username full of words, no matter how clever or relevant to your channel, will make it hard to remember, especially if those words are complex or difficult to pronounce.
- The exception to this rule is if you're using a name that plays on a common phrase (e.g., "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"). Since people are most likely aware of the phrase itself, the play on it should be easy to remember.
5
Use some wordplay in your name. If your name is snappy, your audience will be more likely to remember it. Try rhyming, using alliteration (repeating the same first letter, such as Binging with Babish), or synonyms. If all else fails, you can never go wrong with puns.^{[1]
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- For example, if you were making a cooking channel, you could use "Ready Spaghetti" or "Baking Bread with Betty" as your channel name.
- Examples of word-savvy YouTube usernames: Periodic Table of Voices, Crash Course, BoredShorts TV, and Sick Science.^{[2]
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- Avoid using obscure or complicated wordplay.
6
Experiment with one-word names. Trendy names are often made up of one word that's related to your content. While this is a challenging task, your viewers will be more likely to remember your channel name if it's short and sweet.
- Looking up synonyms for your content's general category may give you an idea of how to do this.
- Examples of simple YouTube channel names include channels like Flula and Smosh.^{[3]
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- You can also combine words to create a portmanteau (e.g., "brunch", "smog", "sitcom"). For example, you might combine the words "RPG" and "Gamers" to create "RPGamers".
7
Try to relate your channel name to the content. If there's a way to fit your content's category into your name, doing so will help people determine the kind of content that you'll be producing.
- Don't force your content's persuasion into your name. Plenty of popular creators (e.g., Raycevick) have easily identifiable content while keeping their username short and mysterious.
- If you're making an art history channel, for example, you might want to name it "History Talk" but your viewers won't know that it's about art. Naming it something specific, like "What's Van Goghing On?," will help your potential audience find it.
8
Make sure that your name is easy to pronounce and easy to remember. Word-of-mouth is going to be crucial when expanding your platform, and a complicated name will be hard for your viewers to remember or recommend to others. Pick a name that is easy to spell and remember so people can start talking about it.^{[4]
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- For example, "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" might seem like a great name for a medical YouTube channel, but "Daily Med Fix" might be a better use of space.
9
Avoid common pitfalls. When creating a username, there are a few things that you want to avoid putting in:
- Profanity or vulgarity - While technically allowed in some capacity on YouTube, crude or vulgar language will often prevent your channel from qualifying for ads or viewing with restricted content on.
- Broad or clichéd names - Calling a tech-related channel "Daily Tech" may be accurate, but it will be difficult for prospective subscribers to pick your channel's name out of a lineup. Your username should spark intrigue.
- Symbols or excess numbers - Especially if your preferred username is already taken, it can be tempting to add your birthdate (or something similar) to the end of your username. Channels with these usernames tend to appear sloppy.
10
Come up with a few alternatives. There's always a chance that someone else had the same idea that you did and used your top pick for a username, so make sure that you have a couple of backup plans.
- YouTube's username form will alert you if your selected username is already taken.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using a Name Generator

1
Open the Spin XO site. Go to http://www.spinxo.com/ in your browser. Spin XO allows you to plug in various words and traits in order to come up with a unique combination thereof, after which point you can test your selected username for uniqueness.
2
Enter username components. At the top of the page, fill out one or more of the following fields:
- Name or Nickname - Your real name, your preferred name, or a nickname for you.
- What are you like? - Optional. You can add a personality descriptor (e.g., "funny") here, or you can use a descriptor for the type of content that you want to make.
- Hobbies? - Optional. You can add a word or two for your preferred hobby or hobbies here.
- Things you Like - Optional. Here, you can list different nouns related to things that you enjoy (e.g., "whales bananas cars").
- Important Words? - Optional. If there's a word that you absolutely must have in your username, add it here.
- Numbers? - Leave this space blank.
3
Click SPIN!. It's an orange button to the right of the text fields. Doing so comes up with a list of 30 possible usernames.
4
Review the results. In the results section below the text fields, look for a username that you like.
- If you don't like any of the results, you can click SPIN! again to come up with new options using the same parameters.
- You can also change the information in the text fields to change the persuasion of your name.
5
Select a username. Click a username that you'd like to use. Doing so will open the username in Spin XO's availability checker, which is a.
6
Review the username's YouTube availability. To the right of the "Youtube" heading, look to see if the word "Available" appears; if it does, your username is available on YouTube.
- If your username isn't available, you'll have to select a different one.

Community Q&A

Question

What is a good name for a soccer channel?

Community Answer

PlayHard would be cool but it's probably taken. Think of things like: SoccerKidsUnite, SoccerFansCentral or SoccerTimesUpdates. Check out what others have used. Realize that a lot of the good names will already be taken but you can use a thesaurus to find similar words.
Question

What sort of name should I choose if I am focusing on both gaming and computer tutorials?

Community Answer

Try to relate your name to both topics. If you have the tutorials about the game you play, a good name could be "MiningHelp." This shows you help solve problems in Minecraft. If the tutorials have nothing to do with the games you play, make your name less specific. For example, in "PlayingYourHelp" the word "Playing" would hint that you play games, and the world "Help" would imply that you make tutorials.
Question

How should I let people know about my YouTube channel?

Community Answer

Tell as many people as you can about your channel. It may take a while to get subscribers, but the people you tell might tell others, and your fanbase will grow.