How to change your name on Facebook

Humans are not static creatures. Living is a process of discovery — of the world, of each other, and of yourself. As such, the name a person is given at birth isn't always the name they wish to carry to death. There are countless reasons why someone may choose to change their name, including marriage, affirmation of their gender identity, or simple dislike of the name they currently hold.

Fortunately, Facebook allows users to easily change their name on their profile, so you aren't stuck forever with the one you entered when first creating your account. Facebook itself changed its company name to Meta, after all.

Here's how to change your name on your Facebook account.

How to change your Facebook account name on desktop

1. Open Facebook.

2. Click on the down arrow icon in the top right corner of your screen to open a menu.

3. Click the "Settings & privacy" cog icon.

4. Click the "Settings" cog icon to go to "General profile settings."

5. Next to "Name," click "Edit."

6. Enter your new name, then click "Review Change."

7. Choose how you want your name to be displayed — either your full first, middle, then last name; just your first and last name; or your surname, middle, then first name. Then enter your Facebook password and click "Save changes.

How to change your Facebook account name on mobile

1. Open the Facebook app.

2. Tap the "Menu" profile picture icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.

3. Tap the cog icon in the top right corner of your screen to open your settings.

4. Under "Account," tap "Personal information."

5. Under "General," tap "Name."

6. Enter your new name, then tap "Review Change."

7. Choose how you want your name to be displayed — either your full first, middle, then last name; just your first and last name; or your surname, middle, then first name. Then enter your Facebook password and tap "Save changes."

It's a good idea to check for spelling mistakes before confirming the change, as well as make sure you're happy to stick with your new name for a while. Facebook doesn't let you change your name again within 60 days of altering it, so if you have second thoughts you'll just have to live with it for at least two months.

There are some restrictions as to what Facebook considers a valid name. The social media platform refuses to accept titles such as Doctor or Queen, as well as offensive and suggestive words. It also won't allow symbols, numbers, unusual capitalisation, or punctuation, though X Æ A-Xii Musk is still normal enough by Facebook's standards.

Unfortunately, Facebook won't accept characters from multiple languages either. Anyone with an English first name and Chinese middle name for example will therefore have to transliterate one or the other to make their whole name fit under Facebook's rules.

However, Mashable was pleased to discover and is delighted to report that "Honey Glazed Ham" is considered a perfectly reasonable name.

Found my new pen name. Credit: Facebook