# Reserved Usernames
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065
**Category:** Feature
**Tags:** completed
**Created:** [July 1, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065 "2014-07-01T18:23:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/1 "2014-07-01T18:23:31Z")
Hey!
Is there an option for reserving usernames? I cant find it. There should be a textarea where we can just have a list of reserved usernames where users cant sign up with those.
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/2 "2014-07-01T22:34:12Z")
This already exists somewhere in the code, but it’s just a fixed list with entries like `admin` and `staff`.
Changing it to a SiteSetting could make sense.
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### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/3 "2014-07-01T22:57:40Z")
Is there a way to add to that list through the UI?
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### Author:  [@nightpool](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nightpool)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/4 "2014-07-02T06:10:42Z")
That would be what “changing it to a site setting” means.
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### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/5 "2014-07-02T18:11:31Z")
Ok… Is there a temporary work-around for this? Where in the code is this?
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/6 "2014-07-03T16:01:30Z")
The workaround is to suspend anyone who signs up with that name.
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### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/7 "2014-07-09T02:01:30Z")
Then when it comes time to make an account with that username, what would I do?
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### Author:  [@lukelarris](https://meta.discourse.org/u/lukelarris)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/8 "2014-07-09T03:11:30Z")
You could just register an account for every username you want to reserve, and then just hand over the details to whoever you were reserving that username for.
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### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/9 "2014-07-09T03:22:14Z")
I guess thats the only way. ☹
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### Author:  [@Omni](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Omni)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/10 "2014-12-21T01:00:28Z")
I was looking into this not too long ago.
It would be helpful to have a tool which allows Discourse admins to reserve usernames.
Suspending a user right after they join could be traumatic, or simply leave a bad taste in their mouth. In my honest opinion, users should not be punished due to selecting a username they were originally allowed to choose.
Sure, there are some who do not view this as punishment. However, it’s hard enough to simply get people to join a website. Adding more work into the mix could push the user away, recreating an account. Going further into this, the user who was suspended upon joining might have a loud enough voice which could push away others.
The next course of action would be for an administrator to create user accounts for every username they wish to reserve. This seems inefficient, as not only does creating an account take more time than adding a string to a list, but the result leads to data based off the account. The account’s data would no longer be genuine, and would more than likely have to be reset to preserve authenticity.
I’m sure that the Discourse project has many priorities, and a feature like this would be rather low on the totem pole. However, I am crossing my fingers to one day see this available.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/11 "2014-12-21T02:38:34Z")
I thought @riking added a reserved username feature? Am I mis-remembering?
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/12 "2014-12-21T06:02:22Z")
No, it already existed, and I was looking at expanding it, but never got around to it.
I actually forgot which source file it’s in…
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### Author:  [@nahtnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nahtnam)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/13 "2014-12-21T06:02:24Z")
I agree with omni. This is something other forums have (SMF forum).
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2015, 9:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/14 "2015-04-25T09:38:45Z")
I added this to the 1.4 release plan.
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### Author:  [@TheJackah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TheJackah)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/15 "2015-05-12T13:33:24Z")
> [@riking](#):
>
> This already exists somewhere in the code, but it’s just a fixed list with entries like `admin` and `staff`.
>
> Changing it to a SiteSetting could make sense.
Yes. It should be a setting.
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### Author:  [@mbauman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mbauman)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/16 "2023-12-06T18:49:09Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> I added this to the 1.4 release plan.
Did anything like this ever get implemented?
Edit: Aha, yes it did. I should’ve searched the site settings before trying to search here. It’s a site setting called, appropriately enough, `reserved usernames`!
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/reserved-usernames/17065/17 "2023-12-06T19:18:16Z")