Recommended Student E-mail Names

Parents Forum
1

Hi,

Some colleges allow students to choose their e-mail/login name.

What names would you recommend for student e-mails? These e-mails are used for classes, job applications, and internship applications.


<a href="mailto:FirstLast@student.edu">FirstLast@student.edu</a>



<a href="mailto:FLast@school.edu">FLast@school.edu</a>



<a href="mailto:FMLast@school.edu">FMLast@school.edu</a>



<a href="mailto:FirstML@school.edu">FirstML@school.edu</a>

F: First name initial, M: Middle name initial L: Last name initial

What would be most appropriate? Is one preferred over the other? What are your favorite top three choices?

Thank you for your time, I would really appreciate your insight.

2

I like firstlast@school.edu. Email addresses with middle initials can be hard to remember. Having the first name in the email also reminds the receiver of your first name if you forget to include in an email. My second choice would be flast@school.edu. I would prefer that second choice if your name is difficult to include for some reason, for instance a hyphenated name. (e.g., should the name be anne_mariejones@college.edu or annemariejones@college.edu?)

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3

No offense, but you’re overthinking this. I highly doubt employers are judging you if your full name shows up or not.
If it really matters though, firstlast@school.edu or fmlast@school.edu are more aesthetically pleasing to me.

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4

Another possibility is just using the initials.

But be aware that those with common names may find that the desired email address is already taken. Also, if two people have similar email addresses, the likelihood of email being sent to the wrong person increases.

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5

Another possibility is ■■■ (i.e. just initials).

But also be aware that if the student’s name is common, there may already be someone with the desired name-based email address. If two people have similar email addresses (e.g. FirstLast and FirstLast2), expect lots of mail to end up going to the wrong person (without the sender knowing, since the wrong email address will not bounce).

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6

Thank you all for your help! I decided on a username and will try to see if options are available for my name.

7

Most colleges have a rubric already and use that, whether it be lastnamefirstinitial or something else. I don’t know of any that give an option.

8

When we were doing this for a local school (not college) we went with initials to reduce the information available to the creeps contacting the kids. There’s a lot of difference between stjohnson and Sarah.

EDIT: None of this matters as long as it isn’t an eight digit number or phish69. A good email name format is functional and boring and has an easy way to separate duplicates. Your Snapchat account (or whatever) can be goofy as long as you maintain one face that’s for business.