Choosing your Instagram username is a very important yet difficult choice! It is the first decision you will make when you join Instagram. It’s what will define your account, and it is what people will use to search for you.
In this article, we’ll cover how to choose the best Instagram username so that you won’t ever want to change it! Although, Instagram makes it very easy to change your username if you feel the need in the future.
Also, a good username could make all the difference to the growth of your account. With Upleap, customers experience up to 300% faster growth on Instagram. They can help you with all the nitty gritty details of your account. Click here to start your free trial now!
The Best Instagram Usernames
You want to make sure you choose the best possible Instagram username for your account. Your username must be:
- Easy to remember. People will type it in to search for you so make sure it’s simple and if possible, easy to spell.
- Relevant to your account. If you post pictures of all your favorite meaty food, don’t choose a username like, @plantsarefriends.
- Clean. Don’t fill your username with random numbers and underscores. The neater it looks in your bio, the better.
- Iconic. Your Instagram username needs to have a recognizable ring to it. Short and sweet is best!
Of course, there are 800 million people on Instagram so a lot of great usernames have already been snatched up! But don’t worry, you’ll find the perfect username for your account.
Tip: Single words such as ‘inspirational’ or ‘traveler’ or ‘hipster’ will already be taken. However, combing two words, such as @hipsterandwild is not yet taken. Choosing two complimentary words gives you a better chance of finding an available username!
Inspirational Usernames
@Bleachfilm is an Instagram account with nearly half a million followers. They share beautiful photography from people all over the world. Their Instagram username stands out because of the combination of two familiar words in a new context. The words bleach and film rarely go together but the sound is very trendy indeed! So it works very well.
@Cherie_flavor is an example of when underscores work well. Cherie posts about beauty and makeup. She could have easily been simple and made her username ‘makeupbycherie’ or something along those lines. However, using a word like flavor puts a new spin on makeup. Combined with the image of red from her name, Cherie, I imagine red lipstick and pink eyeshadow when I see this username! For sure, you want your Instagram username to conjure up images and emotions for your followers.
Danielle is an Instagram influencer and model with 290,000 followers! Her Instagram username is girly and cute which goes along perfectly with her content. The ‘xo’ is a great touch; it’s almost as if she’s signing a letter to her dearest friends.
We’re sure browsing through your Instagram feed and explore page will help you come up with the perfect Instagram username for your account!
How Do I Get The Perfect Instagram Username?
Before you decide on your Instagram username, you need to know what kind of content you’re going to post on your feed.
If it’s a personal account that you’re going to use to share content with friends and family, it’s best to just use your name. This makes it easy for your friends and family to find you on Instagram. So don’t spell your name wrong or add extra letters if possible. If your name is already taken, try adding your middle name or middle initial.
You might even need to add an underscore or numbers but this is the last resort because it looks tacky and untidy.
For example, if your name is John Smith, and @JohnSmith is already taken, try @JohnGSmith or @JohnGraemeSmith. Play around with usernames until you find one that looks clean and simple for your personal account.
If you are making an Instagram account for a specific purpose, it’s super fun to try and get the right username! Definitely make a list and brainstorm some great ideas. Share them with friends, too, and see what they think!
As an example, let’s say you are making an account to post about all of your travels. You want something that is unique. You don’t want to copy what someone else has already done.
Write A List
First, write a list of words that relate to travel.
For example:
- Flight
- Exploring
- Wandering
- Wanderlust
- Escape
- Adventure
- Voyage
- Nomad
- Barefoot
- World
- Movement
- Navigation
- Expedition
- Maps
- Roam
- Backpacker
Once you’ve got a list of related words, choose your favorites. I like Voyage, Nomad and Backpacker because they’re something different but still recognizable as being related to traveling.
Tip: If your name starts with a letter from this list, combine those two words for your Instagram username. For example, @Mileyismoving or @RebekahRoams or @NomadNicolas. It’s true that followers love alliteration. It’s easy to remember, too.
If you don’t want or can’t work your name into your Instagram username. Choose one of those words and combine it with an adjective. For example, @ConstantMovement or @TheWholeWideWorld or @WalkingMaps. Brainstorming is key!
Also, you can take a traveling word and combine it with something that is surprising yet fitting. For example, @mybarefootstory. Barefoot is a great word for someone who is free and on the go. Story implies that your Instagram account is going to be following your journey. Another idea is something like @theadventureseason. Of course, the word adventure implies that you are a traveling account. Season is an unusual choice but actually, it works very well in this case! Every season is adventure season.
So no matter what kind of content you are going to post, write out a list of a bunch of related words and brainstorm ideas until you find the perfect Instagram username!
Examples Of Great Usernames
@ExplorationFervor is exactly what we mean when we say combine two words that compliment each other! Plus, their photos are stunning.
Of course, all our tips work for any topic! If you’re wanting to post about books and reviews, @perksoftales is a prime example of an Instagram username. She has used the word ‘tales’ which relates to reading and then added something cute and quirky before.
Of course, all our tips work for any topic! If you’re wanting to post about books and reviews, @perksoftales is a prime example of an Instagram username. She has used the word ‘tales’ which relates to reading and then added something cute and quirky before it.
Wow! @ThisIvyLife is one of our favorites. Such a creative and relevant Instagram username. What’s even better, it’s short, sweet, and to the point. You won’t forget this Instagram username!
What Not To Do When Choosing An Instagram Username
We’ve covered what to do when picking your perfect Instagram username. Quickly, we’ll go over what not to do.
- Do not spell it wrong! Be very careful of typos. It will definitely ruin your aesthetic. However, some people spell things wrong on purpose. Usually, this is because their desired username was already taken. We advise you still not to spell your username wrong. For example, some people might choose @theartofdaancing because @theartofdancing is already taken. It’s going to confuse people and make it hard for people to find you.
- Do not use tons of numbers. Of course, sometimes numbers might be your only option if there’s an Instagram username you really want. We recommend not using numbers at all but if you must, don’t use a long list of them. For example, @BeautyLoveSong1281294 looks like a robot username rather than just @BeautyLoveSong. Numbers create mess and confusion. Of course, people will struggle to remember all those numbers!
- Avoid underscores. It’s true, underscores can look really lovely in some usernames. For example, @me_and_orla and @qll_art use the underscore really well. It’s obvious they decided to use underscores rather than resorted them because their desired username was already taken. However, usernames like @our_adventure_is_never_over just look silly with all those underscores. Plus, it’s obvious they chose this because @ouradventureisneverover was already taken.
How To Change Your Instagram Username
If you choose the wrong Instagram username or grow out of it, don’t worry! You can always change it. Of course, when you change it, someone else might take what you used before which means you can no longer change it back. So before you do change it, be certain about it.
- Visit your profile and click ‘Edit profile’ under your follower count.
- Where it says ‘Username’, delete your old username and choose a new one.
- Click done and voila, that’s it! Your Instagram username has been changed.
We hope this helped you craft the perfect Instagram username! Despite the 800 million Instagram users, there are so many creative options left to try.