hiding username

[sleezyscoundrel]

Is it possible to hide a username?

I realize it can't be changed and the information is available on the profile. Some here tend to call me by the username as opposed to the display name.

[valerie Inshan]

No. username canniot be hidden, only for you but from others.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Usernames-and-display-names/ta-p/700173

[Rolig Loon]

Display names are a convenience among friends, like a nickname in RL. For other people, though, they can be confusing because you can change your Display Name every week. I can never be sure who I am talking to unless I look at the person's username.  Sometimes it's simply embarrassing to not recognize a friend who has changed her Display Name.  At other times, though, it's annoying or worse.  Your username is recorded in my sales transactions, for example, not your Display Name.  For conversations that involve things like that, I don't want to confuse you with 20 other people who may have decided to be Mary Smith this week.  In the end, this is the same situation we face in RL.  If you want someone to call you by your nickname, you say "Please call me Biffy" or whatever.  Otherwise, get used to the fact that for many people, especially people that do not know you yet, the safe default will be "Mrs. Smith" or, in SL, "Sleazyscoundrel".

[Syo Emerald]

A username is THE thing to identify an avatar and is therefor not hideable (would be horrible in case of scammers and griefers and such). Displaynames are optional and can be turned off, thats why the other person probably doesn't use it when speaking with or about you.

I had displaynames turned off for some time in the past, cause it got really annoying to see people use the most unreadable fonts they could find, not to speak of silly and horrible names. Also that many uses regular letters from my native language to make their names look fancy always confuses me to some point....

Best would be to speak to the person and tell them what you want to be called and explain your situation.

[Lindal Kidd]

I sympathize...you've chosen a rather unappetizing user name, and now you are stuck with it. 

My suggestion would be, if you have not accumulated too much in the way of friends and inventory...start over.  Sign up again, and this time choose a more respectable user name.

DON'T choose something unpronounceable

DON'T choose something rude or offensive or obscene

DON'T use your Real Life name

DO try to come up with something cute and clever

DO remember that the closest you can come to a surname is a user name with capital letters, like LindalKidd.  And it lets people know which part of your name is which.

DO try for something gender neutral, especially if you think you might be using several different avatars.

DO try to keep it fairly short.  You'll probably wind up with a Display name too, and too much name can really clobber the chat window.

Give your user name some serious thought.  It's the one thing about your Second Life self that is not changeable -- so get it right.