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Ask HN: Should usernames have a minimum length?

4 points by sage ↗ HN
Some sites don't allow users to select usernames less than 5 or 6 characters in length. Is there a good reason for this?

5 comments

[ 6.3 ms ] story [ 19.2 ms ] thread
Skywing
I would at least make it a minimum of 2 or 3 characters. Perhaps only to promote recognizable or comprehensible user names.
phamilton
2 or 3 char names are great in my opinion. Think about how recognizable pg is around here.
byoung2
Even with longer names, users can still pick names like zzyzx.
madhouse
The minimum length should be 1. Usernames with less characters pose implementation problems.
b0o
The only reason I know of is to make usernames as distinct as possible instead of user 'A' through 'Z' and then 'AB' through ZZ'. but yeah, 2 chars should be good enough. I dislike when i have to choose names like b0oooo or b0oooooooo just b/c i can't have b0o.