how to temporarily change user name?

[RogueFemale]

I often see name changed for a sensitive topic thread, but am fairly new here and don't understand how it works? I can see how to change my username but what happens if I want to change back and the name is taken?

That's a good question. I don't think you actually relinquish the old username, I think you keep it (since you can change back to it at any time). So if someone else tried to register it, they'd be told it's already taken.

Likewise I assume you can't name change to a username that someone else has used in the past.

You keep all your usernames, you can switch between all the ones you've chosen any time you like. Once you've got more than one there's a 'username history' bit on your account that you can look back and see which ones you've used. I think I've got about 25 last time I looked.

Hi @RogueFemale

Thanks for asking this. As tribpot and GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut have said, once a username is registered to your account, it's yours forever - no one else can take it.

You can register as many names as you like to your account - some people like to have different usernames for different topics, and that's absolutely fine. Just be sure to check your posting name before hitting Send on a post

Thank you @DawnMumsnet @GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut @tribpot