If you are new to the Kik Messenger app or are thinking of creating a new profile for yourself, you’ll have to come up with a good name. But, how would you choose your Kik name?
If you think that selecting a good name for your Kik Messenger profile is easy, then think again because it is actually a lot harder than it may seem at first sight.
But that is why I am here for, to give you all the information you need so that you can get a good Kik name.
The first confusing thing about Kik names is that each user has two of them. How so? Because there are two kinds of Kik names: usernames and display names. and each of them serves a very different purpose. Understanding the differences between both of these kinds of names is essential to make the most of this popular instant messaging app. It is important that you choose a good username and a good display name but the reasons why you should pick one and no other name for each of those kinds are quite different.
The display name is a lot less important because you can literally use anything you want (many people use their real name or a nickname for it. It does not matter if your display name is the same as the one used by other user or thousands of others. You will also be able to change your display name as many times and as often as you so desire.
Let’s now go into what makes a good username.
Usernames for Kik
The first thing that you must know about a Kik username is that this is going to be the main way in which other users will be able to both find you and identify you.
If another member knows what your username is, all he or she will have to do in order to find you is to enter it into the Kik Messenger search bar. Once they have added you to their friends’ list they will be able to identify you and see whenever you are online, so they can chat with you.
This is not the only way to find other users, though. For users, who enable to “address book matching” feature, their usernames will be automatically added to their contacts’ friends’ list. Also, if you use Kik code other users will be able to add you to their friends’ list even if they have no idea what your full username is.
But even for users you enable the “address book matching” or advertise their profile’s Kik code, the only way in which they will be able to identify others on Kik would be by their respective Kik usernames.
Each and every username on the Kik Messenger app is unique. What this means is that there are no two Kik usernames that are the same. But there are a lot of different usernames that are extremely similar, with differences that are often reduced to a single character that has been changed, removed, or added.
Aren’t All Good Names Already Taken?
Because the Kik Messenger app is so popular, you can imagine that there already are literally millions of usernames that cannot be used because they have already been taken by somebody else. But to make matters worse, even when a user deletes his or her profile their username is reserved for them in case they decide to reactivate their profiles and come back to the instant messaging app again further down the line.
So, even if you choose a username that is no longer in use you might find that you cannot use it yourself if it belongs to someone else who, although no longer active, used it to create their profile in the past.
The good news is, that if you change one or more characters (often changing one is just enough), you may be able to come up with your very own original username that nobody else has already picked out. But you will have to bear in mind that having a username that is too similar to another existing one, you may be added by friends of that other person. But, hey, that might also turn out to be a cool way to make new friends. Who knows?
You may feel pressured to come up with a good username for Kik because you simply will not be able to complete the signing up process and, therefore, not use the app at all until you have come up with a username that nobody else has already chosen.
What’s in A Name?
But although you may not choose the username you want, you should not be discouraged by this.
I have some advice for you that might help you. There are two main ways to go about creating an original Kik username. The first way would be to simply select a random string of characters as your username. This is by far your best bet at coming up with a wholly original username that nobody else is already using, which will save you a lot of time.
But there is another way that may be more suitable for those users for whom having a username that means something is important. The only problem is that it might take more time and imagination. If you don’t mind spending some time thinking up different usernames and trying them out to see if they are available this may be the right option for you. A good idea would be to use a word (or combination of words) that would mean something only to you. Combining two different concepts tends to work. And, if whatever you come up with is not available, then change the spelling slightly (in unusual ways, if you can) or add numbers to it.
You must always remember one thing, however: your username will be your calling cards for other users. This is particularly important for other users that do not know you in real life. So, you should consider what assumptions other users may make if they judge by your username. Surely, you don’t want to give potential new friends the wrong first impression.
So, this has been how to choose your Kik name. If you have any feedback, questions, or would simply like to share your own experience with our other readers, please leave us a message in the comment section below.