I’ve been working in IT for a few years but am looking for a new job and want a more professional email. My current one has my birth year and everything I’ve read says that can be a red flag for employers. I’ve tried creating a new one using every variation of first, middle, and last name. I’ve used periods and various orientations of initials. I was able to find a few that were accepted.

(First name.middle name. Last name)

(First initial. Middle name, last name)

(First name,middle initial,last name.tech)

I’m just worried that those would be too long. Would any of those work well for a professional email. If not, do you have suggestions?

I also wonder if I might have better luck with a different email platform. Aside from Gmail, is there a different one I could use that wouldn’t throw up red flags to employers?

Edit: Oh my god, the response to this is truly incredible and I really appreciate all the advice. I’m still going through the comments but a common piece of advice is to get a domain. This is good advice and something I should certainly do at some point, especially working in IT. But a big part of the reason I’m looking for a new job is that money is extremely tight. I know it would only be like $20/year but we’re trying to avoid any extra spending, no matter how minor. For right now, purchasing a domain would probably be more of a last resort.

Hey,

I'm creating a new email address for professional reasons and personal. My current address was made when i was 14 and as you can probably guess, it's not very appropriate for a professional atmosphere.

Long story short, I apperantly have a common name because all variants of my first, middle and last name are taken. The only one available is [email protected] but with a letter removed from my middle name. Example - [email protected] (instead of [email protected]).

Would this be a bad idea? Looked down upon by potential employers?

Any help would be really appreciated.

I’ve tried Firstname.Lastname@gmail, Lastname.Firstname@gmail, Lastinitial.Firstname@gmail, and all of the above but just can’t find one and a bunch of numbers just found unprofessional

i’ve also heard that putting the last two digits of ur birth year isn’t very smart and the last two of your grad year isn’t smart either since you won’t be in school forever

Hey there!

Soon starting my second year studying computer science, really liked the first year, especially the programming classes (Python, Java), learning some C++ and Rust the coming year :)

We got recommended to start working on our Linkedin profiles during year 2, and I'm thinking it's time to get rid of the "ponygirl2005"-sounding address I've had since I was a kid and get one I can use in a professional setting.

I like gmail and plan to use it, but my name is already taken. I've looked around here on Reddit and picked up some tips, but I'm having a hard time deciding on what would be the best both for private use and not look out of place in a professional setting.

The tips I've seen on Reddit are:

1. Add your middle name initial or birth year to the address. "jane.j.doe" is already taken, same with "jane.doe.05" and "jane.doe.2005". "jane.j.doe.2005" is free, but is that a bit "much"? I get the feeling it might not look professional?

2. An alternative to the suggestion above would be the complete middle name, but my middle name is a bit long, and my first name isn't really a short "jane", would be more along the lines jeanette.josephine.doe, maybe a bit long?

3. Adding something with the line of work to the address. How about adding "dev", or something similar? "jeanette.doe.dev"? Does this sound good or silly? Also thinking - what if I get into business intelligence/data warehousing, would a "dev" be out of place then?

4. Using protonmail instead of gmail. This came up several times in other discussions. There the first few suggestions are available.

tl;dr - best professional email for a future dev in your opinion?

jeanette.j.doe.2005@gmail - "messy"?
jeanette.josephine.doe@gmail - long?
jeanette.doe.dev@gmail - is "dev" good? What if I end up in BI/data warehousing, still good?
jeanette.j.doe@protonmail - is Protonmail a good alternative with a professional vibe?
jeanette.doe.05@protonmail -same as above

Any other suggestions? Thanks :)

My name (say John Doe) is taken, and all variations (JDoe, DoeJ, JohnMiddleInitialDoe, etc).

My question is, what's a good quality alternative to gmail that I could use? I was looking around, and I don't know...I was thinking maybe protonmail but I feel like some employers will scratch their heads, I don't care about privacy, I just want professionalism.

What say you? Also if I get my own domain, and my last name is taken, would john@johndoe look good or weird? Any other suggestions?

Hey there, I was wondering if this would be a professional email. Since my first and last names are taken, I put a 0 at the end.

ex. firstnamesurname0

I’ve been working in IT for a few years but am looking for a new job and want a more professional email. My current one has my birth year and everything I’ve read says that can be a red flag for employers. I’ve tried creating a new one using every variation of first, middle, and last name. I’ve used periods and various orientations of initials. I was able to find a few that were accepted.

(First name.middle name. Last name)

(First initial. Middle name, last name)

(First name,middle initial,last name.tech)

I’m just worried that those would be too long. Would any of those work well for a professional email. If not, do you have suggestions?

I also wonder if I might have better luck with a different email platform. Aside from Gmail, is there a different one I could use that wouldn’t throw up red flags to employers?

I am firmly determined on using Gmail, but the name is common and all name and number combinations with one or two digits are taken.

[email protected] is the only form that is unique and not taken, but it sounds excessively egotistical in my opinion. Will it come across that way if I use it for professional purposes?

I am not interested in purchasing a domain either.

I am trying to make a gmail account, but the combinations of my name are taken. I’d like to avoid using my full first name (it’s quite feminine and I’m going into a male dominated industry, so I’d like to avoid people judging me or whatever) and any refrences to places or careers (because they’re subject to change). Does putting “the” in front look unprofessional (like “the(firstinitial)(middleinitial)(lastname)@mailservice.com)? What does look professional in an e-mail name? Thanks

Edit: I’m mostly looking for words I can add to my name that still sound professional. One person has suggested “email”, and I’ve been considering “i.am” or something like that.

Slightly odd post, I know, but I'm hoping y'all can help.

I need to make a new professional email, but my name is something generic like Robert Smith. Obviously all the plain versions of my name are already taken.

Adding numbers seems juvenile; is that acceptable for a business email? And I have no middle name to use, so that option is out. Other thoughts?

I got a small local business and I am trying to register a gmail account, but the variations I want to use are taken.

What can I append/prepend to my email that will not elongate the email too much and sound professional? A few I had in mind:

info.<email>@gmail.com
<email>[email protected]
help.<email>@gmail.com
support.<email>@gmail.com

Any other ideas? Wondering what you guys do when your email is taken.

Short of getting a time machine, what can I do to secure a more professional email address when I have a super common name eg. John Smith?

I'm looking for ideas for my domain name/email.

Would something like [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] be best?

Unfortunately there are no good tlds for lastname.tld

Any recommendations regarding email addresses would be appreciated

My name is long and has silent letters, so does my last name.

I work in an specific field, but it uses a different word in different languages and I may end up working for companies of different countries. (This makes me sound successful, I'm not, but I'm hopeful I'll be someday)
I wish I had an email address that was easy to write, read and share.

How can I make a professional email address that checks all my boxes? (I know most companies give you a new email address, but I need an email to get a job first).

Hi, my name is fairly common in the UK, and I’m looking for advice on how to get a clean, professional looking email address. Ideally, it would work with Gmail, as that’s where I manage my other accounts.

I’m open to using a small email provider or setting up a custom domain as long as it looks conventional without any numbers, like [email protected] or [email protected]. I recently secured lastname.am, but the less common TLD makes it look a bit weird and scammy.

If anyone knows of small email providers where my name might still be available or has suggestions for other ideas, I’d love to hear them please. I do have a budget of around £150/$185 but flexible and I’m willing to pay for google workspace.

Thanks!

I have a professional email with my first and last name, but I have a long, confusing, hyphenated last name. For personal reasons I want to scrub this name from existence as much as possible, which includes getting a new email address. My issue is creating one without a last name. I’ll be taking my finances last name eventually but since it isn’t my legal name yet I don’t know if I should just use his, or try to come up with something else. Any variation of my first name is taken, and I don’t want to have a string of numbers. Does anyone have advice for creating a professional email without a last name? Or does it even need to be “professional” as long as it’s not offensive? Thanks.

I've had a bunch of GMail accounts since 2004, but I didn't make any account based on my name, since I was a kid back then and didn't realize the importance of professional username (i.e. name based one). Now, I tried to make a professional GMail account, but failed on almost every usable permutations. These are what I've tried and failed.

• f first name, m middle name, l last name, b birth year, FMLB an initial of that (in case of birthyear, the latter two digits)

• fl, ml, fml

• lf, lm, lmf, lfm

• fL, mL, fmL

• Fl, Ml, FMl

• flb, flB, fmlb, fmlB

• FLb, FMLb, FbL

• "The" + (FL, fl, fL, Fl, fml, FmL)

• "IAm" + (FL, fl, fL, Fl, fml, FmL)

It looks like someone who bears the same name already hoarded up every permutations. Custom domains doesn't really help, since I don't want anything that's not .com or any .com domain that doesn't contain my name, and FML.com, FL.com,l.com,f.com,fl.com,lf.com,fml.com, lmf.com domains are already taken. I've tried @outlook.com, and secured some usernames (The + fl and The + fml) but unable to get good ones like fl, fml, lf, Fl, fL.

What is the best option for me? I have the followings;

1. @gmail.com usernames with 6 letter words: many of them are childish, but there are some words relatively neutral and frequently used. I wouldn't disclose the exact username, but in terms of usage frequency, best ones are close to something like system or please

2. The + fl + @outlook.com and The + fml + @outlook.com

3. FML + .com domain (grandfathered G Suite from free era) with 4 alphabet characters (unpronounceable)

4. FML or something similar + .com domain (didn't register to G Suite when it's free) with 2 alphabet + 1 non alphabet character (unpronounceable)

I use both domains for my personal servers, and anyone who try to reach those domains on browsers would see either a sign in prompt(the 4 character domain) or 403 forbidden(the 3 character domain).