Choosing a good gaming tag | The ultimate guide

Chances are your first ever gaming tag was much like your first email address: embarrassing, a little immature, and definitely not something you still want to be associated with.

Or you could have chosen your gaming tag only a few years ago but based it on an obsession with a video game you no longer play. PEELY_BOY_SMASH doesn’t really make much sense to those of us who don’t play Fortnite.

Either way, choosing a good gaming tag can be quite difficult and stressful, especially if you were the type of kid that named their toys “Bear” and “Teddy”.

That’s why we put together the ultimate guide to choosing a good gaming tag that you can keep forever, and not just until you stop playing Overwatch.

What to consider when choosing a gaming tag

Don’t just choose the first thing that comes into your head. With a little research and consideration, you can nail an awesome gaming tag that will become part of your gaming setup for life. 

Think long term

You don’t want to be in the same position in another 5 years’ time where you hate your tag and are embarrassed to appear online. You may be top of the league tables in Fortnite, smashing the competition in The Finals, or kicking ass in Tekken 8, but with a nickname like KAWAII_FOR_SEPHIROTH, you won’t want to boast about it.

And if by some strange chance you’re reading this and think “hey, that’s my tag!” then… oh hun. You need our help.

The era of overly cheesy nicknames is sadly over. Look around at your friends (on and offline). Good gaming tags are usually simple, expressive and personalized. Although we do still all know who Markiplier is.

Choose a gaming tag that’s easy to pronounce

There are plenty of gaming tags out there that at first glance, aren’t straightforward to say out loud. Once again, Markiplier… we’re looking at you.

Since streaming has hit it big, this is more and more of an issue as the likelihood of someone saying a gaming tag out loud has increased tenfold. There’s nothing worse than getting a personalized callout from a streamer on Twitch, or a “nice move” from a teammate on Xbox live, only for them to butcher your tag more than a Dead By Daylight killer.

Don’t forget, just because it’s obvious to you, doesn’t mean it is to other people. You’re the one who came up with it after all. A good test is writing it down and asking some friends to read it aloud and see if they pronounce it as you expect.

Another thing you can try is asking friends online to spell out your tag phonetically to you, so you can see how people would internally pronounce it.

Of course, this method isn’t foolproof. There are plenty of different nationalities, regional differences, or even just innate ways of reading things that could easily lead your gaming tag astray.

Watch out for future puns

As none of us are time travelers outside gaming, this is extremely hard to do. We have no way of knowing what innocent word the youth of today will twist into something nefarious 10 years down the line.

But if you’re going to give yourself a gaming name like SUPER_SMASHING_MY_BROS then you only have yourself to blame if your favorite streamer makes fun of you.

So, when you’re looking for gamertag ideas, step back and consider any implications they may have.  Ask your friends, or better yet, get on social media and ask strangers for opinions. They definitely won’t hold back.

How to format your gaming tag

Formatting your gaming tag correctly helps guide players in how to pronounce it. Usually this is done by playing with capital letters, particularly if your tag contains multiple words (which most do). For example, all those years ago, Susan Boyle’s album release would have gone a lot better with some capital letters #susanalbumparty.

That doesn’t mean you need to stick to the basic rules of language, however. Have a little fun! Mix it up, just don’t become the SpOnGeBoB meme.

Capital letters and other indicators will make it easier for your favorite streamer to give you a quick call out without messing up your name. Bonus points if you have it in big letters behind you as part of your gaming set up. Might look a little extra, but if you stream yourself, it would definitely make it easier for your subscribers to read.

Don’t copy someone else’s gaming tag, or idea

The idea of a nickname is to be unique, rather than trying to piggyback off someone else. Plus, we’re pretty sure that those who play games for a living won’t appreciate your “tribute” to them.

A strong, original idea can be the start of your own streaming journey. Years from now they’ll whisper your tag in reverence in the halls of Destiny 2 fame and you can feel pride that you came up with it all on your own.

4 Tips for choosing the best gaming names

If you’re on this article, the most likely reason is that you’ve drawn a blank and can’t think of anything good. That’s why we’re here to help. These 4 tips will help you decide on a unique gaming name that you can use with pride for years to come.

Play around with your first and last name

Play around with variations on your initials or full name to come up with a host of cool username ideas.

For example, if Taylor Swift was a speedrunner, SwiftTaylor makes for a pretty good gamertag. If JFK had an Xbox, he could have been JFSlay. Or Jeremy Irons could be IronJeremy.

We digress…

Another option is pushing together bits of both your names to make a totally unique gamertag like Tayswi or mixing up the letters for an out-there name that sounds more like a Starfield planet.

Integrate a character or universe you really like

A big part of gaming is, of course, our favorite games. Whether you just really fell in love with Suicide Squad (unlikely), or consider Uncharted 2 your ride or die game, you can use them to add flavor to gamertags.

CruisingWithCloud will let everyone know you can’t get enough of Final Fantasy VII’s special character, for example. Or you could choose something instantly recognizable in the gaming community, like TristForce instead or Triforce. Of course, that one only works if your name is Tristan… so to the Tristan’s of the gaming world… you’re welcome.

You could also try and mix a few different universes together to come up with some awesome gaming names.

If your two favorite games are God of War and Call of Duty: Warzone, you could use GodofWarzone. It’s catchy, instantly recognizable and tells others gamers what type of content they can expect to see you playing.

If the next God of War game is garbage though, you might want to change things up, stat.

Gibberish works too!

Your gaming tag doesn’t have to mean anything really. Feel free to use as many nonsense words as Lewis Carroll writing Alice in Wonderland.

This is especially handy if you worry about your favorite games going out of style, or just don’t want your first and last name on display like that. Although the day Zelda goes out of style is the day we put down our gaming glasses for good…

Try using your environment for inspiration. For example, I have a mug of tea on my left and a Totoro with an umbrella on my right.

Taking fractions of each word (mug, umbrella, Totoro) I can make nonsense names like Mugoro, or cute but meaningless tags like UmbrellaTea in a few minutes.

If you’re really stuck, try a gamertag generator

It’s okay to struggle on your own. Even the most creative people in the world seriously struggle with naming things sometimes.

Just ask whoever came up with the name Touch Dic and thought it was a good idea…

And we shouldn’t have to say this but the internet is a sordid place filled with “interesting” viewpoints… being racist/homophobic/bigoted in any way doesn’t make you look big or clever.

It’s not big, clever or memorable. The only thing a name like that will achieve is an instant ban and the dislike of the rest of us.

So, if you’re really struggling, instead turn to a gamertag generator like Plarium for example. All you need to do is choose from masculine, feminine, or random, and keep clicking through the options until you see one you like.

You can also use their suggestion as a jumping off point to come up with your own unique idea.

Have you come to a decision? Let us know!

Hopefully you’ve come out of this article with 5 of the best gaming names you’ve ever thought of and are now busy figuring out your favorite.

Or if it’s even just one super solid, awesome gaming tag, then we’ve done our jobs. Share your brand new and super creative gaming tag in the comments, so we can tell you how great it is.

At the same time you may as well sign up to our newsletter for more gaming advice and tips like how to improve your concentration when playing, or the best birthday gifts for the gamer in your life (even if that’s yourself). We also look at different accessories to maximize your gaming space, including headsets, mice and gaming glasses.