GitLab Username Checker

On GitLab.com your username is also your namespace: it sits in gitlab.com/name and in the path of every personal project. Groups and users share that namespace, so a group can hold the name you want too. Type a name below to ask GitLab's public API whether a user has it.

GitLab username rules

Length	2 to 255 characters. One-character namespaces are no longer possible on GitLab.com.
Allowed characters	Non-accented letters, digits, underscores, hyphens and periods. No emoji.
Start and end	Cannot start with _, - or a period, and cannot end with a period or with a file extension such as .git, .atom or .png. Consecutive special characters are not allowed.
Reserved names	System routes such as admin, api, help, explore, users and dashboard are reserved, and a username cannot start with one of them followed by a period.
Renames	Old URLs redirect to the new ones until someone else claims the old path.

Sources: GitLab Docs: change your username, GitLab Docs: reserved project and group names, GitLab Docs: repository path changes and redirects, GitLab Support: GitLab.com specific policies (name squatting). Last reviewed 2026-10-14. Platforms change their rules; the linked help pages are the final word.

How to check a GitLab username

Enter the username without the @ or the gitlab.com/ part. If it starts with a period or ends in .git, GitLab will reject it before it ever checks availability.
We ask GitLab's public users API (api/v4/users?username=) whether a user owns the name. The API needs no login and rarely blocks, so this check usually gives a clear answer.
The API only covers users. A group can own the same namespace, so open gitlab.com/<name> in your browser as well: a 404 page there means neither a user nor a group is using it.
The final answer is the Username field in User settings, which runs GitLab's own availability check when you try to save.

GitLab username taken? What you can do

Try a separator GitLab allows in the middle of a name: mia-dev, mia.dev or mia_dev. Remember the name cannot end with a period.
If you already use the name on GitHub or a package registry, consider matching it there instead of picking a near miss. Developers often search for the same handle across forges.
GitLab forbids name squatting and can release a namespace on request from a member of a paid namespace. A user namespace qualifies only if its owner has not signed in for at least two years and is not the sole owner of an active project.
Unconfirmed accounts older than 90 days and empty groups older than six months are eligible for release straight away under the same policy.

How to change your GitLab username

Sign in to GitLab and open your avatar menu, then Edit profile (User settings).
Select Account and find the Change username section.
Type the new username and confirm. GitLab updates the URLs of your personal projects at the same time.
Renaming is blocked while your namespace has projects with Container Registry tags or hosts GitLab Pages, so deal with those first.

Reserved and restricted names

GitLab keeps a public list of reserved top-level names, such as admin, api, assets, explore, groups, help, login, projects, search, users and v2, plus files like robots.txt and sitemap.xml. Usernames also cannot begin with one of those routes followed by a period, so admin.mia is refused while adminmia is fine.

Tips

After a rename, push and pull still work through the redirect, but update your git remotes anyway. The redirect disappears the moment someone else claims your old name.
API clients may not follow redirects on their own, so scripts that call the old path can fail after a rename.
If you plan to publish packages or Pages sites, pick the final name before you set them up; both block renames later.

Frequently asked questions

How long can a GitLab username be?

Between 2 and 255 characters, using non-accented letters, digits, underscores, hyphens and periods.

Does my old GitLab URL keep working after I change my username?

Yes, GitLab redirects the old namespace and project URLs to the new ones, but only until another user, group or project claims the old path.

Can I get a GitLab username from an inactive account?

Sometimes. GitLab's name squatting policy lets members of paid namespaces request a release. For a user namespace, the owner must not have signed in for at least two years and must not be the sole owner of an active project.

Can a group and a user have the same GitLab name?

No. Users and groups share one namespace on GitLab.com, so a group name blocks the same username and the other way round.

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WhatsMyName Apps is an independent tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by GitLab, the WhatsMyName project, Sherlock or Maigret. Results are leads to verify.