Glossary
The username market, defined
Plain definitions of the terms used in the username market — OG handles, letter tiers, brandable names, escrow, reclaim and larping.
- Username
- The unique handle that identifies an account on a social platform, shown after the @ symbol. Distinct from the display name, which is not unique.
- Handle
- Common synonym for a username, used interchangeably in the resale market.
- OG username
- A clean single-word or very short username with no numbers, underscores or suffixes — the kind claimed in a platform's earliest days, before naming conventions filled in. Examples: @y, @money, @01.
- 3-letter username
- A username of exactly three characters. Only 17,576 combinations exist per platform using the Latin alphabet, which is what makes the tier scarce.
- 4-letter username
- A username of exactly four characters. 456,976 combinations exist — twenty-six times the three-letter supply, which is why real dictionary words are still obtainable at this length.
- Brandable username
- A handle that can carry a business identity without friction: pronounceable, spellable from hearing it once, free of unintended meaning, and not tied to a single product.
- Escrow
- A neutral third party who holds the buyer's payment until the agreed transfer is verified, then releases it to the seller. It removes the moment where one party holds both the money and the asset.
- Username transfer
- Moving a handle from one account to another, either by transferring the account itself or by the seller renaming so the buyer can claim the freed handle.
- Reclaim
- Recovering a username that is held by a dormant or inactive account, rather than buying it from an active holder.
- Larping
- Performing ownership or wealth one does not have — in this market, claiming handles or sale prices that cannot be verified. It distorts the comparables other buyers price against.