Running a shop
Can You Change Your Etsy Shop Name?
Yes, five times once the shop is open. The rules, the two changes that do not count against your limit, and what to check before you rename.
Yes, you can change your Etsy shop name, and you get five changes once your shop is open. Before it opens, as many as you like. After the fifth, you need Etsy Support to approve it. Here is what actually happens when you do, and the two things worth checking first.
The short answer
Etsy's own help page is clear on this. Change the name as often as you want before the shop goes live. Once it is open, you have five changes in your shop settings. Past that, further changes require approval from Etsy Support.
Several guides say you only get one change. That is wrong, and it is worth knowing, because it makes the decision feel far more final than it is.
Five is generous but not infinite. Treat it as five decisions rather than five experiments, because there is no counter showing how many you have used.
The rules on your shop name
Four constraints, and they are stricter than most sellers expect.
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Length | 4 to 20 characters |
| Characters | Letters and numbers only |
| Spaces | Not allowed |
| Uniqueness | Cannot match an existing shop |
No spaces, no hyphens, no underscores, no punctuation at all. Cozy Nest Designs is not a valid shop name. CozyNestDesigns is.
Capital letters are your only tool for separating words, and they work well. MapleThread reads instantly; maplethread does not.
What does not count as a change
Two things do not use one of your five, and both are useful.
Changing capitalisation. maplethread to MapleThread is free and unlimited. If your only problem is that the name is hard to read, this fixes it at no cost.
Going back to a previous name. Reverting to a name you have used before does not count either. So a change you regret is not permanently expensive.
That second one is worth remembering before you agonise over a decision. Trying a name and going back costs you one change, not two.
What happens when you change it
Four things, immediately.
Your shop URL changes. Your shop lives at etsy.com/shop/YourShopName, so a new name means a new address. Etsy redirects the old URL to the new one, but every link you control still points to the old address until you update it.
Your old name is locked. No other seller can take it. That protects you from someone picking up your former name and trading on your reviews.
Your listings are unaffected. Titles, tags, photos, reviews and order history all stay exactly as they were. Nothing about your search ranking changes because of the rename itself.
Buyers may not notice. Repeat customers looking for the old name will not find it unless they use the old link. This is the part sellers underestimate, and it is why announcing the change matters more than the change itself.
Shop name is not the same as shop title
These two fields get confused constantly, and the confusion causes real damage.
| Shop name | Shop title | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 4 to 20 characters | Up to 55 characters |
| Spaces | Not allowed | Allowed |
| Becomes your URL | Yes | No |
| Purpose | Your brand | What you sell |
The shop name is your brand. The shop title is the tagline underneath it, and it is the one that appears in Google results alongside your shop name.
This matters because sellers try to cram keywords into the shop name, where they have twenty characters and no spaces to work with. HandmadeCeramicMugsCo does not fit and reads badly if it did.
Put the brand in the name. Put the keywords in the title, where you have 55 characters and spaces are allowed.
If you are renaming to improve your SEO, you are probably editing the wrong field. Shop names carry very little search weight. The 55 character shop title carries considerably more, and changing it costs nothing and counts against nothing.
What to check before you change it
Three things, and the first two take five minutes each.
Is the name available everywhere else? Not just on Etsy. Check Instagram, Pinterest and whether the domain is free. Finding the perfect Etsy name and discovering the Instagram handle is taken is a bad discovery to make afterwards.
Does it survive being said out loud? People recommend shops verbally and search from memory. A name that needs spelling out is a name that loses word of mouth.
Is it too narrow? WeddingPrintables is clear and it also fences you in. If you might sell birthday cards in two years, a broader name saves you a rename later.
Shorter is generally better. Six to fourteen characters reads well on mobile, fits in a profile, and is easier to remember than something using all twenty.
How to change your Etsy shop name
The path is short.
- Open Shop Manager
- Go to Settings
- Choose Info and Appearance
- Find Shop name at the top and select Change
- Enter the new name and save
If Etsy rejects it, the usual reasons are that the name is taken, it contains a disallowed character, or you have used all five changes.
After you change it
Four things to update the same day, because none of them happen automatically.
- Your social media handles and bios, so people arriving from there land in the right place
- Any links you have shared, in newsletters, on a website, in past messages
- Your packaging inserts, if they carry the shop name
- Your shop announcement, telling existing customers what happened and that it is still you
That last one is the one sellers skip and then wonder why returning buyers disappeared.
When renaming is not the answer
A rename feels like a fresh start, and it occasionally is. More often it is a response to a shop that is not selling, and the name is almost never why.
Buyers do not choose between listings on shop name. They choose on the first photo, then the price, then the reviews. A better name attached to the same listings produces the same results.
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Buyers choose on the photo, not the name
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Frequently asked questions
Can you change your Etsy shop name?
Yes. Before your shop opens you can change it as often as you like. Once it is open, Etsy allows five changes in your shop settings, after which further changes need approval from Etsy Support.
How many times can you change your Etsy shop name?
Five, once the shop is live. Changing only the capitalisation does not count, and reverting to a name you have used before does not count either. Etsy does not display a counter, so keep your own note of how many you have used.
What are the rules for an Etsy shop name?
Four to twenty characters, letters and numbers only, no spaces or punctuation, and it must not already be taken. Use capital letters to separate words, since that is the only tool available for readability.
Does changing my Etsy shop name affect my SEO?
Barely. Shop names carry very little search weight, and your listings, tags, reviews and ranking are unaffected by a rename. Your URL changes, but Etsy redirects the old address to the new one. If you are renaming for SEO reasons, the 55 character shop title is the field that actually matters.
What is the difference between an Etsy shop name and a shop title?
The shop name is your brand, limited to twenty characters with no spaces, and it becomes your shop URL. The shop title is a separate field of up to 55 characters that allows spaces, describes what you sell, and appears in Google results. Keywords belong in the title, not the name.
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