How to change my name in the contact list?

How do I change the name that displays to everyone on my contact list from my real name to my yahoo ID?

• for example..now at the top of my yahoo messenger it says my first and last name as I gave it to register the account..I would prefer it display my yahoo ID on my messenger list and also my friends.

• Answer:

  there is such a lot of misinformation around about keeping your First and Last Names private, some reading is required along with testing your changes but you will get there in the end if you persist.. it really comes down to how much and how well you want to protect your privacy :) to correct a couple of rumours / suggestions going around which are factually incorrect... if you see your first and last name in your IM window and the user is NOT on your friends list they wont see anything but your Yahoo ID, but your First and Last Name details are readily available.... thats why you can see them :) The information is being extracted from your Account Information, which is the form you filled out when you signed up for a Yahoo! ID, and it's this information and details that are causing confusion and distress. If a user not on your friends list puts through a request to add you.. your request WILL go out with your first and last name unless you manually edit the individual request via the Change option on the request, this applies if you send out a request also. If the request is not edited on a per user basis your name details are extracted from your yahoo account details... this is where your First and Last Name information comes from. Via the Change button, you can remove both your First and Last Names (thus having two blank fields) and the request will go through perfectly with no private information changing hands, the only details submitting is your Yahoo! ID... no other information is extracted from your Account information to complete these fields. this only applies to per requests and does not apply if you edit your My Contact Details via Yahoo Messenger if you edit your My Contact Details which are different to your Account Information (Details) via Yahoo Messenger you must complete all 3 fields (First, Last and Nickname)... it's why they are "required" fields :) If you remove your First and Last names and/or just edit your nickname leaving first and last blank then your First and Last names will be extracted from your Account Information and when you grant permission for them to add you to their friends list your First and Last Names go with it. e.g. If you edit your First name in your My Contact Details and remove the information from your Last name field your request / permission will go out with your My Contact Details first name and your Account Information Last Name. we have two articles discussing this which may help with understanding what exactly is going on, the first covers the basic Account Information and My Contact Details http://www.wackyb.co.nz/Yahoo!_Messenger_version_8_Account_Information/ the second goes into more detail and covers yahoo mail etc as well http://www.wackyb.co.nz/Yahoo!_First_and_Last_Name_Showing/