How to change your name in VALORANT

Your VALORANT name can age poorly, especially if you’ve broken up with your “Her Jett” counterpart, so here’s a guide on changing your name.

Because Riot Games likes to have a finger in every gaming pie, it has made changes to how its name change system works. Titles like VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, and Wild Rift fall under the Riot umbrella, meaning a simple name change can impact everything.

Riot accounts are the way of the future. Instead of a separate account for each title, players have to use one. The name-changing process in VALORANT, however, isn’t the same as League of Legends or any other Riot title, for that matter. You don’t have to spend currency to change your name, but when you change it, you have to wait a few months to do it again.

Here’s how to change your VALORANT name.

How to change your VALORANT nickname

To change your VALORANT nickname, follow these steps:

Close the VALORANT client (if it’s already open).
Log in to your Riot account from your browser.
Navigate to the Riot ID tab at the top left-hand side of the page.
Type in your new name in the Riot ID text box.
Click on Save Changes.

A screenshot of the Riot ID tab. It says Riot ID "Dot Esports" and tagline "# one." — Repping Dot Esports, of course. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Riot IDs can be alphanumeric and three to 16 characters long. It doesn’t have to be unique on its own; it has to be unique when combined with your tagline. You can include special characters like α and μ in your nickname.

You can also change your tagline at the end of your name. It includes a hashtag and a set of numbers or letters, similar to a clan tag in League. It can be three to five characters long. Like your Riot ID, taglines are alphanumeric, so don’t hesitate to get creative.

Does changing your VALORANT name affect your name in other Riot titles?

Every single Riot title uses your Riot ID as your in-game name. This means your name will change for all Riot games when you change your VALORANT tagline and Riot ID.

If you make a mistake, it will be present across every Riot-based title you own. So be careful with your name choice.

VALORANT name rules

Now that you get fewer chances to change your VALORANT name for free, you need to know the rules before choosing one. Riot may flag your Riot ID for inappropriate or offensive language and even charge your account in cases of repeat offenses. Here’s what you should steer clear of:

Names that suggest hate speech, slurs, or profanity, either implicitly or explicitly.
Names that invoke or refer to any historical, ethical, or political contexts.
Names that contain insults, grotesque imagery, and strong vulgarity.

But if you are considering choosing your Riot ID from our list of cringe-worthy VALORANT nicknames, go ahead—no one will stop you.

Does changing your VALORANT name cost money?

It doesn’t cost a dime to change your VALORANT name.

Until Nov. 20, 2023, changing your Riot ID and tagline for VALORANT was free, and you could do it once every 30 days. But with Riot reworking its system recently, you now get a free Riot ID change once every 90 days.

Riot ID for all Riot games, including VALORANT. — All Riot games use Riot IDs as the official name system. Image via Riot Games

In October 2023, Riot announced it would be adding a fee for changing Riot IDs, and under this system, players would be allowed only one free name change in 365 days. Naturally, the community wasn’t happy about the new paid route, leading to Riot backtracking on its idea and introducing a 90-day gap between changing names.

There’s no other way—paid or free—to change your nickname outside of the free name change offered. But there’s one exception: If you have changed your Riot ID or VALORANT nickname in the last 90 days and are facing any negative effects, you can submit a player ticket to request a change, and the Riot team should help you.

Can you change your Riot account username?

Your Riot account username is the identification you use to log into the Riot client. It is essentially a unique global username that spans all games and regions.

This username is only used for logging in. No one else has access to it. You’ll have a different display name when playing VALORANT, League, or Teamfight Tactics.

Once you’ve picked a username for your Riot account, you won’t be able to change it. If you get fed up with your username, you can always create an entirely new Riot account, but we don’t recommend doing this. It’s not worth the effort.