The ideal way to name Twitter accounts is to use first and last names or the name your brand is known as, just like the majority of famous brands and people.

But if your perfect name is already taken, there are a number of alternatives you can consider. Here are some naming strategies used by celebrities and popular brands:

1. Katy Perry (@katyperry) – Whenever you can, grab your first and last name without any other characters in it
2. Harry Styles (@Harry_Styles) – If your first and last name combination is not available, try separating them with an underscore (_) as dashes (-) are not allowed in Twitter usernames
3. Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) – Short names are always better on Twitter, so if your full name has over 15 characters or if you just want to keep your username short, then just use the initial for your first (or last) name
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) – Unless you’ve got an extremely unique given name, you won’t be able to get it as username like Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Jennifer Lopez (@JLo) – JLo’s username illustrates 2 naming tips perfectly – use the name that you’re known for and keep it as short as possible
6. Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) – Even though most people know her full name, we all know her as Oprah so it’s only right if her Twitter username is @oprah
7. Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) – Once again, keep it succinct and exactly how your audience know you as, even if your birth or married name is slightly different
8. Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) – You can use your real name as your name in Twitter but ideally, your username should be your main brand or stage name
9. Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) – Use your middle name in your Twitter name but don’t include it in your Twitter handle if you can
10. Emma Watson (@EmWatson) – If you can abbreviate your name in a way that makes sense, it’s a good alternative to just using an initial
11. Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) – Sometimes there may be no option other than to shorten your name creatively
12. Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) – Some people shorten their surnames, but generally, given names are easier to shorten meaningfully
13. Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) – If you don’t have a cool nickname but always wanted one, then your Twitter handle could be a good time to start branding yourself as this alter ego
14. Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) – You don’t see this naming method much but it’s short, meaningful and easy to remember once you get it
15. Adele (@OfficialAdele) – Celebrities like to use ‘official’ as a prefix and this is one of the only times you can pretend to be one by following suit
16. LeBron James (@KingJames) – You can add ‘king’ as a prefix to your name if you’re a guy but this one is super witty since it’s a version of the bible
17. Diddy (@iamdiddy) – A tried and tested Twitter naming strategy is to add “i am” in front of your name
18. Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) – If all else fails, stick a number at the end of your name to create a unique username
19. Vine (@vineapp) – Products or brands with short dictionary words that may not be available should just add a relevant descriptive word to their brand name
20. Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) – Twitter should have a real person behind the account even if they are representing a popular brand so choose the name and username accordingly

Although these are all Twitter handles, you can use the same naming techniques to create an ideal username for yourself on any social media platforms or any websites where you need an online identity.