What Is A Gamertag? How to Choose a A Good Gamertag?

Do you know what is a gamertag? Read about gamertags and how different gaming platforms use gamertags. See why your gamertag is important.

Everything You Need to Know About Gamertags

Everybody these days seems to have their own gamertag. From the hardest of core esports fanatics to the chillest of casual phone tappers, they all have their own unique gaming identities. With gaming being such a dominant market, you’d have to be living under a rock to not know about them. Platforms that carry and sell games each have their own unique type of gamer identifier.

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So, what exactly is a gamertag? How important is it for you as a gamer? Read on below to find out everything you need to know about them.

What is a gamertag?

The word gamertag was first used by Microsoft’s Xbox Live online platform. It referred to the nicknames players registered when first signing up to play online. It’s like your name on social media, such as your Twitter handle. So a gamertag is your alternate identity on the gaming platform. On Xbox gamertag is the same as the username, but you can set a different username inside the games you play (eg. your Minecraft username can be different than your gamertag).

What is a gamertag?

Today, gamertag is used widely by gamers to refer to their video gaming aliases. It’s a unique name under which they rage wars, do battle, and farm the land in whatever digital world they choose to escape into. It’s also the moniker they want others to see when they win and pull off epic moments.

What are the gamertag numbers at the end?

Xbox started to add a number suffix at the end of gamertags. These numbers are auto-generated, so you cannot change it. Their purpose is to ensure that your gamertag is unique.

So, if you want a gamertag username like HairyPoppins, Xbox will attach a random number at the end. The number will have 4 or more digits, so you'll end up with a gamertag like HairyPoppins#5394.

But why did Xbox start using this system?

They did this to allow users to choose a gamertag that's alreay in use by another player. According to their announcement, existing users will keep their old gamertags, and the suffix is only applied to new gamertags.

Types of Gamertags Across Platforms

What Is A Gamertag On Different Platforms?

Gamertag is used often as a generic term. Depending on the platform in which you game, it may be called something slightly different. Check out the following list of the most popular platforms and the terms they use for their gamertags:

These terms all mean gamertag. Even if you don’t happen to know what your specific platform calls their gamer name, you can still use gamertag and people will understand what you mean.

Where can others see my gamertag?

Where your gamertag appears depends greatly on the types of games you play. Most online games will have a chat function that will show your gamertag whenever you send a message. It will also appear emblazoned on leaderboards to showcase your score. The higher your name appears, the more people will know you’re badass. When you manage to take down opponents, your gamertag will appear on the game UI next to your victim’s so everyone will know not to mess with you. Finally, it’s also possible that your gamertag will be used in online forums and message boards. This usually happens if your gamertag is linked to a platform’s wider account system, such as on BattleNet.

Is my gamertag important?

Your gamertag is as important as you want it to be. Some people spend ages coming up with the perfect alter ego for their gaming escapades. Others type the first thing that pops into their head and call it a day. It all boils down to how seriously you take your gaming and how people view you online.

Remember, though, that there are guidelines some platforms follow that may restrict you from writing explicit or offensive words. Even if you’re not feeling creative, your gamertag doesn’t have to be unique. It just needs to be about you and what you like.

Gamertag Ideas

So, what is a good name for a gamertag? This depends on many things like: are you a boy or a girl, for what game do you want to use the gamertag, etc.

Gamertag meaning can vary from something straight forwards like Pearl Girl to more cryptic or clever name puns (EstroJen which sounds like estrogen - female hormone; makes a good gamertag name for girls).

Eitherway, a gamertag needs to be memorable and cool. Here are some tips to help creating a gamertag:

  • When choosing a gamertag be creative, but keep it simple and easy to remember (eg. Freak, TMNT)
  • Use real & mythological animal names (eg. Little Cobra, Demons And Giants, DefiantDragon)
  • Use adjectives that reflect your personality (eg. The Lazy Scream, The Lovely Virus)
  • Make funny associations to create some really cool gamertag names (eg. FreddyMercurysCat, Bud Lightyear, Lord Beef, Samureye, OP_rah, Hoosier_daDDy, FastNCurious)
  • Mix lower case and upper case characters (eg. TheKidsCallMeBoss, GaryBuseysteeth, NinjaWithWings)

How can you generate gamertags yourself?

That's easy! All the examples and gamertag ideas above were generated using the gamertag generator. There's a gamertag generator for girls and another gamertag generator for boys.