Carnegie Mellon University

Preferred Name

You can designate a preferred name to use for a number of online services and university information systems, except where use of your legal name is required for university business or legal need.

Setting a preferred name: 

  • DOES NOT replace your legal name in instances where it is required for university business or legal purposes. Legal-name requirements are always maintained for official records and data integrity.
  • DOES NOT change your Andrew userID. You will still use your Andrew userID as part of your Andrew account credentials to log in to protected university services.
  • DOES NOT change your Andrew email address. You can establish a different university email address as an email alias (@cmu.edu) and/or specify a preferred email address. 

Students

Students can set their preferred name through the Student Information Online (SIO). The Preferred Name will be displayed on academic resources, rosters, ID cards, and more.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty and staff can set their preferred first, middle, last, and generational fields by completing the Change Preferred Name task in Workday.

The Preferred Name from Workday will display in place of your legal name in the following areas:

NOTE: Some university-related systems may have a standalone copy of your name data that is not affected by Workday updates. You should contact that system’s owner to request changes or contact Computing Services for assistance.