GitHub
GitHub username checker
Check a GitHub username — one of the few that answers honestly every time.
Checked alongside your domain and every other platform.
The rules
- Up to 39 characters.
- Letters, numbers and single hyphens. No underscores, no full stops.
- It can't start or end with a hyphen, or use two in a row.
How we check it
GitHub publishes a documented, unauthenticated user endpoint, so a 404 here genuinely means the name is free. It is the most dependable check on the list that needs no credentials.
GitHub rate-limits anonymous callers. When it does, the row says Unknown rather than guessing. A short list of names GitHub keeps for its own pages reports as taken, because nobody can register them even though the API 404s on some.
One name, users and organizations both
GitHub draws personal accounts and organizations from the same pool. Taking the username for yourself takes it from the company you might later want to name the same thing — which is usually the point.
Hyphens are the only separator you get
No underscores and no dots means a two-word name is either run together or hyphenated. Whichever you pick, check the other platforms for the same shape — most of them won't accept a hyphen at all.
Common questions
Should I take the username or the organization?
Take the username. GitHub draws both from one pool, so registering the personal account holds the name against anyone else creating an organization with it, and you can convert a personal account into an organization later if you need to.
Why did GitHub say Unknown?
GitHub rate-limits anonymous callers to its API. When we hit that ceiling the row says Unknown rather than guessing, and clears on its own a few minutes later.
Does a GitHub username matter for a non-technical brand?
Less than the domain, more than you would think. It is a public page on a high-authority domain that will rank for your brand name, and it is free. Taking it costs a minute and stops someone else from holding an address that looks like yours.