How do I hide my real name on YouTube?

[Computernaut]

Whenever I leave a comment on a YouTube video, it shows my real name. I would prefer that this wouldn't happen, but all the tutorials for hiding your real name are from ~2013 and talk about Google+ and brand channels and are painfully out of date.

As far as I can tell, the only way to do hide my real name is to change it in my Google settings, I don't want to do this since then every time I email someone they would see whatever nickname I chose for commenting purposes. Do I just have to make an account with a fake name and switch back and forth from it every time? That seems a bit annoying and clunky.

[Lurick]

Under the About Me section on your Google Account under Name there is a Display Name. I know there you can set your nickname and then have that be the display name. For Gmail though you'll then need to go to settings (cog wheel in the upper right) and then Settings > Accounts and Import tab > then Edit Info for "Send Mail As" and put your real name. I think that should achieve what you want but I agree it's pretty stupid how it's all setup.

[Computernaut]

2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Under the About Me section on your Google Account under Name there is a Display Name. I know there you can set your nickname and then have that be the display name. For Gmail though you'll then need to go to settings (cog wheel in the upper right) and then Settings > Accounts and Import tab > then Edit Info for "Send Mail As" and put your real name. I think that should achieve what you want but I agree it's pretty stupid how it's all setup.

I can choose a nickname, but I can't show only that nickname, either it's between my first and last names, or it's after them, those are the only options.

[Lurick]

Just now, Computernaut said:

I can choose a nickname, but I can't show only that nickname, either it's between my first and last names, or it's after them, those are the only options.

What if you change your name to your nickname and then set the Send Mail As to your real name?

[Computernaut]

6 minutes ago, Lurick said:

What if you change your name to your nickname and then set the Send Mail As to your real name?

Is that what most people do? I don't see a lot of real-looking names in the YouTube comments section. I also see a lot of one-word names, is that what the whole "brand channel" thing is about, is that still how it works? Also, will "send mail as" also work for Google Hangouts?

[nanopone]

change your google account name or create a new channel as a "brand" account.

[WookieeRage]

I'm not sure how well the solution worked for you, but for me I did the following.

On my YouTube click on "Customize Channel"
Select "Basic Info" catagory
Edit "Handle" information
Click on "Publish" to save changes

 

This changes the @name which displays in posts made by you on YouTube which appears under your channel name.