How do you hide a dead name on PayPal?

[Wyvern-King]

Is there any way to hide a dead name while still on a personal account? It makes me sick and anxious to see my dead name every time I send an invoice for an art commission, but I do not have my name legally changed as of yet. I absolutely hate having people know my dead name and knowing people see it is just... Honestly uncomfortable.

I'm new to this whole site and just trying to make some money in commissions, but my dead name showing on invoices has made me too anxious to even send one invoice out to my clients. Would changing my name on my business information in an invoice affect my account and transactions and render them useless? I don't mind my preferred name being shared online, but having my dead name out there is something I'm really not okay with. Shouldn't PayPal have some sort of preferred name support for transgender users by now?

It's probably dumb of me to ask this, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also sorry if this is posted in the wrong area or given the wrong labels, this is my first time posting.

[LeopardBunny]

There is a VERY simple solution to this which PayPal refuses to add. Simply add a "Preferred name" option under the legal name, which will be used instead of the legal name if not left blank when interacting with clients or using the site. This should be no different than having a business name for business accounts instead of the owner's name.

PayPal's continued refusal to accommodate trans people is nothing short of discriminatory behavior when so many sites before them have managed perfectly well.

[EmeraldFishy]

Huge seconding this. It's wild to me that this hasn't already been implemented.

[mollyesbian]

When is PayPal going to add a preferred name option for its users, especially those who are transgender and/or non binary, but did not change their names legally yet?

Mastercard has rolled out their True Name feature a couple years back and I feel that PayPal would need such a feature as well. It's especially harmful when trans people who are known solely and only by their real name have to reveal their deadnames to people if they ever make a transaction or receive money and I think that adding such a feature would add some safety and comfort to trans and non binary users as well as keep the legal side covered.

Not all transgender PayPal users have an option to change their legal name and/or legal gender marking on documentation due to many countries not even having said possibility, however, such a feature could at least bring some safety to said users until when they will possibly be able to legally change their legal documentation. It's a compromise that both helps PayPal users and also avoids potential legal troubles.

[Holokin]

This is by no means an uncommon issue. I'm in circles with many transgender artists who take revenue through PayPal, and it's become a meme that we have to pretend we don't see each other's deadnames when we're selling or purchasing goods or services from one another. I'm disappointed that as far as we've come with transgender recognition in society, PayPal has yet to catch up with the times and allow us to define ourselves for who we truly are with something so simple as showing people the name we use in our day-to-day lives, as opposed to the one that we have to put on the paperwork that makes us grossly uncomfortable to even see, much less show other people. I have nothing but the strongest support for this notion; a True Name feature should exist, both on the site and on our cards, to show that PayPal cares about us and is willing to extend this most simple grace.

[Toir]

This definitely should be a thing. Something that already exists elsewhere and is just a small thing that helps people a lot, I'm all for this feature

[neilmooney]

Hi folks,

Hoping someone here can help me. I am trans woman who has legally changed my name, and I have uploaded the required documentation as proof. However the customer service agent who responded to me has claimed that my first name cannot be changed, and only my surname can. He keeps using the terms "second name" and "legal name" interchangeably, and insists that my first name cannot be changed. He has quoted passages from the PayPal help topics which only in fact prove MY point and not his.

TL;DR customer service agent doesn't know what a legal name is.

[kernowlass]

@neilmooney 

Sounds as if you got a reply from an idiot.

A legal name is 'any' name you change from one name to another, a legal name change is as many names as you want as long as its on a legal document.

There must be loads of trans folk that change their legal names.

Try giving customer services a call and see if you can get an agent with a brain cell?

Contact options for each countries Paypal customer services are accessed by clicking help/contact bottom left of Paypal pages.

1. Paypal phones (you can use the guest option if you can't log in).
2. Live chat is also randomly available.
3. You can send them a message, (during business hours you may also be able to message whilst logged out).
4. Have you considered contacting Customer Service via Facebook or Twitter?
You can send them a personal message from their Facebook or Twitter pages.
It's: https://www.facebook.com/PayPal and @AskPayPal for Twitter.

[xTerrene]

I'm just chiming in here to say that Venmo, a PayPal subsidiary, allows you to supply a preferred name and pronouns alongside your legal name, and fronts the former when sending or receiving cash. This goes to show that the company is more than capable to do this, and they're just dragging their feet to prevent it.

While I hate to still be supporting PayPal at all, I've already made a Venmo account for different reasons, and am Very Very Close to outright canceling my PayPal account altogether and using Venmo for everything. It's absurd to me that this has been an issue for years and is actively causing problems for the LGBTQ+ community, and yet they refuse to do anything about it. Suppose the fact it's a Musk brainchild should have told me that much.