"Username", "user name" or "user-name"

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Chapters
00:00 &Quot;Username&Quot;, &Quot;User Name&Quot; Or &Quot;User-Name&Quot;
00:17 Answer 1 Score 35
00:34 Accepted Answer Score 132
00:47 Answer 3 Score 52
01:00 Answer 4 Score 10
01:22 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#orthography #hyphenation #compounds #computing #openvsclosedvshyphenated

#avk47

ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 132

The OED gives ‘username’ and has three citations, from 1971, 1997 and 2007, in support.

ANSWER 2

Score 52

Obligatory Google Ngram:

In case the link breaks again: username is much more common these days; user-name is not used at all.

ANSWER 3

Score 35

I've seen both "username" and "user name" used widely. Both are acceptable. As far as I know, techies mostly prefer "username". "User-name" just seems awkward.

ANSWER 4

Score 10

Like most things in language, it depends upon context.

If you are writing a journal for a computer science publication, username is acceptable.

If you are writing the user's manual or labeling a field, I would use "user name" since the users may or may not be well versed in computer science, and it just feels less complex.