Skip to main content

Cornell University

Special Format Requests for Email Aliases

This article applies to: Cornell Optional Email Alias

If you would like to request an alias other than one of the standard formats, use the Special Request option.

Your special request must be based on your name. For example, William Robert Smith might want to request billy.bob.smith as an alias.

To submit a Special Request, follow the instructions in our Request an Email Alias article, and click the radio button next to Special Request, enter the alias you want and the reason you want this alias (for example, because you use Bob as your first name instead of Robert), then click Submit. Your request will be reviewed and either accepted or rejected. Until you are notified of acceptance, you cannot use the alias. If your request is rejected, you can return to the selection page and try a different special request, choose one of the standard formats, or decide not to use an alias at all.

Special requests can include any combination of the following characters:

  • Lowercase letters from a to z
  • Digits from 0 to 9
  • Periods
Your requested alias must be based on your name.

There are also the following restrictions on Special Requests:

  • Do not include spaces, uppercase letters, or punctuation (except periods).
  • Do not use a period as the FIRST character.
  • Do not use multiple consecutive periods.
  • Do not use a period or a number as the LAST character.
  • Do not include international characters (with accents, umlauts, etc.).
  • Your requested alias must be between 6 and 30 characters (including periods).

Valid Special Request

Invalid Special Request

Notes

mauricecantonio limnology.professor Must be based on your name
congolia.breckenridge Congolia Breckenridge Spaces and uppercase not allowed
bobby.fischer robert"bobby"fischer No punctuation except periods
hankwilliams hank.williams911 Cannot end with a number
charles.nelson.reilly .charlesnelsonreilly. Cannot begin or end with a period
kensingtonaugustsmythe kensington.augustus.horatio.smythe Maximum length is 30 characters

Comments?

To share feedback about this page or request support, log in with your NetID

At Cornell we value your privacy. To view
our university's privacy practices, including
information use and third parties, visit University Privacy.