Editing Name

[[File:NameinGameplay.png|thumb|right|Names appear in little boxes above the character's body in normal gameplay. These tags can temporarily disappear in some circumstances.]]

Players can input a short string of characters as a name to use in gameplay, where it will "float" above the character. Names can be up to four characters long in ''Melee'', up to five in ''Brawl'' and up to ten in ''for Wii U'' and ''Ultimate''.

The [[Records]] menu allows the viewing of separate records for [[knock-out]]s, [[self-destruct]]s, [[damage]] taken, [[pratfall]]s and the like for each name. It is also possible to associate some controller preferences to each name, such as the [[Rumble]] option or - starting with ''Brawl'' - control schemes different from the default; this allows the usage of useful configurations such as [[A-sticking]] and [[Bidou]].

In ''Ultimate'', names not only appear in the tag floating above the character, but also in their [[damage meter]], replacing the character's name. A player's name tag also appears over any [[Assist Trophy]] or [[Poké Ball]] [[Pokémon]] that fighter has summoned.

In rare cases, names may affect gameplay. For example, in ''[[Melee]]'', name tags remain visible even if they are pointing to an invisible character, making it easier to [[punish]] teleportation special moves such as [[Farore's Wind]] and [[Vanish]].

The '''Name Entry''' is a menu where names are entered and managed. In ''Melee'' it is found in the [[VS. Mode]] menu, in ''Brawl'' under "Options" and in ''for Wii U'' in both places. New names can also be typed in at the [[character selection screen]]: in ''Melee'' this will bring up a separate name entry screen, while in ''Brawl'' and ''for Wii U'' a new name may be typed in directly (although controls cannot be set this way).

There is also an option to have the game enter a random name. Most of the random names that can appear are names of existing [[Nintendo]] characters.

The Name Entry will refuse to set names such as "[[CPU]]" and "[[Player|P1]]", likely due to them being tags for players without names. However, variations with lowercase letters, such as "Cpu" and "p1", can be set. In {{forwiiu}}, in addition to this, the Name Entry uses the Wii U's native word filter, preventing names with potentially inappropriate jargon from being set, unlike in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''.

*Coincidentally, one of the random names in ''Melee'' is "[[Ike]]", who did not exist at the time, but would become a playable character in ''Brawl''; this continued in ''Brawl'', where one of the random names was "[[Robin]]", who also did not exist at the time, but was playable in ''SSB4''. However, this could instead be referring to "[[Isaac]]" from {{uv|Golden Sun}}, as his Japanese name is Robin.

**They are also both ''Fire Emblem'' characters.

*One of the random names in {{forwiiu}} is "[[John|NOJOHNS]]".

*Though it lacks customizable names, {{for3ds}} shows the [[Nintendo 3DS]] system's name in human players' damage display in addition to the character's name.

**However, names over 8 characters will be shortened to the first 7 characters with an ellipsis at the end, which is strangely just as many characters as the maximum 10 characters.