It can also appear at the top of individual chat threads and the chat list if your business phone number is approved via display name verification. Note that if a WhatsApp user edits your profile name in the WhatsApp client, the name they set will appear instead.

Display name guidelines

See our Display name guidelines for the WhatsApp Business Platform⁠ Help Center article for naming guidelines.

Display name verification

When you reach a higher messaging limit, your business phone number’s display name automatically undergoes verification based on the display name guidelines⁠. When the process completes, a phone_number_name_update webhook and Meta Business Suite notification are triggered.

If your display name is approved, the webhook has decision set to APPROVED, and the name_status field on your business phone number is set to APPROVED.

If your display name is rejected, the webhook has decision set to REJECTED, and the name_status field on your business phone number is set to DECLINED. Review the display name guidelines⁠ and edit your display name⁠ accordingly, or file an appeal via Developer Support or Enterprise Developer Support.

View display name in WhatsApp Manager

Your business phone number’s display name appears in the Name column in the WhatsApp Manager⁠ > Account tools > Phone numbers panel.

Get display name and display name status via API

Request the verified_name and name_status field on your WhatsApp Business Phone Number ID to get its display name and display name status. See the WhatsApp Business Phone Number API reference for a list of returnable values and their meanings.

The verified_name value doesn’t indicate whether the display name is approved. It represents the display name string that undergoes verification when eligible. The name_status field indicates its approval status.

Example request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922?fields=verified_name%2Cname_status' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...'

Example response

Upon success:

{
  "verified_name": "Lucky Shrub",
  "name_status": "APPROVED",
  "id": "106540352242922"
}

Update display names

You can change a display name 10 times per 30-day period. After the display name change is approved, you have 14 days to re-register the phone number. If the 14-day window expires without re-registration, you must submit the display name for review again.

Note: If your business phone number has Official Business Account status, contact direct support to change your display name.

Update display name via WhatsApp Manager

To update your display name via WhatsApp Manager:

Navigate to WhatsApp Manager⁠ > Account tools > Phone numbers.

Select your business phone number.

Click the Profile tab.

In the Display name section, click the Edit button and complete the flow.

Once you complete the flow, your display name undergoes display name verification again. After the display name is approved, you must re-register the phone number. Re-registering before approval has no effect.

This information is also available in our How to change your WhatsApp Business display name⁠ Help Center article.

Update display name via API

Use the WhatsApp Business Phone Number APInew_display_name field to update your display name via API.

Example request

curl -X POST 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922?new_display_name=Lucky%20Shrub' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...'

Example response

Upon success:

{
  "success": true
}

Upon success, your display name undergoes display name verification. To check the verification status, request the new_display_name and new_name_status fields on your business phone number ID:

Example request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922?fields=new_display_name,new_name_status' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...'

Example response

Upon success:

{
  "new_display_name": "New Lucky Shrub",
  "new_name_status": "PENDING_REVIEW",
  "id": "106540352242922"
}

When your updated display name is approved, your business phone number’s verified_name and name_status fields update to reflect your new display name and name status, and phone_number_name_update webhooks are triggered. You must then re-register the phone number. Re-registering before approval has no effect.

Re-register after display name approval

After updating your display name via WhatsApp Manager or API, you must re-register your phone number to solidify the new display name with WhatsApp servers.

Wait for the phone_number_name_update webhook with decision set to APPROVED.

Call POST /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/register to re-register the phone number. See Register a Business Phone Number for endpoint details.

Important: Wait for the display name change to be approved before re-registering. Re-registering before approval has no effect.

You can re-register programmatically via the API. You do not need to send the business through Embedded Signup again.

Example request

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/v25.0/106540352242922/register' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer EAAJB...' \
-d '
{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "pin": "212834"
}'

Example response

Upon success:

{
  "success": true
}

Learn more

The following Help Center articles provide additional information about display names.

About WhatsApp Business display name⁠

How to change your WhatsApp Business display name⁠

Did you find this page helpful?