Display name
The display name is the business name shown at the top of every chat your customers have with you on WhatsApp — directly under their own WhatsApp Business profile picture in the chat header. It’s also what shows up in their WhatsApp Settings → Storage and data list.
Meta reviews and approves every display name. The first one is set during Embedded Signup. After that, every change has to be re-reviewed and approved before it takes effect.
What Meta approves and rejects
The rules below are paraphrased from Meta’s published Display Name Guidelines (business.facebook.com/business/help/757569725593362). Meta updates them occasionally — when in doubt, the in-app rejection message will cite the specific rule.
Approved
- Your registered business name — exact match with the Business Verification documents.
- A recognised trading name (DBA) — if you trade under a different name from your registration, that’s allowed but Meta may ask for evidence (a brand registration, a website that publicly uses it, or a press mention).
- Mixed case is fine — “Acme Retail”, “Acme retail”, “ACME Retail” all OK.
Rejected (common)
- Generic terms only — “Restaurant”, “Pizza Place”, “Doctor”, “Real Estate”. Meta wants a unique business name, not a category.
- Geographic-only names — “Mumbai Cafe”, “Delhi Doctor” — same reason.
- Words that imply Meta verification — “Official”, “Verified”, “Authentic”, “Real”. These suggest you are Meta-approved when the green checkmark is the only thing that proves that.
- Meta product names — “WhatsApp”, “Facebook”, “Instagram”, “Messenger”, “Meta” anywhere in the name.
- URLs or phone numbers — “www.acme.in”, “Acme — Call 9876543210”, any digit sequence ≥ 5 chars.
- ALL CAPS unless the registered business name is genuinely all caps (rare — typically only acronyms like “BMW”, “HDFC”).
- Promotional copy — “Best Deals”, “24/7 Sale”, “Free Shipping”, “Buy Now”. The display name is your identity, not a marketing slogan.
- Emojis — at least one Latin character is required; emojis on their own are rejected.
Length
- Minimum 3 characters.
- Maximum is not published, but in practice anything over ~75 characters gets truncated in the customer’s chat header so there’s no point being longer.
Where to find and change your display name
Open WhatsApp Manager
Go to business.facebook.com/wa/manage and pick your WABA from the top-right Portfolio switcher.
Open Phone numbers → Settings → Profile
In the left rail: Phone numbers → click the row for your number → Settings (top tab) → Profile (left sidebar).
Click the pencil icon next to Display name
A modal opens with the current name and a text input for the new one. Type the proposed name and click Done.
Check the status
After submitting, the status next to your display name shows:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AVAILABLE_WITHOUT_REVIEW | Pre-verification, name is locked to what you entered during signup. |
| PENDING_REVIEW | Meta is reviewing the new name. Old name is still in effect. |
| APPROVED | The new name is now live. |
| DECLINED | Rejected — see the reason note. Old name remains in effect; submit a different name. |
| EXPIRED | Approval expired after a period of inactivity. Rare for active accounts. |
Approval usually takes a few minutes to a few hours. Meta does not send email; refresh the page to check.
When does the change actually show up to customers?
- In the chat header — immediately after
APPROVED. The next message any customer receives from your number will show the new name. Customers who already have an open chat may need to scroll back to the top or close-and-reopen the chat to see it refresh. - In the WhatsApp Business profile screen (the screen a customer sees when they tap your name at the top of the chat) — also immediate.
- In old messages already received — the chat history still shows the old name above each old message because WhatsApp stamps the name at the time of sending. New messages will use the new name.
Display name vs business profile name
These are not the same thing. The display name (this page) is reviewed by Meta and what customers actually see. The business profile (set in Vibot at Connect WhatsApp → Edit Profile or via WhatsApp Manager → Phone numbers → Profile) is the longer description, address, category, and website — none of which appear in the chat header but show up when a customer taps your name to see your profile card.
If you want to update the profile description, address, or category, use Connect WhatsApp → Edit Profile in the Vibot dashboard — no Meta review needed for those.
Next step
Tour WhatsApp Manager so you know where to find your current tier, quality rating, and template status without having to ask support.