Names FAQ

The basics

Does my name end in .stars?

No. Stargaze Names on the Cosmos Hub are bare — the name is just the word, with no suffix at all. Stargaze displays it with an @ in front (@stargazer) the way a social handle is shown, but the @ isn't part of the name either. Typing a dot into the search box will fail validation, because dots aren't a valid character.

What characters can a name contain?

Lowercase letters a–z, digits 0–9, and hyphens. Between 3 and 62 characters long. A hyphen can't be the first or last character, and hyphens can't sit in the 3rd and 4th position together.

Uppercase isn't converted, it's rejected — the valid form of Stargazer is stargazer.

What does a name cost?

Per year, in ATOM: 100 for a 3-character name, 10 for 4 characters, 1 for 5 or more. You choose a term of 1 to 10 years and pay for all of it up front. See Registering a Name.

Can I own more than one name?

Yes, as many as you like. Only one of them can be the name your address resolves to at any moment — that's the one shown as your identity across Stargaze. The rest sit in your wallet and can be traded, gifted, or pointed at collections.

Can I change my name after registering?

Not the name itself — a name is fixed once minted. What you change is which name your address points at. Register the new name, tick Associate with your wallet address, and your identity moves. The old name stays yours until you sell it or let it lapse.

Renewals and expiry

How do I know when my name expires?

Profile → Names, the Expires column. Sort by Expiring Soonest to bring the urgent ones to the top. There are no email or push reminders, so set a calendar reminder yourself.

Do I lose time if I renew early?

No. The years you buy are added to your existing expiry date, not to today. Renewing early is free of any penalty and is the safest habit. See Renewing a Name.

Is renewing more expensive than registering?

No — it's the same length-based price. There's no late fee either. The one difference is that presale and whitelist discounts never apply to renewals; those covered the first year of a registration only.

What happens the day my name expires?

It stops resolving — your profile falls back to your raw address and the name no longer points anywhere. But it stays yours for 90 more days (the grace period), during which you can renew it at the normal price and nobody else can register it.

I let my name lapse. Can I get it back?

Within 90 days of expiry, yes — just renew it. After that the name is released and anyone can register it. For the following 21 days it carries a premium surcharge that starts at 100 ATOM and decays to zero, then it becomes an ordinary available name. You can re-register it yourself, but so can anyone else.

Can someone else renew my name and steal it?

No. Renewal is permissionless — anyone can renew any name — but renewing never changes who owns it. Paying to renew a name you don't own is simply a gift to its owner.

Why does renewing during grace give me less than a full year?

Because the renewal extends from your original expiry date, not from today. Days spent lapsed come out of the new term. Lapse for 60 days and renew for a year, and roughly 305 days remain.

The Years stepper is missing from the renewal panel.

That means the name is already at its 10-year maximum lease and can't be extended further right now. Nothing is wrong — come back later, as the cap moves forward with time.

Using your name

How do I get my name to show up instead of my address?

Point it at your wallet. Either tick Associate with your wallet address while registering, or afterwards open Profile → Names → Edit and choose Wallet Address. See Managing Your Name.

Can I set a profile picture and banner?

Yes — both come from NFTs you own, chosen in the name's Edit panel. You must own the NFT when you save. See Managing Your Name.

Can I point a name at my collection instead of my wallet?

Yes. In the Edit panel choose Collection Address and pick one of the collections your wallet created. The collection then gets a readable URL and shows the name on Stargaze.

Why is the Edit button greyed out?

The name is listed for sale or in a live auction, so the marketplace is holding it and the chain won't accept edits from your wallet. Cancel the listing or auction to edit again. Renew stays available the whole time.

Buying and selling

Do my links and picture transfer with the name when I sell it?

No, and that's deliberate. Any move of the name — sale, transfer, or being placed into marketplace escrow — clears the address it points at, all five text records, the profile picture and the banner. The buyer receives a clean name.

The catch: listing a name is a move. Listing and then cancelling gets the name back but not your settings. See Managing Your Name.

Does buying a name reset its expiry date?

No. You inherit whatever time is left on the lease. Check the expiry immediately after buying and renew if it's close.

Can I buy an expired name safely?

Be careful. An expired name is still a tradeable NFT, but anyone can register it out from under the buyer, with no refund. Buying a name in its grace period is workable if you renew immediately. Buying one that's past grace is not — register it directly instead. See Buying & Selling Names.

What are the fees on a name sale?

2% marketplace fee plus a 5% royalty, both paid by the seller, plus gas. A 100 ATOM sale nets the seller 93 ATOM.

Migrating from the Stargaze chain

I had a name on the old Stargaze chain. Do I need to register it again?

No. Names from the Stargaze chain were migrated to the Cosmos Hub for you. They arrived with a one-year lease from the August 2026 migration, so check Profile → Names for the expiry date and renew before then.

Do my old text records still work?

Records were carried over where possible. Open Edit once to confirm your links and profile picture are what you want.

Further help

See Community & Support.