Your Google profile name, Gmail sender name, and legal name are not necessarily the same setting. Change the field associated with the problem: a payment-verification request needs a different response from an unwanted nickname on outgoing email.
When the profile name is the issue
The Google profile name is part of your identity across Google services. To edit it, open Google Account Personal info → Name, change the name, and save.
If only the name attached to outgoing Gmail messages is wrong, inspect Gmail’s Send mail as → Edit info setting on a computer. Editing a legal name is not the appropriate way to change that sender label.
When the legal name is the issue
Google may have a legal name associated with purchases, identity verification, or business-related services. Google’s legal-name guide directs you to Personal info → Name → Legal name, then Change legal name and the on-screen process.
Use accurate information and follow any verification requirements shown for the relevant account or service. Do not invent a matching name or submit identification through an unsolicited email attachment. A missing control or a verification failure should be handled through the official service’s guidance, not by repeatedly changing unrelated display fields.
Do not assume legal information is always invisible
Google identifies contexts where a legal name can be visible, including advertiser information in the Ads Transparency Center and developer information on Google Play. That is different from saying that every Gmail recipient sees your legal name.
Review the particular business or payment service involved. A profile visibility setting does not necessarily override a disclosure required by that service.
Verify the intended result
For a sender-name change, inspect a newly sent test message. For a profile change, check the saved profile and allow for propagation. For a legal-name update, verify the result in the official verification or payment context that prompted the change.
Historical emails can retain the name used when sent, and somebody else’s saved contact name may remain unchanged. These displays do not prove that your legal-name update failed. Keep records of the specific field changed so that a later support request can address the correct system.
Official references
- About your legal name & your Google Account
- Change your Google Account picture, name & other info
- Change the name on your Gmail account
Reviewed against Google’s official guidance on October 27, 2026. Available options and screen labels can vary by account, device, region, and organization policy.