Tips for Name Rendering in the E-mail Inbox
Choose a format and stick to it for all employees in the company.

Preferred examples using my name include:

• Jennifer Kumar <jenkumar@….>
  First name, first letter capitalized, space, last name with first name capitalized. This is the first preference. 
• J. Kumar  <jenkumar@….>
  First name represented only by the first letter capitalized with a dot after it, space, full first name with first letter capitalized. This would be somewhat an acceptable image to present to U.S. counterparts, but the first option above would be preferred. 

Avoid these examples (which may be sent to spam before they even have a chance to be seen):

• Jennifer K.  <jenkumar@….> First name, first letter capitalized, space, only the first letter of last name capitalized with a full stop (period) after it. I would not suggest this if working with U.S. clients, though. 
• Jennifer  <jenkumar@….>
  Only the first name with the first letter capitalized. I have seen this in quite a few start ups in India. This is not a good method to render names if one wants to work with U.S. clients. As one start up CEO with experience in the U.S. told me, the only people in the U.S. who dare to go by one name are famous (Or in some cases, infamous) celebrities like Madonna, Cher, etc. This naming convention would not be taken seriously by U.S. clients or counterparts. Especially, if someone is cold emailing with this kind of email rendering, the receiver would probably delete the message without even opening it. Big companies may even write logarithms to bar such emails from even entering one’s inbox. 
• Jennifer-Kumar  <jenkumar@….>
  Jennifer.kumar  <jenkumar@….>
  jenniferkumar  <jenkumar@….>
  These examples show renderings of email user IDs in the area where the name of the person goes. 
• Jennifer Kumar *$#  <jenkumar@….>
  Avoid any strange characters in the name rendering. These may not render in everyone’s inboxes the same way, and can cause problems actually reading the name.

Adding title or location after the name 
Some startups have noted the branch name, location, team name or other identifier after the name.

Most e-mail clients will restrict the number of characters that render in both the name and subject line. Receivers don’t really care about seeing those additional details. Those details can go in the signature inside the email. But, if it is really needed, a format like this is preferred:

• Jennifer Kumar, India Head Office
  First name, first letter capitalized, space, last name, first letter capitalized, comma (no space between the last letter of the last name and the comma), space, title or location, with each first letter capitalized. 

These renderings are incorrect:

1. Jennifer Kumar , India Head Office
2. Jennifer Kumar ,India Head Office
3. JenniferKumar, IndiaHeadOffice 

Do not reduces spaces to save on the number of characters. This will reduce the credibility of your company.

How to choose the E-mail ID User Name
Most formats for the email ID user name I have seen make sense. The email ID user name that I am referring to is the highlighted part of the e-mail ID below. Since I am not technical, please excuse me for not using the correct technical term.

Ramakrishnan X Nandakumar
It’s ideal to choose one standard formatting strategy for the email ID/user name, and apply it across the board. Take note, as the above example, it’s ideal to keep all the letters in lower case for a crisp look. If capitalization is preferred, capitalize the first letter of every name and any initials, like this:

• Ramakrishnan X Nandakumar 

Use of Initials
In many parts of South India, it’s common to use initials instead of the full name, as the names can be very long. In the case of Ramakrishnan Nandakumar, his name could be rendered as:

• R.K. Nandakumar
• N.K. Ramakrishnan 
• N. Ramakrishnan
• Ramakrishnan N.K. 

If you prefer to use initials in the naming convention, keep in mind:

• Both initials need to be in the upper case
• With or without dots between the letters is acceptable, but choose one and apply it consistently across all e-mail IDs RK Nandakumar R.K. Nandakumar 

These are incorrect:

• R.K.Nandakumar <Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>
• R.K Nandakumar <Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>
• R.k Nandakumar<Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>
• rk Nandakumar <Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>
• RK nandakumar <Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>
• RK NandaKumar <Ramakrishnan.X.Nandhakumar@…….>

Domain Name
In the current time, there is a small investment needed to get your own domain name. This small investment will go a long way. Using email IDs that end in gmail.com or a domain that is not your company domain URL may appear spammy. Also assure the user name IS a name and not a series of words, numbers and letters as in this post about how to avoid writing really, really bad cold emails.

This post has been a basic overview of how to brand your e-mail when setting up your startup with tips on how to improve the formatting of characters and names to impress U.S. clients when sending e-mail. Many larger companies have style guides that help maintain a process for corporate communication branding. Does your start up want a style guide?

Feel free to share your opinions and ideas in the comment section below.

Jennifer Kumar, author of this post, partners with startups in the Indian software industry to help them start and continue long term relationships with U.S. clients. Contact us for more information today.

Related Posts:
How to communicate your Start Up’s Unique Selling Point (USP)
8 Mistakes to Avoid in E-mails
Use of full stop (period)