Folks, sorry this came across as html, but I hope you can still make
use of it. It really comes down to logging in as root and creating a
user account for the name you really want, then deleting the newly
created user's directory and then moving all of the contents to that
directory either from terminal using the mv command, but I didn't try
from in Finder itself. Once you do all this, you must must run from
terminal as root, the chown command with the -R (note cap R), i.e.
chow -R username userdirectory. The -R is a recursive command and
sends chown down through the directory and subdirs.
here it is.
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<HTML><BODY><B>Hello from Apple!</B>
<br>
<br>Gregory at Apple Service & Support thought that you might find
this article useful. We hope that it helps resolve your technical issue.
<br>
<br>Link: <a href="http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n106824";>http://
www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n106824</a>
<br>
<br>
<br><B>Mac OS X: How to change user short name or home directory
name</B>
<HR><P>Mac OS X does not allow you to <i>easily</i> change a user's
short name, and earlier versions do not allow you to change your Home
folder name. Though you can change your Home name in v10.3 or later,
you usually shouldn't. If you really need to change these names
(which should match), use the procedure described below. This
document applies to Mac OS X 10.3.9 and earlier.</p>
<P>
<B>Trying to change user's names</B><BR>
<BR>
If you try to change your Short Name in the Accounts (or Users) pane
of System Preferences, it is dimmed. You cannot change it.<BR>
<BR>
In 10.2.8 and earlier, you cannot use the Finder to change the name
of a user's Home directory, which is the folder with the user's short
name in the Users folder.<BR>
<BR>
<B>About the short name</B><BR>
<BR>
Each user in Mac OS X has a full "Name" and a "Short
Name" as defined in the Users pane of System Preferences. The
short name is limited to 8 (v10.1.5 and earlier) or 255 (v10.2 and
later) lowercase characters with no spaces. This is the name used to
create a user's Home directory in the Users folder. <BR>
<BR>
In v 10.2.8 and earlier, the name of a Home directory cannot be
changed using the Finder. <BR>
<BR>
<B>Note: </B>Though it can be changed in v10.3 or later, the <A
HREF="http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n107854";><B><U>results</U></B></
A> are not what most users desire in doing so. Therefore 10.3 users
should use the same steps as those described here for 10.2.8 and
earlier.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Changing the short name</B><BR>
<BR>
Though there are other methods by which an advanced user may change
the short name and related information, the easier and safer
workaround is to create a new user with the desired name, then copy
the old user's Home directory contents into that of the new user.
Follow these steps:<BR>
<UL>1. Optional step: As a precaution, you may disable automatic
login prior to performing this procedure. You might want to <a
href="http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941";>back up</
a> important data, too. In the event that you restart the computer
for any reason before completing the procedure, this would prevent
complications from having displaced the user selected for automatic
login. For Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier, automatic login is found in
the Login preference pane. For Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3, it is found in
the Accounts preference pane.<BR>
2. Mac OS X 10.3 or later: If FileVault is on, temporarily <A
HREF="http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=152354";><U>turn
it off</U></A>, which will log you out.<BR>
3. Enable the root user, then log in as root. For further explanation
of this step, see "<A HREF="http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/
n106290"><U>Mac OS X: About the root User and How to Enable It</U></
A>".<BR>
4. For Mac OS X 10.2 or later: Open the Accounts pane of the System
Preferences application. <BR>
For Mac OS X 10.1.5 or earlier: Open the Users pane of System
Preferences.<BR>
5. In the Name list, locate the user with the short name that you
want to replace. This will be referred to as the "original
user".<BR>
6. Note whether or not the original user is identified as Admin,
which appears in the Kind column to the right.<BR>
7. Click New User. For 10.3, this is the plus (+) button.<BR>
8. Complete the Name and Short Name fields as desired. Be sure that
the Short Name is exactly as you want it to appear.<BR>
9. For Mac OS X 10.2: Fill in the New Password and Verify fields.<BR>
For Mac OS X 10.1.5. or earlier: Click the password tab, then fill in
the Password and Verify fields.<BR>
10. If the user you are replacing is an Admin user, then select the
checkbox for "Allow user to administer this computer". For
10.3, click the Security tab to locate this setting.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Note:</B> This checkbox is dimmed and already selected if there is
not another Admin user. Mac OS X requires at least one Admin user. <BR>
<BR>
11. Click Save. (Skip this step for 10.3.)<BR>
12. Quit System Preferences.<BR>
13. Click the Finder icon in the Dock.<BR>
14. Choose Computer from the Go menu.<BR>
15. Open the Users folder in the Mac OS X disk.<BR>
16. Open the folder with the short name of the new user that you just
created.<BR>
17. Drag the contents of this folder to the Trash.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Warning: </B>Do not empty the Trash yet. In the event that you
accidentally move contents of the wrong folder, you may recover them
from the Trash after discovering your mistake.<BR>
<BR>
18. Choose New Finder Window from the File menu. Be sure to position
the new window so that you can see both Finder windows.<BR>
19. In the new window, open the folder of the original user.<BR>
20. Press the Option key as you drag the contents of the original
user's folder into the new user's folder (that you emptied in Step
16). This makes a copy of the contents.<BR>
21. Close one of the Finder windows.<BR>
22. Open the Terminal application (located at /Applications/
Utilities/).<BR>
23. Type: <TT>chown -R <new_name> /Users/<new_name><BR>
<BR>
</TT><B>Important:</B> Replace "<new_name>" with the
actual short name of the new user you just created. For example, if
the new user had the short name "jacques", you would type:<BR>
<BR>
<TT>chown -R jacques /Users/jacques<BR>
</TT><BR>
24. Press Return<BR>
25. Quit Terminal.<BR>
26. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.<BR>
27. Log in as the new user. You should be able to access all of your
original files on the desktop and in the folders of the Home
directory.<BR>
<BR>
<B>Important: </B>If you do not have access to your original items,
log out and log back in as root, then repeat Step 22. Also, be sure
that you did not place the wrong files in the Trash in Step 16.<BR>
<BR>
28. Choose Home from the Go menu.<BR>
29. Open the Library folder, then the Keychains folder inside it.<BR>
30. Select the keychain, which should still have the short name of
the original user.<BR>
31. Choose Show Info from the File menu.<BR>
32. In the Info window that appears, choose Name & Extension from
the pop-up menu.<BR>
33. Change the name to match the new user's short name.<BR>
34. Close the Info window.<BR>
35. Open the Keychain Access application, located in the Utilities
folder.<BR>
36. From the Edit menu, choose "<new_name> Settings".
For the user Jacques, this would appear as: jacques Settings<BR>
37. Click Change Passphrase.<BR>
38. Enter the desired password, then click OK. You may use the same
password again or set it to match the login password of the new user.
<BR>
<B>Note: </B>This step prevents you from discovering later that the
keychain had retained an older password.<BR>
39. Quit Keychain Access.<BR>
40. Disable the root user, as explained in Section III of technical
document 106290, "<A HREF="http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/
n106290"><B><U>Mac OS X: About the root User and How to Enable It</
U></B></A>".</UL><BR>
<B>Notes</B><BR>
<UL>1. If everything is working correctly, you do not need to log
back in as root to empty the Trash. The folders you put there occupy
a negligible amount of disk space.<BR>
<BR>
2. Depending on what software you have installed, you may wish to
rename other files and folders that may have been created under the
original user short name to match the new user short name.<BR>
<BR>
3. Once you are certain that everything is working properly, you may
want to delete the Home directory (folder) of the original user,
which should be empty. For instructions on how to do this, see
technical document 106256, "<A HREF="http://www.info.apple.com/
kbnum/n106256"><B><U>Mac OS X: Deleting a Former User's Home
Directory (Folder)</U></B></A>".</UL><P>Thank
you,<BR>Apple<P>**This message has been auto-generated. Please do not
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