Last Updated : 12 Jul, 2025
Linux as an operating system holds the capabilities of handling multiple users each with a username and a display name (Full Name). So it is important to keep a check on the users and their related information in order to maintain the integrity and security of the system. Whenever a user is added its information is stored in the "/etc/passwd" file. It keeps the username and other related details. Here are some commands to fetch username and its configurations from the Linux host.
There is no specific "username" command in Linux but there are other several sets of commands that let the user access the various users on the machine.
How to Check Username and Display Name in Linux 1. Using `whoami` Command to Check User Name in LinuxType whoami in your terminal. This simple command instantly displays the username of the effective user currently running the shell.
whoamiwhoami command to check username 2. Using `id` Command to Check User Name in Linux
id: This command basically prints the information of real and effective user or in other words the current user.
Syntax:
id
Example:
Use the id command followed by the username to print specific user information.
Syntax:
id username
Example:
3. Usinggetent Command to Check Username and Display Name in Linux
getent : This command fetches user information from database configured in /etc/nsswitch.conf. file which also includes passwd database.
Syntax:
getent passwd
Example:
Each line above has seven fields separated by colons which contains the following information-
finger Command to Retrieve Username and Display Name
finger: It displays the current user's real name along with the terminal name, write status, idle time, and login time.
Syntax:
finger
Example:
Use the finger command followed by the username to print specific user information.
Syntax:
finger username
Example:
5. Usinglslogins Command to View Username and Display Name
It displays information about known users in the system. By default, it will list information about all the users in the system.
Syntax:
lslogins -u
Example:
6. Using `cat` Command to Check User Name in Linuxcat : This command fetches and prints user information from /etc/passwd/ file, where each line contains seven fields as in the output of getent and less command.
Syntax:
cat /etc/passwd/
Example:
user account information 7. Using `compgen` Command to Check User Name in LinuxThis command also displays the name of all the users without any additional information. For more details refer the article compgen command in Linux
Syntax:
compgen -u
Example:
8. Using `$USER` Command to Check User Name in LinuxNote: One can use compgen -c command to list all commands available if he/she is not the admin on a Linux system and doesn't have the sudo access.
The $USER environment variable holds your username's value. Run echo $USER to retrieve it.
echo $USERCheck User Name Conclusion
In this article, we explored multiple ways to check usernames and display names in Linux. While whoami, id, and compgen help identify usernames, commands like getent, finger, and lslogins provide both the username and the display name (Full Name in the GECOS field). These commands are essential for system administration, helping manage users efficiently. If you need to modify a user's display name, use the chfn command.
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