Recently, one of our long time clients had to change the name of her company. With that change came a new website, a new logo, mission statement etc. Now here comes the dilemma, she needed to change the name of her Facebook page which had over 200 likes. Those of us that have been doing this for a while know how to change the name of a Facebook page after it has received 200 or more likes. That part is easy, but what about after you had already made a request for a Facebook Page name? My client had made a name change prior the rebranding of her company and it was granted. This would be the second time she will be requesting a name change for her Facebook page with over 200 likes. Remember Facebook says you are entitled to only one “name change request” after reaching 200 + “Likes”.

As any good social media geek would do, I told her that this hasn’t been done – to my knowledge. I first consulted with friends of mine that are in the same line of work, as I had a theory. Then I checked with known Facebook Gurus and they simply told me, “Sonja this is not possible.” Well, I don’t take no very well, so in the end I spoke it over with my team and they all agreed that my plan of attack should work in theory, but one team member did say, “it should work, but then again, this is FACEBOOK we are talking about.” Needless to say, I was up for the challenge.

Now, that I have given you the problem, let me tell you that it IS possible to keep all of your likes and change your name, even if you have already had a name change.

This is how you change the name of a Facebook page that has more than 200 “Likes” and have submitted a previous request that was approved:

This must be done with two Facebook accounts. I wish I would have recorded this as I did it, so you could see, but my instructions will have to do until I get to do this again.

—————UPDATE—————

This no longer works with Facebook.  We are looking for an alternative and as soon as we find one, we’ll be sure to let you know.

1. Make sure you are not an admin of the page that has all the likes. But make sure you have someone else you are working with as an admin. You will need to be added back!

2. Make a new page with the same EXACT name as the old page. Be sure to fill out the phone number and address the same as you did on the old page, exactly.

3. Now make yourself as an admin on both pages.

4. Next merge the old page with all the likes to the new page with zero likes.

1. Click Settings at the top of the **new** Page you want to keep
2. Click Merge Pages and click Merge duplicate Pages
3. Click to check the box next to the Page you want to merge
4. Click Merge Pages and follow the on-screen instructions

5. Now do a request for a new name change. Don’t forget you need proof that you own the new company and the reason for the request is “Rebranding my company with a new name and a new look.” Make sure that the past original owner of the other page is an admin on the new page before you submit. They check this to make sure that hi-jacking of a page isn’t occurring.

1. Click Settings at the top of your Page
2. Click Page Info in the left column
3. Click Name and click Request Change
4. Fill out the form and click Send

It took exactly 14 days for the new name to change and all the likes were kept. Remember, don’t request the name change until all the likes have been transferred. 

If this helped you out, let us know your thoughts or experiences, we’ll be more than happy to help you if you get stuck.

—————UPDATE—————

Remember this no longer works on Facebook, but if you have a problem like this, reach out to me, I’m always up for a challenge.