Display name
The human-readable name shown with an email address, as in Ana Silva <ana@example.com>; most mail programs show it in place of the address.
What it means
RFC 5322 allows a display name before an address in From, To, Cc, Reply-To and Sender. It is free text chosen by the sender and proves nothing, which is why phishing puts a trusted name in front of an unrelated address. A name containing commas or other special characters must be quoted, and one in a non-Latin script is carried as an encoded-word.
Google publishes display name guidelines for bulk mail: the name should identify the sender consistently and accurately, and should not carry subject matter, the recipient's name, emoji imitating graphics, or markers such as (2) that suggest a conversation. Google says misuse of display names can affect delivery to personal Gmail accounts.
Example
From: "Example Shop, Orders" <orders@example.com>Related terms
Sources
What this definition rests on. The wording is ours; the facts are theirs.
- RFC 5322, section 3.4: Address Specificationrfc-editor.org
- Google, Gmail Help: Email sender guidelinessupport.google.com
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