Wellesley Google Apps Email Aliases

Setting up and using email aliases in Gmail

The information below explains how usernames and alternate email addresses (email aliases) are assigned and can be used with your Wellesley Google Apps account.

• What email addresses are created
• Find your alternate email addresses
• Send email from your alternate email addresses
• Request preferred names, or official name changes

What email addresses are created

Your Wellesley Google Apps account has a primary email address based on your username and alternate email addresses (email aliases) that you can use for sending and receiving email.

If you have changed your official name with the college or registered a preferred name, additional aliases will be added to your account for those names and you will keep your existing aliases, but your login username will not change.

Primary email address (based off your username):  

Your primary email address is your username @wellesley.edu.

If your account was created before January 1, 2019, your username is an eight character username that includes your first initial and all or part of your last name.  You may also get an alias of your first initial and full last name if it would be longer than 8 characters.

If your account was created after January 1, 2019, your username will be your first initial, last initial, and a sequence number. 

See our Username Assignment website for more information.

Alternate email addresses (email aliases):

Several alternate email addresses are created for your account based on your name:

• First name dot last name (ganesan.ravishanker@wellesley.edu)
• Preferred first name dot last name (ravi.ravishanker@wellesley.edu)
• First initial followed by the entire last name (gravishanker@wellesley.edu) (Only for accounts created before 1/1/19)

An example:

If your official name is Janet Wellesley, but your preferred name is Jane, you would receive a username of jwellesl (before 1/1/19) or jwX (after 1/1/19), a primary email address of jwellesl@wellesley.edu or jw@wellesley.edu, and altername email addresses of jwellesley@wellesley.edu, janet.wellesley@wellesley.edu and jane.wellesley@wellesley.edu. If you changed your last name to Whittaker, she would receive the additional aliases jwhittaker@wellesley.edu, janet.whittaker@wellesley.edu and jane.whittaker@wellesley.edu. 

Find your alternate email addresses

Once you have access to your Wellesley Google Apps account, follow the directions below to find your alternate email addresses.

1. Login to your Wellesley Gmail account on a computer and go to your Inbox.
2. In your Gmail Inbox, in the top right of your Gmail window, click the button with the Wellesley logo and your profile icon (a letter or your profile picture), and click Google Account.
3. In the Google Account window, in the Personal info & privacy top center section, click Your personal info.
4. In the Your personal info section, click on the Email section.
5. In the Email section, your email aliases are listed in the Alternate emails section.
6. All email to these aliases will go to your Wellesley Gmail Inbox.
7. If you wish to have your sent emails come from these aliases, follow the steps below, in Send email from your alternate email addresses.

Send email from your alternate email addresses

To make an alternate email address your primary email address (this does not change your username), or to make them available as reply-to addresses, follow these directions:

1. Login to your Wellesley Gmail account on a computer and go to your Inbox.
2. In your Gmail Inbox, in the top right of your Gmail window, click the settings wheel below the Wellesley logo, and click Settings.
3. Go to the Accounts tab, and click Add another email address.
4. In the popup, enter the name you would like to appear on your sent emails for this address, and enter one of your alternate email addresses. Leave Treat as an alias checked, and click Next Step.
5. If you want this address to be your primary address, next to the email address you want to use, click Make Default.
6. This will make that address your primary email address, so when you go to create a new email or reply to existing emails, Gmail will use that email address.  Emails sent to your other addresses will still arrive in your Gmail Inbox.

Request preferred names, or official name changes
 

To add/update your preferred name, or change your name, please contact the appropriate office:

• Current faculty and staff can contact Human Resources.
• Current students can contact the Office of the Registrar.
• Alumnae can email recordupdates@wellesley.edu.

Once you have officially changed your name, you will receive additional aliases. Your new aliases should appear in your Gmail options within a few business days.