What is the difference between a display name and a username?

[mesquitebean]

The display name is a completely elective name you can use here in this AnswerXChange forum.  The display name for this forum is not necessarily the username (User ID) for one's TurboTax account.

It's called a display name because anyone in the forum can see it, and these forum threads also go out to Internet search engines.

Many people do have the same display name as the username.  But it doesn't have to be.  The forum display name should not be an email address, since people on the Internet might start emailing the user trying to scam someone, etc.

You can change your display name if you want privacy.

You can change the display name by clicking on the user icon in the top right corner of this page and choosing "profile settings."   That won't affect one's User ID.