Is it better so use numeric or name for user logins?

Is it better to have user logins based on a unique number or the users name.

eg

Numeric: sc12345

Based on name: simon.cropp, scropp or simoncropp

Some context.

• Windows environment
• MS Active Directory

From serverfault Simon

• I would say that this is 100% dependent on your environment and what you think would be best received by your users and what would be most easily managed by your IT staff.

  Where I work, we have about 30k users and our naming scheme is last name, first initial, and a number.

  Robert Smith would be smithr1. If there is another R. Smith, then he/she would be smithr2, etc.

  The most important thing is that you want your users to be able to remember it. There's nothing that frustrates helpdesk staff more than users that don't even know their user name.

  Simon : how do you handle renames? for example when a woman is married?

  MarkM : @Simon - We don't. We change the display name, but the user name stays the same for their entire employment.

  Simon : interesting. surprised a woman who gets divorced would be happy with that. But thanks for the info.

  Izzy : In the case of marriage or name change, there is nothing stopping you from editing the user account, and changing their user name and userPrincipalName. The account still has the same sID, and thus is not affected in any way (even the profile on their machine remains correct)

  MarkM : @Izzy - There is nothing Microsoft related that will balk at this, but there are some third-party pieces of software in play that are not SID aware. I didn't say that you couldn't rename a married user, just that we do not.

  Izzy : @MarkM = Just mentioned it for the benefit of Simon!
  From MarkM