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iMessage shows wrong name

One of my contacts used to have two phone numbers, but I recently moved one of the numbers to a new contact and removed that number from the original contact. Yet in iMessage any message from that number that was moved to a new contact still appears with the name from the original contact. I closed iMessage, disabled iMessage in settings, powered off my iPhone for ten minutes, powered back on, re-enabled iMessage in settings, and re-opened iMessage. Still the same problem

iPhone 7

Posted on Dec 7, 2019 11:55 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 11, 2019 1:38 AM

I first noticed this problem in late November 2019.


In my main list of messages, the bold name displayed above one of my friend's iMessages is his wife's name. The identifying photo/image next to the name correctly has his initials but the bold name displayed is that of his wife. When I open the message, at the top of the screen it has the identifying photo/image with his initials, but his wife's name underneath it.


When his iMessage appears on my phone's Lock screen, it has the correct name on it.


I do not even have his wife's contact details stored on my phone, although I did at some point in the past - probably on an older iPhone.


I updated from iOS 13.2 (17B84) to iOS 13.3 (17C54) today (11 Dec 2019), but the problem persists.

iPhone X.

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 11, 2019 1:38 AM in response to dl_79

I first noticed this problem in late November 2019.


In my main list of messages, the bold name displayed above one of my friend's iMessages is his wife's name. The identifying photo/image next to the name correctly has his initials but the bold name displayed is that of his wife. When I open the message, at the top of the screen it has the identifying photo/image with his initials, but his wife's name underneath it.


When his iMessage appears on my phone's Lock screen, it has the correct name on it.


I do not even have his wife's contact details stored on my phone, although I did at some point in the past - probably on an older iPhone.


I updated from iOS 13.2 (17B84) to iOS 13.3 (17C54) today (11 Dec 2019), but the problem persists.

iPhone X.

Dec 13, 2019 12:08 AM in response to My time is valuable to me

So in fact that was also my conclusion. The old contact somehow kept a cache somewhere that still linked to that number that was moved.

So the procedure for separating the numbers into two different contacts is then as follows:


  • Copy the number you want to move to a new contact.
  • Back up the old contact by copying everything into Notes or Pages
  • Delete the old contact. (Now the message thread should revert to the correct name)
  • Create a new contact and copy/paste back the information you previously copied to Notes or Pages


Still a mystery to me why ios would not do this automatically.

Dec 10, 2019 1:49 PM in response to dl_79

Hello dl_79,


Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It's my understanding that messages received from a recently updated contact appear with the old contact information. You've done a great job trying to get this resolved. I'm happy to help.


If you haven't already, I recommend using the steps below to deleting previous conversations from the old contact and test the issue again:

" When you delete a message or conversation, you can't get it back. So make sure that you save important information from your messages.

To delete a message:

  1. In a message conversation, touch and hold the message bubble that you want to delete, then tap More.
  2. Tap , then tap Delete Message. If you want to delete all messages in the thread, tap Delete All in the upper-left corner. Then tap Delete Conversation.

To delete a single conversation, swipe left over the conversation that you want to delete, tap Delete, then tap Delete again to confirm. To delete more than one conversation, open Messages and tap Edit in the upper-left corner. Then tap the circle next to the conversations and tap Delete in the bottom-right corner.

To keep your messages for a certain amount of time, go to Settings > Messages > Keep Messages. Then select how long you want to keep your messages."

Use Messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch


Let us know the results. Please include any other troubleshooting steps you may have tried.


Have a nice day!

Dec 10, 2019 11:02 PM in response to raina_b22

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately this solution is exactly what I want to avoid. I do not want to delete any messages, just change the name associated with it.

Logically, the system should do it automatically, because the phone number is now associated with another name. But it does not do that. It stubbornly keeps the old name and if you click ‘i’ for info, it leads you to the old contact, but no number associated with it ? So how does iMessage connect if there is no phone number or Email associated with it anymore.

Very frustrating and illogical.

Dec 12, 2019 12:49 AM in response to My time is valuable to me

Yes, exactly the same symptom.

A new message appears with the correct name on the lock screen.

But when I go into Messages, that same message now appears again under the wrong previous name.

So how does iMessage link to the previous name, when the phone number is not associated with it any more.

It does not make sense.

The contacts are definitely not linked.

Very frustrating.

Dec 12, 2019 3:48 PM in response to dl_79

I just found that when I examined my contact and scrolled all the way to the bottom of his details, there was a "LINKED CONTACTS" section showing two iCloud entries - one with his name and one with his wife's name. I edited and unlinked the incorrect contact for his wife's name.


Then I found that his wife's name had reappeared in my Contacts list, and frustratingly his wife's initials had now replaced his initials in the photo/image for his iMessages!


I deleted his wife from my Contacts list and iMessage sanity has once again been restored.

iMessage shows wrong name

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