diff --git a/config/config.hjson b/config/config.hjson
index 461efa0d3..814976de2 100644
--- a/config/config.hjson
+++ b/config/config.hjson
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
   pictrs_url: "http://pictrs:8080"
   # address where iframely is available
   iframely_url: "http://iframely"
+  # maximum length of local community names (between 3 and 255)
+  community_name_max_length: 20
+  # maximum length of local user names (between 3 and 255)
+  user_name_max_length: 20
   # rate limits for various user actions, by user ip
   rate_limit: {
     # maximum number of messages created in interval
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/defaults.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/defaults.rs
index 2dddd3f3b..386be3587 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/defaults.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/defaults.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ impl Default for Settings {
       pictrs_url: Some("http://pictrs:8080".into()),
       iframely_url: Some("http://iframely".into()),
       additional_slurs: None,
+      community_name_max_length: Some(20),
+      user_name_max_length: Some(20),
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
index 1a7a74343..11fc8ecbc 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/settings/structs.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ pub struct Settings {
   pub(crate) email: Option<EmailConfig>,
   pub(crate) setup: Option<SetupConfig>,
   pub(crate) additional_slurs: Option<String>,
+  pub(crate) community_name_max_length: Option<usize>,
+  pub(crate) user_name_max_length: Option<usize>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Clone)]
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/utils.rs b/crates/utils/src/utils.rs
index ee0289143..10460dc46 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/utils.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/utils.rs
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ lazy_static! {
   // TODO keep this old one, it didn't work with port well tho
   // static ref MENTIONS_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"@(?P<name>[\w.]+)@(?P<domain>[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)").expect("compile regex");
   static ref MENTIONS_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"@(?P<name>[\w.]+)@(?P<domain>[a-zA-Z0-9._:-]+)").expect("compile regex");
-  static ref VALID_USERNAME_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_]{3,20}$").expect("compile regex");
-  static ref VALID_COMMUNITY_NAME_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"^[a-z0-9_]{3,20}$").expect("compile regex");
+  static ref VALID_USERNAME_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_]{3,}$").expect("compile regex");
+  static ref VALID_COMMUNITY_NAME_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"^[a-z0-9_]{3,}$").expect("compile regex");
   static ref VALID_POST_TITLE_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r".*\S.*").expect("compile regex");
   static ref VALID_MATRIX_ID_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new(r"^@[A-Za-z0-9._=-]+:[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,}$").expect("compile regex");
   // taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTM_parameters
@@ -117,7 +117,10 @@ pub fn scrape_text_for_mentions(text: &str) -> Vec<MentionData> {
 }
 
 pub fn is_valid_username(name: &str) -> bool {
-  VALID_USERNAME_REGEX.is_match(name)
+  let max_length = Settings::get()
+    .user_name_max_length
+    .unwrap_or_else(|| Settings::default().user_name_max_length.unwrap());
+  name.chars().count() <= max_length && VALID_USERNAME_REGEX.is_match(name)
 }
 
 // Can't do a regex here, reverse lookarounds not supported
@@ -133,7 +136,10 @@ pub fn is_valid_matrix_id(matrix_id: &str) -> bool {
 }
 
 pub fn is_valid_community_name(name: &str) -> bool {
-  VALID_COMMUNITY_NAME_REGEX.is_match(name)
+  let max_length = Settings::get()
+    .community_name_max_length
+    .unwrap_or_else(|| Settings::default().community_name_max_length.unwrap());
+  name.chars().count() <= max_length && VALID_COMMUNITY_NAME_REGEX.is_match(name)
 }
 
 pub fn is_valid_post_title(title: &str) -> bool {
diff --git a/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/down.sql b/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/down.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3deda6786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ALTER TABLE community ALTER COLUMN name TYPE varchar(20);
+ALTER TABLE person ALTER COLUMN name TYPE varchar(20);
diff --git a/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/up.sql b/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/up.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dfc58b793
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/2021-07-20-102033_actor_name_length/up.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+ALTER TABLE community ALTER COLUMN name TYPE varchar(255);
+ALTER TABLE person ALTER COLUMN name TYPE varchar(255);