diff --git a/frontend/components/AppNav.tsx b/frontend/components/AppNav.tsx
index 9faf59e..d2122a6 100644
--- a/frontend/components/AppNav.tsx
+++ b/frontend/components/AppNav.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { useAuth, usePrivyBackend } from "@/lib/auth-context";
 import { useWallets } from "@privy-io/react-auth/solana";
 import { mockWallet, setWallet } from "@/lib/store";
 import { getConnection } from "@/lib/solana";
+import { appNavDisplayName } from "@/lib/display-name";
 import { Avatar } from "./Avatar";
 import { DepositModal } from "./DepositModal";
 import { WithdrawModal } from "./WithdrawModal";
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ export function AppNav() {
   if (!user) return null;
 
   const isCompany = user.role === "company";
-  const displayName = isCompany ? user.name : user.username;
+  const displayName = appNavDisplayName(user);
   const walletAddress = privyMode ? privyWallet : user.wallet ?? null;
 
   const tabs = isCompany
diff --git a/frontend/lib/display-name.ts b/frontend/lib/display-name.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0c39d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/lib/display-name.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import type { User } from "@/lib/types";
+
+export function appNavDisplayName(user: User): string {
+  const rawName = user.role === "company" ? user.name : user.username;
+  const name = rawName?.trim();
+
+  if (name) return name;
+
+  return user.role === "company" ? "there" : "Developer";
+}
diff --git a/frontend/tests/display-name.test.ts b/frontend/tests/display-name.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bdc526e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/tests/display-name.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { appNavDisplayName } from "@/lib/display-name";
+import type { User } from "@/lib/types";
+
+function company(overrides: Partial<User> = {}): User {
+  return {
+    id: "company-1",
+    role: "company",
+    email: "company@example.com",
+    name: "Acme",
+    description: "",
+    createdAt: 0,
+    ...overrides,
+  } as User;
+}
+
+function dev(overrides: Partial<User> = {}): User {
+  return {
+    id: "dev-1",
+    role: "dev",
+    email: "dev@example.com",
+    username: "builder",
+    skills: [],
+    createdAt: 0,
+    ...overrides,
+  } as User;
+}
+
+describe("appNavDisplayName", () => {
+  test("preserves a configured company name", () => {
+    expect(appNavDisplayName(company({ name: "GhBounty" }))).toBe("GhBounty");
+  });
+
+  test("falls back for missing company names", () => {
+    expect(appNavDisplayName(company({ name: undefined } as Partial<User>))).toBe(
+      "there",
+    );
+  });
+
+  test("falls back for blank company names", () => {
+    expect(appNavDisplayName(company({ name: "   " }))).toBe("there");
+  });
+
+  test("preserves a configured developer username", () => {
+    expect(appNavDisplayName(dev({ username: "opus-builder" }))).toBe(
+      "opus-builder",
+    );
+  });
+});