diff --git a/backend/routes.js b/backend/routes.js
index a4dd29225..950de537b 100644
--- a/backend/routes.js
+++ b/backend/routes.js
@@ -44,6 +44,20 @@ route.POST('/event', {
     const deserializedHEAD = GIMessage.deserializeHEAD(request.payload)
     try {
       await sbp('backend/server/handleEntry', deserializedHEAD, request.payload)
+      const name = request.headers['shelter-namespace-registration']
+      // If this is the first message in a contract and the
+      // `shelter-namespace-registration` header is present, proceed with also
+      // registering a name for the new contract
+      if (deserializedHEAD.contractID === deserializedHEAD.hash && name && !name.startsWith('_private')) {
+        // Name registation is enabled only for identity contracts
+        const cheloniaState = sbp('chelonia/private/state')
+        if (cheloniaState.contracts[deserializedHEAD.contractID]?.type === 'gi.contracts/identity') {
+          const r = await sbp('backend/db/registerName', name, deserializedHEAD.contractID)
+          if (Boom.isBoom(r)) {
+            return r
+          }
+        }
+      }
     } catch (err) {
       console.error(err, chalk.bold.yellow(err.name))
       if (err.name === 'ChelErrorDBBadPreviousHEAD' || err.name === 'ChelErrorAlreadyProcessed') {
@@ -129,6 +143,10 @@ route.GET('/eventsBetween/{startHash}/{endHash}', {}, async function (request, h
   }
 })
 
+/*
+// The following endpoint is disabled because name registrations are handled
+// through the `shelter-namespace-registration` header when registering a
+// new contract
 route.POST('/name', {
   validate: {
     payload: Joi.object({
@@ -146,6 +164,7 @@ route.POST('/name', {
     return err
   }
 })
+*/
 
 route.GET('/name/{name}', {}, async function (request, h) {
   const { name } = request.params
diff --git a/frontend/controller/actions/identity.js b/frontend/controller/actions/identity.js
index 076a46e0f..068b54c22 100644
--- a/frontend/controller/actions/identity.js
+++ b/frontend/controller/actions/identity.js
@@ -209,7 +209,8 @@ export default (sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
         ],
         data: {
           attributes: { username, email, picture: finalPicture }
-        }
+        },
+        namespaceRegistration: username
       })
 
       userID = user.contractID()
@@ -238,7 +239,6 @@ export default (sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
         },
         publishOptions
       })
-      await sbp('namespace/register', username, userID)
       return userID
     } catch (e) {
       await sbp('gi.actions/identity/logout') // TODO: should this be here?
diff --git a/frontend/controller/actions/types.js b/frontend/controller/actions/types.js
index a7162fe87..d4dffaba5 100644
--- a/frontend/controller/actions/types.js
+++ b/frontend/controller/actions/types.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export type GIRegParams = {
   contractID?: string; // always set on contract actions, but not when creating a contract
   data: Object;
   options?: Object; // these are options for the action wrapper
+  namespaceRegistration: ?string;
   hooks?: Object;
   publishOptions?: Object
 }
diff --git a/frontend/controller/namespace.js b/frontend/controller/namespace.js
index a2b2ea672..5fc3a4cda 100644
--- a/frontend/controller/namespace.js
+++ b/frontend/controller/namespace.js
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@
 
 import sbp from '@sbp/sbp'
 import Vue from 'vue'
-import { handleFetchResult } from './utils/misc.js'
 
 // NOTE: prefix groups with `group/` and users with `user/` ?
 sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
+  /*
+  // Registration is done when creating a contract, using the
+  // `shelter-namespace-registration` header
   'namespace/register': (name: string, value: string) => {
     return fetch(`${sbp('okTurtles.data/get', 'API_URL')}/name`, {
       method: 'POST',
@@ -18,16 +20,27 @@ sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
       return result
     })
   },
-  'namespace/lookup': (name: string) => {
-    // TODO: should `name` be encodeURI'd?
+  */
+  'namespace/lookupCached': (name: string) => {
     const cache = sbp('state/vuex/state').namespaceLookups
     if (name in cache) {
       // Wrapping in a Promise to return a consistent type across all execution
       // paths (next return is a Promise)
       // This way we can call .then() on the result
-      return Promise.resolve(cache[name])
+      return cache[name]
     }
-    return fetch(`${sbp('okTurtles.data/get', 'API_URL')}/name/${name}`).then((r: Object) => {
+  },
+  'namespace/lookup': (name: string, { skipCache }: { skipCache: boolean } = { skipCache: false }) => {
+    if (!skipCache) {
+      const cached = sbp('namespace/lookupCached', name)
+      if (cached) {
+        // Wrapping in a Promise to return a consistent type across all execution
+        // paths (next return is a Promise)
+        // This way we can call .then() on the result
+        return Promise.resolve(cached)
+      }
+    }
+    return fetch(`${sbp('okTurtles.data/get', 'API_URL')}/name/${encodeURIComponent(name)}`).then((r: Object) => {
       if (!r.ok) {
         console.warn(`namespace/lookup: ${r.status} for ${name}`)
         if (r.status !== 404) {
@@ -37,6 +50,7 @@ sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
       }
       return r['text']()
     }).then(value => {
+      const cache = sbp('state/vuex/state').namespaceLookups
       if (value !== null) {
         Vue.set(cache, name, value)
       }
diff --git a/frontend/main.js b/frontend/main.js
index 53c61a796..dca4656af 100644
--- a/frontend/main.js
+++ b/frontend/main.js
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ async function startApp () {
       defaults: {
         modules: { '@common/common.js': Common },
         allowedSelectors: [
-          'namespace/lookup',
+          'namespace/lookup', 'namespace/lookupCached',
           'state/vuex/state', 'state/vuex/settings', 'state/vuex/commit', 'state/vuex/getters',
           'chelonia/contract/sync', 'chelonia/contract/isSyncing', 'chelonia/contract/remove', 'chelonia/contract/cancelRemove', 'controller/router',
           'chelonia/contract/suitableSigningKey', 'chelonia/contract/currentKeyIdByName',
diff --git a/frontend/model/contracts/identity.js b/frontend/model/contracts/identity.js
index fcd169f4a..474450d44 100644
--- a/frontend/model/contracts/identity.js
+++ b/frontend/model/contracts/identity.js
@@ -14,6 +14,63 @@ import {
 
 import { IDENTITY_USERNAME_MAX_CHARS } from './shared/constants.js'
 
+const attributesType = objectMaybeOf({
+  username: string,
+  email: string,
+  picture: unionOf(string, objectOf({
+    manifestCid: string,
+    downloadParams: optional(object)
+  }))
+})
+
+const validateUsername = (username: string) => {
+  if (!username) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username is required')
+  }
+  if (username.length > IDENTITY_USERNAME_MAX_CHARS) {
+    throw new TypeError(`A username cannot exceed ${IDENTITY_USERNAME_MAX_CHARS} characters.`)
+  }
+  if (!allowedUsernameCharacters(username)) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain disallowed characters.')
+  }
+  if (!noConsecutiveHyphensOrUnderscores(username)) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain two consecutive hyphens or underscores.')
+  }
+  if (!noLeadingOrTrailingHyphen(username)) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username cannot start or end with a hyphen.')
+  }
+  if (!noLeadingOrTrailingUnderscore(username)) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username cannot start or end with an underscore.')
+  }
+  if (!noUppercase(username)) {
+    throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain uppercase letters.')
+  }
+}
+
+const checkUsernameConsistency = async (contractID: string, username: string) => {
+  // Lookup and save the username so that we can verify that it matches
+  const lookupResult = await sbp('namespace/lookup', username, { skipCache: true })
+  if (lookupResult === contractID) return
+
+  console.error(`Mismatched username. The lookup result was ${lookupResult} instead of ${contractID}`)
+
+  // If there was a mismatch, wait until the contract is finished processing
+  // (because the username could have been updated), and if the situation
+  // persists, warn the user
+  sbp('chelonia/queueInvocation', contractID, () => {
+    const rootState = sbp('state/vuex/state')
+    if (!has(rootState, contractID)) return
+
+    const username = rootState[contractID].attributes.username
+    if (sbp('namespace/lookupCached', username) !== contractID) {
+      sbp('gi.notifications/emit', 'WARNING', {
+        contractID,
+        message: L('Unable to confirm that the username {username} belongs to this identity contract', { username })
+      })
+    }
+  })
+}
+
 sbp('chelonia/defineContract', {
   name: 'gi.contracts/identity',
   getters: {
@@ -31,34 +88,13 @@ sbp('chelonia/defineContract', {
     'gi.contracts/identity': {
       validate: (data, { state }) => {
         objectMaybeOf({
-          attributes: objectMaybeOf({
-            username: string,
-            email: string,
-            picture: unionOf(string, objectOf({
-              manifestCid: string,
-              downloadParams: optional(object)
-            }))
-          })
+          attributes: attributesType
         })(data)
         const { username } = data.attributes
-        if (username.length > IDENTITY_USERNAME_MAX_CHARS) {
-          throw new TypeError(`A username cannot exceed ${IDENTITY_USERNAME_MAX_CHARS} characters.`)
-        }
-        if (!allowedUsernameCharacters(username)) {
-          throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain disallowed characters.')
-        }
-        if (!noConsecutiveHyphensOrUnderscores(username)) {
-          throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain two consecutive hyphens or underscores.')
-        }
-        if (!noLeadingOrTrailingHyphen(username)) {
-          throw new TypeError('A username cannot start or end with a hyphen.')
-        }
-        if (!noLeadingOrTrailingUnderscore(username)) {
-          throw new TypeError('A username cannot start or end with an underscore.')
-        }
-        if (!noUppercase(username)) {
-          throw new TypeError('A username cannot contain uppercase letters.')
+        if (!username) {
+          throw new TypeError('A username is required')
         }
+        validateUsername(username)
       },
       process ({ data }, { state }) {
         const initialState = merge({
@@ -70,18 +106,36 @@ sbp('chelonia/defineContract', {
         for (const key in initialState) {
           Vue.set(state, key, initialState[key])
         }
+      },
+      async sideEffect ({ contractID, data }) {
+        await checkUsernameConsistency(contractID, data.attributes.username)
       }
     },
     'gi.contracts/identity/setAttributes': {
-      validate: object,
+      validate: (data) => {
+        attributesType(data)
+        if (has(data, 'username')) {
+          validateUsername(data.username)
+        }
+      },
       process ({ data }, { state }) {
         for (const key in data) {
           Vue.set(state.attributes, key, data[key])
         }
+      },
+      async sideEffect ({ contractID, data }) {
+        if (has(data, 'username')) {
+          await checkUsernameConsistency(contractID, data.username)
+        }
       }
     },
     'gi.contracts/identity/deleteAttributes': {
-      validate: arrayOf(string),
+      validate: (data) => {
+        arrayOf(string)(data)
+        if (data.includes('username')) {
+          throw new Error('Username can\'t be deleted')
+        }
+      },
       process ({ data }, { state }) {
         for (const attribute of data) {
           Vue.delete(state.attributes, attribute)
diff --git a/frontend/model/state.js b/frontend/model/state.js
index 8cc22c0aa..120ecdb04 100644
--- a/frontend/model/state.js
+++ b/frontend/model/state.js
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ if (window.matchMedia) {
   })
 }
 
+const checkedUsername = (state: Object, username: string, userID: string) => {
+  if (username && state.namespaceLookups[username] === userID) {
+    return username
+  }
+}
+
 const reactiveDate = Vue.observable({ date: new Date() })
 setInterval(function () {
   // We want the getters to recalculate all of the payments within 1 minute of us entering a new period.
@@ -227,12 +233,12 @@ const getters = {
     }
   },
   userDisplayNameFromID (state, getters) {
-    return (user) => {
-      if (user === getters.ourIdentityContractId) {
+    return (userID) => {
+      if (userID === getters.ourIdentityContractId) {
         return getters.ourUserDisplayName
       }
-      const profile = getters.ourContactProfilesById[user] || {}
-      return profile.displayName || profile.username || user
+      const profile = getters.ourContactProfilesById[userID] || {}
+      return profile.displayName || profile.username || userID
     }
   },
   // this getter gets recomputed automatically according to the setInterval on reactiveDate
@@ -468,7 +474,12 @@ const getters = {
       .forEach(contractID => {
         const attributes = state[contractID].attributes
         if (attributes) { // NOTE: this is for fixing the error while syncing the identity contracts
-          profiles[attributes.username] = { ...attributes, contractID }
+          const username = checkedUsername(state, attributes.username, contractID)
+          profiles[attributes.username] = {
+            ...attributes,
+            username,
+            contractID
+          }
         }
       })
     return profiles
@@ -480,7 +491,12 @@ const getters = {
       .forEach(contractID => {
         const attributes = state[contractID].attributes
         if (attributes) { // NOTE: this is for fixing the error while syncing the identity contracts
-          profiles[contractID] = { ...attributes, contractID }
+          const username = checkedUsername(state, attributes.username, contractID)
+          profiles[contractID] = {
+            ...attributes,
+            username,
+            contractID
+          }
         }
       })
     return profiles
diff --git a/shared/domains/chelonia/chelonia.js b/shared/domains/chelonia/chelonia.js
index 3e0c78ca5..8a6041e78 100644
--- a/shared/domains/chelonia/chelonia.js
+++ b/shared/domains/chelonia/chelonia.js
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export type ChelRegParams = {
   actionSigningKeyId: string;
   actionEncryptionKeyId: ?string;
   keys: (GIKey | EncryptedData<GIKey>)[];
+  namespaceRegistration: ?string;
   hooks?: {
     prepublishContract?: (GIMessage) => void;
     postpublishContract?: (GIMessage) => void;
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ export type ChelRegParams = {
     postpublish?: (GIMessage) => void;
     onprocessed?: (GIMessage) => void;
   };
-  publishOptions?: { maxAttempts: number };
+  publishOptions?: { headers: ?Object, maxAttempts: number };
 }
 
 export type ChelActionParams = {
@@ -923,7 +924,15 @@ export default (sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
       manifest: manifestHash
     })
     const contractID = contractMsg.hash()
-    await sbp('chelonia/private/out/publishEvent', contractMsg, publishOptions, hooks && {
+    await sbp('chelonia/private/out/publishEvent', contractMsg, (params.namespaceRegistration
+      ? {
+          ...publishOptions,
+          headers: {
+            ...publishOptions?.headers,
+            'shelter-namespace-registration': params.namespaceRegistration
+          }
+        }
+      : publishOptions), hooks && {
       prepublish: hooks.prepublishContract,
       postpublish: hooks.postpublishContract
     })
diff --git a/shared/domains/chelonia/internals.js b/shared/domains/chelonia/internals.js
index b0d745711..7a897cbb4 100644
--- a/shared/domains/chelonia/internals.js
+++ b/shared/domains/chelonia/internals.js
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ export default (sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
   },
   // used by, e.g. 'chelonia/contract/wait'
   'chelonia/private/noop': function () {},
-  'chelonia/private/out/publishEvent': function (entry: GIMessage, { maxAttempts = 5 } = {}, hooks) {
+  'chelonia/private/out/publishEvent': function (entry: GIMessage, { maxAttempts = 5, headers } = {}, hooks) {
     const contractID = entry.contractID()
     const originalEntry = entry
 
@@ -488,6 +488,7 @@ export default (sbp('sbp/selectors/register', {
           method: 'POST',
           body: entry.serialize(),
           headers: {
+            ...headers,
             'Content-Type': 'text/plain',
             'Authorization': 'gi TODO - signature - if needed here - goes here'
           },
diff --git a/test/backend.test.js b/test/backend.test.js
index 3136d530f..3d8f8cd48 100644
--- a/test/backend.test.js
+++ b/test/backend.test.js
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ describe('Full walkthrough', function () {
         // TODO when merging: decryptedValue no longer takes an argument (was decryptedValue(JSON.parse))
         prepublish: (message) => { message.decryptedValue() },
         postpublish: (message) => { testFn && testFn(message) }
-      }
+      },
+      namespaceRegistration: username
     })
     return msg
   }
@@ -253,7 +254,12 @@ describe('Full walkthrough', function () {
       users.bob.decryptedValue().data.attributes.email.should.equal('bob@okturtles.com')
     })
 
-    it('Should register Alice and Bob in the namespace', async function () {
+    /*
+    // The following test is redundant because now namespace registration happens
+    // when registering a contract instead of after it's registered using
+    // 'namespace/register'. If we have no further use for 'namespace/register',
+    // consider removing this entirely
+    it.skip('Should register Alice and Bob in the namespace', async function () {
       const { alice, bob } = users
       let res = await sbp('namespace/register', alice.decryptedValue().data.attributes.username, alice.contractID())
       // NOTE: don't rely on the return values for 'namespace/register'
@@ -264,6 +270,7 @@ describe('Full walkthrough', function () {
       alice.socket = 'hello'
       should(alice.socket).equal('hello')
     })
+    */
 
     it('Should verify namespace lookups work', async function () {
       const { alice } = users