diff --git a/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js b/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
index 9661862..36912ce 100644
--- a/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
+++ b/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ export default class BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider {
 
     const user = await this.openmct.user.getCurrentUser();
     const containedNamespaces = await this.getNamespacesFromMCWS(namespaceDefinition);
-    const userNamespace = interpolateUsername(namespaceTemplate, user.id);
+    const userNamespace = interpolateUsername(namespaceTemplate, user.id, user.name);
     const existingUserNamespace = containedNamespaces.find(
       (namespace) => namespace.url === userNamespace.url
     );
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ export default class BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider {
    *
    * @private
    * @param {NamespaceDefinition} namespaceDefinition
+   * @param {string} userId the user ID
    * @returns {Promise.<NamespaceDefinition>|Promise.<undefined>}
    */
   async createIfMissing(namespaceDefinition, userId) {
diff --git a/src/persistence/test/MCWSNamespaceServiceSpec.js b/src/persistence/test/MCWSNamespaceServiceSpec.js
index 7ec2fb2..92c454a 100644
--- a/src/persistence/test/MCWSNamespaceServiceSpec.js
+++ b/src/persistence/test/MCWSNamespaceServiceSpec.js
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ describe('MCWSNamespaceService', () => {
       url: '/some/personal/namespace',
       containsNamespaces: true,
       childTemplate: {
-        id: 'personal-${USER}:root',
-        key: 'personal-${USER}',
-        name: '${USER}',
-        url: '/some/personal/namespace/${USER}'
+        id: 'personal-${USERID}:root',
+        key: 'personal-${USERID}',
+        name: '${USERNAME}',
+        url: '/some/personal/namespace/${USERID}'
       }
     };
     inaccessibleContainerRootDefinition = {
@@ -112,10 +112,10 @@ describe('MCWSNamespaceService', () => {
       url: '/inaccessible/personal/namespace',
       containsNamespaces: true,
       childTemplate: {
-        id: 'inaccessible-personal-${USER}:root',
-        key: 'inaccessible-personal-${USER}',
-        name: '${USER}',
-        url: '/inaccessible/personal/namespace/${USER}'
+        id: 'inaccessible-personal-${USERID}:root',
+        key: 'inaccessible-personal-${USERID}',
+        name: '${USERNAME}',
+        url: '/inaccessible/personal/namespace/${USERID}'
       }
     };
     missingContainerRootDefinition = {
@@ -125,10 +125,10 @@ describe('MCWSNamespaceService', () => {
       url: '/missing/personal/namespace',
       containsNamespaces: true,
       childTemplate: {
-        id: 'missing-personal-${USER}:root',
-        key: 'missing-personal-${USER}',
-        name: '${USER}',
-        url: '/missing/personal/namespace/${USER}'
+        id: 'missing-personal-${USERID}:root',
+        key: 'missing-personal-${USERID}',
+        name: '${USERNAME}',
+        url: '/missing/personal/namespace/${USERID}'
       }
     };
 
diff --git a/src/persistence/utils.js b/src/persistence/utils.js
index 5c35429..f770007 100644
--- a/src/persistence/utils.js
+++ b/src/persistence/utils.js
@@ -47,10 +47,10 @@ export function createNamespace(namespace) {
       url: namespace.url,
       containsNamespaces: true,
       childTemplate: {
-        id: namespace.key + '-${USER}' + ROOT_NAMESPACE_SUFFIX,
-        key: namespace.key + '-${USER}',
-        name: '${USER}',
-        url: namespace.url + '/${USER}'
+        id: namespace.key + '-${USERID}' + ROOT_NAMESPACE_SUFFIX,
+        key: namespace.key + '-${USERID}',
+        name: '${USERNAME}',
+        url: namespace.url + '/${USERID}'
       }
     };
   } else {
@@ -65,18 +65,20 @@ export function createNamespace(namespace) {
 
 /**
  * Interpolate a username with all values in a supplied object, replacing
- * '${USER}' with the supplied username.
+ * '${USERNAME}' with the supplied username and '${USERID}' with the
+ * supplied user ID.
  *
  * @private
  * @param {NamespaceTemplate} templateObject namespace template object.
- * @param {string} username a username.
+ * @param {string} userId the user ID
+ * @param {string} username the username (default is userId)
  * @returns {NamespaceDefinition} a namespace definition object.
  */
-export function interpolateUsername(templateObject, username) {
+export function interpolateUsername(templateObject, userId, username = userId) {
   const namespaceDefinition = {};
 
   Object.keys(templateObject).forEach((key) => {
-    namespaceDefinition[key] = templateObject[key].replace('${USER}', username);
+    namespaceDefinition[key] = templateObject[key].replace('${USERNAME}', username).replace('${USERID}', userId);
   });
 
   return namespaceDefinition;
diff --git a/src/services/identity/createMCWSUser.js b/src/services/identity/createMCWSUser.js
index adb1609..d2012f3 100644
--- a/src/services/identity/createMCWSUser.js
+++ b/src/services/identity/createMCWSUser.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ export default function createMCWSUser(UserClass) {
      * @param {MCWSUserInfo} userInfo
      */
     constructor(name) {
-      super(name, name); // no id is returned, so we use name twice
+      super(String(name).replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, ''), name);
     }
   };
 }