Not able to make an account with a supposedly free name?

[pipsqueeek]

I randomly decided to search for accounts called "nerd" and "geek" and stuff, and found that there wasn't one for either of those. So I decided, I might want a side account sometime, and went to go make geek. But, it told me there was already someone named geek. Um?

[Sigh]

these accounts are not viewable because they are frozen, but have not been deleted yet by neopets.

[pipsqueeek]

Oh. I feel stupid now.

...that's annoying.

[Sigh]

lol don't worry i did that too about a year ago XD
i know, isn't it? it should still show up so you can ACTUALLY know what is and isn't there -_-

[TDG]

The best way to check if the account name is available is to try logging in with that account name. For example, the search bar says there is no account named "monkey", however, by trying to log in, you find the account does exist and that the active pet is ChiChi.

You can even go further to find out why the account is searchable by trying to enter a password (anything will do, be it "a" or "nyahnyahI'mtryingtoputapasswordin"). You'll get a page proclaiming something like

This account has been FROZEN for the following reason:

You MAY have either fallen for a scam or submitted your account information to a fake login page. If you'd like information on getting your account back, please contact us by clicking here.

[Erin]

Actually, you don't need to enter a password. You can leave that field blank and just hit "enter".

[lothwe]

or you could just go to your lookup, replace the username at the end of the URL with the one you're inspecting, and it'll come up saying "this user has been frozen" blahblah. no need for all that fanciful logging in