As part of Yahoo's initiative to free up hundreds of thousands of unused email usernames, the online company is offering you the chance to claim a Yahoo account with the name you've always wanted.

Its Yahoo Wish List is now open for submissions. You are invited to list the usernames you would most like for Yahoo services, including Yahoo Mail, Flickr and its other sites. Put the most desirable one first on the entry form and then follow with others you would be happy with accepting in order of preference. Once submitted, you can sit back and wait to see if you have been awarded the one you want once the username clean-up has been completed, after 7 August.

If successful, you will be sent notification to a separate designated email address which you enter during the process.

If you just so happen to enter a username that hasn't been used before, you will get an immediate pop-up telling you that it is already available and guidance on how to claim it.

A number of key security technologies are in place to ensure that username hogs and automated services do not end up claiming their original or new blocks of usernames. Facebook is also partnering to help with validating users.

You can enter your preferred names on the dedicated Yahoo Wish List site at wishlist.yahoo.com now.