How to rename a user account that is already linked to a Microsoft Account?

When I first installed Windows 10 I used the option to sign in with my Microsoft account, what I did not know at the time is that Microsoft automatically creates a user account using the first 5 letters of your email address. My users folder now looks like C:\Users\jesmi when I really prefer to use my first name such as C:\Users\John.

Is there a way to change the name of my user account that is linked to my Microsoft account?

If not, is there a work around for this?

Is there a way to install Windows 10 and force it to use a user account with a name I choose?

I have already tried changing the user account name and changing registry settings to point to new users folder, but this did not work and I was forced to restore my system to a previous backup.

Update
I now know that renaming a user account that is already linked to a Microsoft Account is a bad idea and should be avoided. See the much better solutions below.

Solution 1:

Or make a hard directory link (must run as administrator) between what you want and what you have?

mklink /J C:\Users\John C:\Users\jesmi

The user folder jesmi will still be there, but you can ignore it.

Solution 2:

I'm adding some solutions to my problem so others may benefit from this information.

Problem: When installing Windows 10 for the first time and immediately linking to your Microsoft account, be aware that Microsoft will automatically name your user account with first 5 letters of your email address and does not give you an option to choose your own user name.

To avoid being annoyed with this and trying to find a way to rename it later, see the solutions bellow instead.

Solution #1:

1. Create a new local user account with the name that you wish.
2. Change the new local user account type to administrator (can skip if already have another administrator account).
3. Remove the original Microsoft linked account with unwanted Microsoft created name.
4. Link new local user account to Microsoft account if you wish.

The new user account name will remain the same after linking to your Microsoft account.

Solution #2:
Install Windows 10 with a local user account first. After Windows 10 installation is complete, go ahead and link the local user account to your Microsoft Account if you wish.

Solutions copied from this post. See here for more details.
How to rename the User folder in Windows 10?

Conclusion (what not to do): I was trying to rename the user account that was already linked to my Microsoft Account instead of creating a new local user account and I found out this is a very bad idea and should be avoided. It created many errors and all sorts of problems for me.