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How do you get Gmail username with 5 characters or less?

You have to hack an existing one and make it your own, apparently. :-)

Too late by now I think.

I got my Gmail account in late 2004 and there was a lower limit on username length then.

yep, i distinctly remember wanting just my first name and it not allowing it. i have one of the first 500~ accounts, and it wasn't taken