Why do my Google Nest thermostats show the same name or an unexpected name?

Last updated: September 10, 2026

If you have more than one Nest thermostat and they show identical or confusing names in Seam Console (or in the property management app you use), it's because Google hasn't been given a distinct name for each one. Here's how to fix it and how the naming actually works.

Give each thermostat its own name in Google Home

The fastest fix is to name the thermostat directly in the Google Home app:

1. Open the Google Home app.

2. Select the thermostat.

3. Go to Settings > Device name.

4. Enter a name that's unique to that thermostat, like "Upstairs Guest" or "Living Room."

Do this for each thermostat that shares a name with another one. A name set here always takes priority over anything else Google reports, so it's the most reliable way to make thermostats distinguishable.

Where the name Seam shows comes from

Google actually gives Seam three different pieces of information about each thermostat, and Seam picks one:

Device name — what you typed in Settings > Device name (called "Label" in the older Nest app). Most people never set this, so it's usually blank.

Room — whichever room the thermostat is assigned to in Google Home.

Home — the overall Google Home structure. Every thermostat in the same home shares this name.

Seam shows the device name if one is set. If not, it shows the room. If neither is set, it shows the home name.

If you renamed one and it didn't change

A few things to check:

  • Give it a few minutes. Changes made in Google Home — whether to the device name or the room — typically take about 10 minutes to reach Seam.

  • Renaming the room doesn't always help. A room name change only shows up in Seam if that thermostat has no device name set. If a device name exists, it always wins over the room, no matter what the room is called.

  • Disconnecting and reconnecting your Google account won't fix it. Seam recalculates the name from Google's data every time it syncs, so nothing changes until the underlying data in Google Home changes.

Why two thermostats might still share a name

Even after all this, two thermostats can legitimately end up with the same name:

  • You gave them the same device name. For example, two thermostats both named "Upstairs" even though they sit in different rooms called "Up-Guest" and "Up-Primary." Because the device name wins, the different room names never show through. The fix is renaming the thermostats themselves, not the rooms.

  • They're in the same room with no device name set. In that case, both correctly fall back to that one shared room name — that's expected, not a bug.