diff --git a/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/ui/screen/loggedIn/search/SearchBarViewModel.kt b/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/ui/screen/loggedIn/search/SearchBarViewModel.kt
index ff55cb0a61..41b85b068a 100644
--- a/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/ui/screen/loggedIn/search/SearchBarViewModel.kt
+++ b/amethyst/src/main/java/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/ui/screen/loggedIn/search/SearchBarViewModel.kt
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchFilterBuilder
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchScope
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchSortOrder
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchSource
+import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.nameSearchTerms
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.ui.feeds.InvalidatableContent
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.model.Account
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.model.LocalCache
@@ -419,11 +420,12 @@ class SearchBarViewModel(
     override val isRefreshing = derivedStateOf { searchValue.isNotBlank() }
 
     /**
-     * What is left of the box once the filter tokens are lifted out — what a name search should
-     * actually be given. A blank result means the query named only filters, and a name search on
-     * "everything" is not a useful answer.
+     * The single word a name search should be given — see [nameSearchTerms]. Not simply the
+     * leftover text: a query that is nothing but `#bitcoin` leaves no leftovers, and handing the
+     * finders an empty string means they answer with nobody rather than with the channel called
+     * "Bitcoin" that the reader was plainly looking for.
      */
-    private fun plainTerms(term: String): String = QueryParser.parse(term).text
+    private fun plainTerms(term: String): String = QueryParser.parse(term).nameSearchTerms()
 
     /**
      * Could this text name an event rather than describe one? A bech32 pointer, or a run of hex
diff --git a/commons/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTerms.kt b/commons/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTerms.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3759b47f38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commons/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTerms.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2025 Vitor Pamplona
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+ * this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+ * the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
+ * copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the
+ * Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
+ * subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
+ * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
+ * COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+ * AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+ * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search
+
+/**
+ * The one word a *name* search should be given, from a query written in the token language.
+ *
+ * The people and channel finders match a single string against a name — `startsWith`, `contains` —
+ * so they cannot be handed the whole box. Handing them the raw text was wrong once the tokens
+ * started meaning something: `#bitcoin` went in verbatim and matched no channel called "Bitcoin".
+ * Handing them only the leftover terms is wrong in the other direction, because a query that is
+ * *nothing but* a token leaves nothing behind, and `#bitcoin` would find nobody at all.
+ *
+ * So: the leftover words when there are any, and otherwise the word the reader actually typed
+ * inside the token. Someone typing `#bitcoin` into a search box means "bitcoin" by it, and someone
+ * typing `from:vitor` means "vitor" — neither means "search for nothing".
+ *
+ * One term, never a join: `"bitcoin lightning"` is not a name any channel starts with, so where a
+ * query names two tokens the first is the one that stands for it.
+ */
+fun SearchQuery.nameSearchTerms(): String {
+    if (text.isNotBlank()) return text
+    hashtags.firstOrNull()?.let { return it }
+    authorNames.firstOrNull()?.let { return it }
+    return ""
+}
diff --git a/commons/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTermsTest.kt b/commons/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTermsTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de552391dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commons/src/commonTest/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/commons/search/NameSearchTermsTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2025 Vitor Pamplona
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+ * this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+ * the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
+ * copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the
+ * Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
+ * subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
+ * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
+ * COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+ * AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
+ * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+package com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search
+
+import kotlin.test.Test
+import kotlin.test.assertEquals
+
+class NameSearchTermsTest {
+    private fun terms(input: String) = QueryParser.parse(input).nameSearchTerms()
+
+    @Test
+    fun plainWordsPassStraightThrough() {
+        assertEquals("vitor", terms("vitor"))
+        assertEquals("bitcoin lightning", terms("bitcoin lightning"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun aQueryThatIsNothingButAHashtagStillNamesItsWord() {
+        // The regression this exists for: the leftover text of `#bitcoin` is empty, so a name
+        // search given only the leftovers found nobody — not even a channel called "Bitcoin".
+        assertEquals("bitcoin", terms("#bitcoin"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun anUnresolvedAuthorNameIsTheWordTheReaderTyped() {
+        assertEquals("vitor", terms("from:vitor"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun leftoverWordsWinOverATokensValue() {
+        // They typed a word as well as a tag; the word is what they are naming.
+        assertEquals("lightning", terms("#bitcoin lightning"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun onlyOneTermIsEverReturned() {
+        // These finders match a single name, so a join would match nothing at all.
+        assertEquals("bitcoin", terms("#bitcoin #lightning"))
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun aQueryNamingOnlyFiltersNamesNothing() {
+        // A pure date or kind window says nothing about what somebody is called.
+        assertEquals("", terms("since:2026-01-01"))
+        assertEquals("", terms(""))
+    }
+}
diff --git a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/SearchScreen.kt b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/SearchScreen.kt
index 5cdebd781e..8a9eabe17b 100644
--- a/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/SearchScreen.kt
+++ b/desktopApp/src/jvmMain/kotlin/com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/desktop/ui/SearchScreen.kt
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchQuery
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchResult
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.SearchResultFilter
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.UserSearchEngine
+import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.nameSearchTerms
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.search.parseSearchInput
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.ui.search.SearchFieldState
 import com.vitorpamplona.amethyst.commons.ui.search.TokenizedSearchField
@@ -274,10 +275,9 @@ fun SearchScreen(
 
         createSearchPeopleSubscription(
             relays = searchRelays,
-            searchQuery =
-                debouncedQuery.text.ifBlank {
-                    QuerySerializer.serialize(debouncedQuery)
-                },
+            // The word a name search means, not the query written back out: serializing
+            // `#bitcoin` asked the relay's people index for the literal "#bitcoin".
+            searchQuery = debouncedQuery.nameSearchTerms(),
             limit = 20,
             onEvent = { event, _, relay, _ ->
                 if (state.trackRelayEvent(relay.url, event.id)) {