diff --git a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/UserController.php b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/UserController.php
index 4ece8eec17..f925cd29a3 100644
--- a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/UserController.php
+++ b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Administration/UserController.php
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ public function addUser(Request $request): JsonResponse
         $errorMessage = [];
 
         $userName = Filter::filterVar($data->userName, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
-        $userRealName = Filter::filterVar($data->realName, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
+        $userRealName = trim(strip_tags((string) $data->realName));
         $userEmail = Filter::filterVar($data->email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);
         $automaticPassword = Filter::filterVar($data->automaticPassword, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN);
         $userPassword = Filter::filterVar($data->password, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ public function editUser(Request $request): JsonResponse
             return $this->json(['error' => Translation::get('ad_user_error_noId')], Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST);
         } else {
             $userData = [];
-            $userData['display_name'] = Filter::filterVar($data->display_name, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
+            $userData['display_name'] = trim(strip_tags((string) $data->display_name));
             $userData['email'] = Filter::filterVar($data->email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);
             $userData['last_modified'] = Filter::filterVar($data->last_modified, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
             $userStatus = Filter::filterVar($data->user_status, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS, 'active');
diff --git a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/RegistrationController.php b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/RegistrationController.php
index 7de1bb966a..4ec793e20a 100644
--- a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/RegistrationController.php
+++ b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/RegistrationController.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public function create(Request $request): JsonResponse
 
         $data = json_decode($request->getContent(), false, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
 
-        $fullName = trim((string) Filter::filterVar($data->realname, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
+        $fullName = trim(strip_tags((string) $data->realname));
         $userName = trim((string) Filter::filterVar($data->name, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
         $email = trim((string) Filter::filterVar($data->email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL));
         $isVisible = Filter::filterVar($data->isVisible, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS) ?? false;
diff --git a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/UserController.php b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/UserController.php
index 0c7a2730dd..311929bc0f 100644
--- a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/UserController.php
+++ b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/Controller/Frontend/UserController.php
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public function updateData(Request $request): JsonResponse
         }
 
         $userId = Filter::filterVar($data->userid, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);
-        $userName = trim((string) Filter::filterVar($data->name, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
+        $userName = trim(strip_tags((string) $data->name));
         $email = Filter::filterVar($data->email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);
         $isVisible = Filter::filterVar($data->{'is_visible'}, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
         $password = trim((string) Filter::filterVar($data->faqpassword, FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
diff --git a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/UserData.php b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/UserData.php
index 8e00004aa4..a3349627d7 100644
--- a/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/UserData.php
+++ b/phpmyfaq/src/phpMyFAQ/User/UserData.php
@@ -77,6 +77,15 @@ public function get(mixed $field): mixed
 
         $array = $this->configuration->getDb()->fetchArray($res);
 
+        // Decode HTML entities in display_name for backward compatibility
+        if (isset($array['display_name'])) {
+            $array['display_name'] = html_entity_decode(
+                $array['display_name'],
+                ENT_QUOTES | ENT_HTML5 | ENT_SUBSTITUTE,
+                'UTF-8'
+            );
+        }
+
         return $singleReturn && $field != '*' ? $array[$field] : $array;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/phpMyFAQ/User/UserDataTest.php b/tests/phpMyFAQ/User/UserDataTest.php
index 86d74da732..9642a01da9 100644
--- a/tests/phpMyFAQ/User/UserDataTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpMyFAQ/User/UserDataTest.php
@@ -118,4 +118,26 @@ public function testEmailExistsReturnsFalseForEmptyEmail(): void
         $result = $this->userData->emailExists('');
         $this->assertFalse($result);
     }
+
+    public function testGetDecodesHtmlEntitiesInDisplayName(): void
+    {
+        $this->database->method('query')->willReturn(true);
+        $this->database->method('numRows')->willReturn(1);
+        $this->database->method('fetchArray')->willReturn(['display_name' => 'Jürgen']);
+
+        $this->userData->load(1);
+        $result = $this->userData->get('display_name');
+        $this->assertEquals('Jürgen', $result);
+    }
+
+    public function testGetPreservesPlainUtf8InDisplayName(): void
+    {
+        $this->database->method('query')->willReturn(true);
+        $this->database->method('numRows')->willReturn(1);
+        $this->database->method('fetchArray')->willReturn(['display_name' => 'Jürgen']);
+
+        $this->userData->load(1);
+        $result = $this->userData->get('display_name');
+        $this->assertEquals('Jürgen', $result);
+    }
 }