diff --git a/changelog/7953-username-validation.yaml b/changelog/7953-username-validation.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3cb3cc5d925
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/7953-username-validation.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+type: Fixed
+description: Added character and length validation to usernames on user creation
+pr: 7953
+labels: []
diff --git a/src/fides/api/schemas/user.py b/src/fides/api/schemas/user.py
index bf35a54cde7..bbc086bbe8a 100644
--- a/src/fides/api/schemas/user.py
+++ b/src/fides/api/schemas/user.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
     from fides.api.models.fides_user import FidesUser
     from fides.api.models.fides_user_invite import FidesUserInvite
 
+USERNAME_PATTERN = r"[a-zA-Z0-9._-]{1,100}"
+
 
 class PrivacyRequestUser(FidesSchema):
     """Data we can expose via PrivacyRequest user relations (reviewer, submitter, etc.)"""
@@ -38,9 +40,12 @@ class UserCreate(FidesSchema):
     @field_validator("username")
     @classmethod
     def validate_username(cls, username: str) -> str:
-        """Ensure username does not have spaces."""
-        if " " in username:
-            raise ValueError("Usernames cannot have spaces.")
+        """Ensure username contains only valid characters and is within length limits."""
+        if not re.fullmatch(USERNAME_PATTERN, username):
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Usernames must be 1-100 characters and may only contain "
+                "letters, numbers, periods, underscores, and hyphens."
+            )
         return username
 
     @field_validator("password")
diff --git a/tests/lib/test_oauth_schemas_user.py b/tests/lib/test_oauth_schemas_user.py
index b6a196103eb..5463013f66b 100644
--- a/tests/lib/test_oauth_schemas_user.py
+++ b/tests/lib/test_oauth_schemas_user.py
@@ -30,10 +30,22 @@ def test_bad_password(password, message):
     assert message in str(excinfo.value)
 
 
-def test_user_create_user_name_with_spaces():
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "username",
+    [
+        "some user",
+        "user&name",
+        "user=name",
+        "user<name",
+        "user@name",
+        "",
+        "a" * 101,
+    ],
+)
+def test_user_create_invalid_username(username):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Usernames must be"):
         UserCreate(
-            username="some user",
+            username=username,
             password=str_to_b64_str("Testtest1!"),
             email_address="test.user@ethyca.com",
             first_name="test",
@@ -41,6 +53,29 @@ def test_user_create_user_name_with_spaces():
         )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "username",
+    [
+        "testuser",
+        "test-user",
+        "test_user",
+        "Test_User-123",
+        "john.doe",
+        "a",
+        "a" * 100,
+    ],
+)
+def test_user_create_valid_username(username):
+    user = UserCreate(
+        username=username,
+        password=str_to_b64_str("Testtest1!"),
+        email_address="test.user@ethyca.com",
+        first_name="test",
+        last_name="test",
+    )
+    assert user.username == username
+
+
 def test_user_create_invalid_email():
     with pytest.raises(ValidationError):
         UserCreate(