removing LOGIN Name

Command-click and drag.

 

or disable Fast user switching in preferences. or change how you want the names displayed.

 

Okay i've just done this and now i've got a massive gap where my name was, how can I get rid of that gap?!

 

Your icons should have adjusted automatically, but try logging out and back in.

 

Ah brilliant, thank you.

 

You can re-launch the finder and it should re-group them, or log in and out or re-boot.

 

System Preferences --> Users & Groups --> Login Options --> "Show fast user switching menu as" - Uncheck it to completely disable it or just change what the function displays.

 

Preferences>Users & Groups, then click Login Options bottom left.

EDIT:Beaten

 

No problem, fast-switching user in menu bar feature didn't exist prior to Lion (that I know of..).

 

It is not new to Lion, been an OS X trick for some time. Plus some of us have been using Lion since April as developers.

 

Some items can be dragged out of their container without a modifier key, e.g. from the dock. Other items Apple believes are more important to keep put, but are still removable from their container (menu bar items, finder side bar items) with cmd-dragging. In either case the "poof" cursor will show up, indicating that the item hasn't been deleted or necessarily deactivated, only that it is no longer accessible from said container -- until you put it back anyway.

Menu bar items often have a checkbox in their associated system preference pane for "show in menu bar", as do most applications that put something up there. Finder side bar items can simply be dragged back in if you so chose.