Why Is the Gift Card Recipient Name Missing From Shopify Emails?

The real symptom

• The order shows some gift-card properties but the recipient email is missing.
• The buyer receives the gift card instead of the recipient.
• The recipient name renders blank in the email template.
• Customized templates behave differently from the default Shopify template.

Likely causes

• The form is missing __shopify_send_gift_card_to_recipient.
• Recipient email/name fields are named as generic line item properties instead of Shopify’s expected fields.
• The template references a recipient variable that is optional or not present.
• The store uses an old customized gift-card email that predates recipient fields.

Fix path

1. Compare the gift-card product form with Shopify’s current recipient form docs.
2. Confirm the checkbox or hidden input that tells Shopify to send to the recipient is present.
3. Confirm recipient name, email, message, and send-on fields use Shopify’s expected property names.
4. Restore the default gift-card notification in a test copy if the email was heavily customized.
5. Test by purchasing a gift card with a separate recipient address.

Simple checks

• Check whether recipient fields appear only as line item properties or as actual gift-card recipient data.
• Use fallbacks for optional names, such as displaying email when name is blank.
• Do not test with the same buyer and recipient address while debugging.

Useful code or DevTools check

{% if gift_card.recipient %}
  {{ gift_card.recipient.name | default: gift_card.recipient.email }}
{% endif %}

Do not do this

Do not try to add recipient details retroactively after checkout as the primary process. Collect them correctly before the gift card is created.

Sources

• Shopify Community: Recipient name variable not working
• Shopify Community: Gift card recipient notification not sent
• Shopify Developer Docs: Gift card recipient form
• Shopify Community: Add recipient retroactively