JUnit 5 allows fine-grained control over how repeated tests are displayed in test reports using the name attribute of @RepeatedTest. Readable repetition names become especially important when diagnosing failures in large test suites.

Why Custom Display Names Matter

Without a custom name, repeated tests can be difficult to distinguish in console output and CI reports. JUnit 5 provides placeholders such as {displayName}, {currentRepetition}, and {totalRepetitions} to make each execution self-descriptive.

Built in Display Names

@RepeatedTest defines following constants to be used as built in display names:

String SHORT_DISPLAY_NAME = "repetition " + CURRENT_REPETITION_PLACEHOLDER + " of " + 
                                                      TOTAL_REPETITIONS_PLACEHOLDER;
String LONG_DISPLAY_NAME = DISPLAY_NAME_PLACEHOLDER + " :: " + SHORT_DISPLAY_NAME;

Example

package com.logicbig.example;

import org.junit.jupiter.api.RepeatedTest;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;

public class RepeatedTestDisplayNameTest {

    @RepeatedTest(value = 2, name = "{displayName} :: my run {currentRepetition}/{totalRepetitions}")
    void myTest1() {
       assertTrue(true);
    }

    // SHORT_DISPLAY_NAME is default, so it's redundant
    @RepeatedTest(value = 2, name = RepeatedTest.SHORT_DISPLAY_NAME)
    void myTest2() {
        assertTrue(true);
    }

    @RepeatedTest(value = 2, name = RepeatedTest.LONG_DISPLAY_NAME)
    void myTest3() {
        assertTrue(true);
    }
}

Output

$ mvn test
[INFO] Scanning for projects...
[INFO] 
[INFO] ---< com.logicbig.example:junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name >---
[INFO] Building junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO]   from pom.xml
[INFO] --------------------------------[ jar ]---------------------------------
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:resources (default-resources) @ junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (Cp1252 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\junit-5\junit-5-repeated-tests\junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name\src\main\resources
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- compiler:3.11.0:compile (default-compile) @ junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name ---
[INFO] No sources to compile
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- resources:3.3.1:testResources (default-testResources) @ junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name ---
[WARNING] Using platform encoding (Cp1252 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory D:\example-projects\junit-5\junit-5-repeated-tests\junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name\src\test\resources
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- compiler:3.11.0:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name ---
[INFO] Changes detected - recompiling the module! :source
[WARNING] File encoding has not been set, using platform encoding Cp1252, i.e. build is platform dependent!
[INFO] Compiling 1 source file with javac [debug target 17] to target\test-classes
[INFO] 
[INFO] --- surefire:3.5.0:test (default-test) @ junit-5-repeated-test-custom-display-name ---
[INFO] Using auto detected provider org.apache.maven.surefire.junitplatform.JUnitPlatformProvider
[INFO] 
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]  T E S T S
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] +--com.logicbig.example.RepeatedTestDisplayNameTest - 0.118 ss
[INFO] |  +-- [OK] myTest1() myTest1() :: my run 1/2 - 0.050 ss
[INFO] |  +-- [OK] myTest1() myTest1() :: my run 2/2 - 0.003 ss
[INFO] |  +-- [OK] myTest2() repetition 1 of 2 - 0.010 ss
[INFO] |  +-- [OK] myTest2() repetition 2 of 2 - 0.002 ss
[INFO] |  +-- [OK] myTest3() myTest3() :: repetition 1 of 2 - 0.001 ss
[INFO] |  '-- [OK] myTest3() myTest3() :: repetition 2 of 2 - 0.001 ss
[INFO] 
[INFO] Results:
[INFO] 
[INFO] Tests run: 6, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0
[INFO] 
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time:  3.919 s
[INFO] Finished at: 2025-12-27T08:59:37+08:00
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Output Analysis

The output confirms that each repetition is clearly labeled as configured. Using predefined constants such as RepeatedTest.SHORT_DISPLAY_NAME and RepeatedTest.LONG_DISPLAY_NAME, or fully customized patterns, ensures that test reports remain readable when repeated executions are involved.

Example Project

Dependencies and Technologies Used:

• junit-jupiter-engine 6.0.1 (Module "junit-jupiter-engine" of JUnit)
   Version Compatibility: 5.0.0 - 6.0.1Version List
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  Version compatibilities of junit-jupiter-engine with this example:

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• JDK 25
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