--- /dev/null
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\user;
+
+use Drupal\Core\Field\Plugin\Field\FieldType\StringItem;
+
+/**
+ * Defines a custom field item class for the 'name' user entity field.
+ */
+class UserNameItem extends StringItem {
+
+ /**
+ * {@inheritdoc}
+ */
+ public function isEmpty() {
+ $value = $this->get('value')->getValue();
+
+ // Take into account that the name of the anonymous user is an empty string.
+ if ($this->getEntity()->isAnonymous()) {
+ return $value === NULL;
+ }
+
+ return $value === NULL || $value === '';
+ }
+
+}