How to Name Your Business: 3 Tips for Naming a Company

What makes a brand name take off? Finding the best name for a new business is one of the most thrilling parts of the process. The right name can capture your brand identity, become a natural necessity in the lives of your potential customers, and potentially give you an edge in marketing materials and on social media platforms.

Industry wisdom advises first-time business owners to avoid a name that’s too narrow, which could limit how you may expand or change the company’s focus in the future. Successful brand names are often one word, but there are plenty of exceptions to that rule—the most important thing is that it sounds good to you, and makes some kind of sense to your target audience.

A unique business name requires a little out-of-the-box thinking. The naming process can be anything from logic-based to wildly creative and interpretive, but most names fall into a handful of categories. Here are a few:

1. 1. The obvious. Obvious brand names that capture exactly what your business is about can sometimes be the most successful, which is why you’ll have to do a little extra digging to make sure someone else hasn’t already had the straightforward idea you’ve had.
2. 2. The invented. Think Google, Zappos, or even Amazon—these previously nonsensical (or out of context) words have become a natural part of our consumer vernacular. This approach has become a key part of the start-up playbook, where using everything from onomatopeia to invented words is now commonplace.
3. 3. The compounds. Compound names combine two elements of their core offering—think Microsoft (microcomputers and software), or words found in the brand’s values, like Madewell.
   
4. 4. The eponymous. Companies named after their founders can establish a moniker of taste long after the brand’s origins: just like The Walt Disney company.

Learn how Sara Blakely thought of the name for her billion-dollar company, Spanx.

The first employee at Blue Ribbon Sports, Jeff Johnson, got the idea for the company’s new name from these types of brands. While perusing an in-flight magazine in 1971, Johnson came across an article that highlighted popular brand identities like Xerox and Kleenex. His main takeaway? The best brand names had at most two syllables and at least one “exotic” letter, like an “X” or a “K.”

And thus, the brand “Nike” was born.

While you could always go to an online business name generator (which will also check domain availability at the same time), the naming process is also a good excuse to further explore your brand story.

1. 1. Let your mind wander. Find out where you do your best thinking: Every day for a week, spend 20 minutes brainstorming in seven different places. Once you find the place where you can be most creative, spend another week thinking in that space for at least 20 minutes per day. If you realize that you rarely find yourself in your best thinking space, make a manageable change in your routine to put you there more regularly. Maybe that means fabricating a commute, or maybe it means foregoing your favorite podcast while you shower so you can brainstorm instead.
2. 2. Word association. Without thinking too hard, focus on your product or service and quickly write down the first five to ten words that come to mind. Now play around with those words—combine them, change a letter or two. Remember that the Internet will play a role in people finding your product. If you hit on some names you like the sound of, check the availability of domain names you can fit that name into—whether it’s purely the name or adds a few extra intuitive words.
3. 3. Picture it on your brand new business cards. Visualize how your name might appear as a logo design. How do the images support the theme or wordplay? Are you drawn to certain images and logos? Make a mood board that represents your brand or product, and jot down the words that come to mind when you look them over.

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