Names are everything. Choosing a name for your brand can feel like the most important thing when you start building a business.
You have an idea about a business that you want to start, and now you’re trying to come up with the perfect name.
I get it. I’ve been there, and I know that although it seems like an easy task, it can prove to be challenging once you figure out that all the good ones are taken.
That’s why I prepared some tips and advice that will help you get closer to reaching the perfect name to match your great idea.
How important is your brand’s name?
Yes, the name of your brand is an important branding element when it comes to leaving a good first impression. Your brand name should be simple and easy to understand.
However, a lot of the time the names we think about are already taken and not available. You shouldn’t let that hold you back from taking action.
Ultimately, a brand becomes known not because of the name, but because of what it has to offer and provide to customers.
If you need some help with coming up with a name, keep reading for some tips and advice.
Coming up with a brand name
Here is how to start brainstorming about your new name. Think about the goal of your idea and what you want to accomplish with it. What is the goal of your name?
Here are some common types of names:
- Personality names introduce the person behind the business.
- Descriptive names indicate the types of products and services you offer.
- Acronym names are first letter acronyms of the organizations. ( For example, UNICEF )
- Geographic names are usually based on the location of your business.
- Compound names put together or combine the meaning of two or more words.
- Wordplay names get created by misspelling or rhyming words.
The best advice I can give you is to make sure that your brand name is simple and memorable.
Brand Name Example: YouTube is the most popular video streaming platform. Its name comes from combining two words You as in the person uploading videos and Tube referring to an old acronym for television. The original tagline of YouTube is “Broadcast Yourself”.
Your brand and your audience
Your audience or customers are the people that will interact with your brand. Ideally, your name should be something that they find relatable.
When people hear your name, it should be obvious what type of brand is in question. You’re aiming to create as least friction as possible for them to understand what your brand is about.
Here are some questions that will help you with coming up with a customer-centric name:
- What is the type of audience that you’re trying to serve?
- What type of feeling are you trying to inspire in people?
- What type of benefits does your brand offer?
- What is something you have in common with your audience?
- Five years from now, how do you imagine people talking about your brand?
Brand Name Example: The fashion house Gucci carries the name of its founder, the Italian-British businessman and fashion designer Guccio Gucci.
The Name Game
Here is an exercise that I found when I needed some help with naming this website.
Grab a pen and a piece of paper. With your idea in mind, start writing down keywords that you think can describe the brand that you want to build.
Write down 50 keywords. Now, this is an exercise just for yourself or your team, it doesn’t have to be perfect words. Just write down everything that comes to mind and go from there.
Take another piece of paper and start brainstorming and combining words from your list. Finally, narrow it down to your best ideas and choose one.
Brand Name Generator
If you can’t come up with a name by yourself, you can check out Nameflix. It’s a free to use, AI-powered name generator that can help you come up with a unique name.
- Enter brand-related keywords
- Select name length ( Short, Medium, or Long)
- Generate names
- Select a name style
- Explore, and choose your new name
Trademarking your brand name
A common question that people ask is what is a trademark? A name trademark indicates that your brand name is an intellectual property that belongs to you.
It provides protection against others that might try and use the same name for business purposes. That means that if you use a trademarked name you have common law trademark protection. However, it is still up to your side to keep track of the use of your name.
An important thing to note is that it is very hard to register the most common or descriptive names. Your best bet at it would be a unique name that can’t be found anywhere else.
If you need some advice about trademarks, you should talk to a licensed professional in your area.
Final thoughts
I understand that naming your future business is not an easy job to do. However, when you’re stuck on something simple like the name of your brand, it can really hold you back from taking action on your idea.
Nothing is forever. You can always change or improve your name as you move along with your project. Stop procrastinating, pick a name and go.
Brand Name Example: Pepsi was first introduced as “Brad’s Drink” in 1893 by Caleb Bradham. It was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898 after the Greek word for “digestion” and “cola” after the kola nut.
What is next?
If you do not have a name for your project yet, don’t worry and don’t let that stop you from doing other meaningful work towards your goals.
Once you’ve decided on the perfect name for your new brand, you can move on to design a tagline and a logo to go along.
If you need some more help on your mission, you can grab my guide on how to build a digital brand in five steps.
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