How to start the business naming process

Start by putting together a short creative brief that summarizes the critical parts of your naming strategy.

Here are some of the essential questions your creative brief should answer:

What are you naming?

Most people name companies, and the answer to this question is easy.

But sometimes, you are naming a product, and the answer is more complicated. For example, is it a brand new product or an extension of an existing product line? The latter typically needs to connect to the rest of the product line.

Similarly, it would help if you considered whether you’re creating a suite of products based on this initial product or whether this product will stand alone.

How will you use the name?

If you’re looking for a business name, you’ll use it on your business cards, website, brochures, signs, packaging, and many other situations. Consider any particular uses that could potentially influence the type of name you’ll select.

What is your target market?

You must do market research to understand how the name fits your target market. This isn’t always obvious because markets can be hyper-specific or broad.

What names do your competitors use?

In some industries, there are naming patterns. Other industries reward novelty and innovation when it comes to naming. In both cases, you’ll want to differentiate.

Who are your customers?

Are you selling directly to consumers (B2C) or selling to other businesses (B2B)? Are you selling to senior citizens of Gen-Z? The better you understand your target audience, the more prepared you’ll be to assess whether you’ve found the right name that will resonate with that audience.

How do you differentiate?

This is your unique selling proposition. What’s the special sauce that will prompt people to buy your products and services over your competitors. You can use a SWOT analysis to define your unique selling proposition better.

Are words from other languages acceptable?

Other languages can be playful (Swahili, for example) or communicate better with a particular audience (French for an upscale audience). But remember that words can have negative meanings and associations in other languages, so think about your target markets and consider how your name would be interpreted in those markets.

What brand attributes should the name communicate?

This is tough to accomplish with most names, but you can sometimes communicate various brand attributes with a business name. For example, Sir Speedy’s name (professional printing and marketing services) expresses that the product is “fast.”

Do you prefer a specific tone?

Certain pronunciations have specific connotations. For example, the popular coffee chain Starbucks got its name in part because the founders thought “st” makes a strong vocal sound.

Can your product accommodate your business name?

Small products have limited physical space on which you can print the name. So consider whether you’ll want to publish your name on products and whether you’ll be constrained with a longer name.

Will you need a matching domain name?

Domain names can be tough to find. But you can add a descriptor to your business name. For example, if your business name is clout and the domain is already taken, you can use joinclout as the domain.

Now that you’ve learned the basics, here are nineteen proven tips to help you pick a strong business name:

1. Be patient when naming a business.

It’s possible to find a great name in a few hours, but this is rare. The process can take weeks as you explore lots of options.

Think about words that describe your industry or the products/services you offer. Think about words that describe your competitors and terms that describe the differences between your products and services and those of your competitors.

Also, consider words that describe the benefits of using your products or services. Finally, think about words (and phrases) that evoke the feelings you want your customers to feel when they see your company name.

Here’s a handy ideas guide for many different industries like salon name ideas (and many others, including restaurant name ideas, consulting business name ideas, photography business name ideas, and much more).

While brainstorming, look up Greek and Latin translations of your words – you might find new ideas from doing that exercise. Look at foreign words too.

Expect this process to take lots of time (it took us about 40+ hours to brainstorm and then another 10 to finalize names for crowdspring – we went through MANY possible names). Don’t forget to leverage resources, including a dictionary, thesaurus, and other resources that you think may help. This terrific naming resources guide can help you get started.

2. Think about what you want your business name to convey.

Your business name is an essential part of your company’s brand identity.

The name will appear in your company logo and on your business cards, letterhead, website, promotional materials, products, and pretty much everywhere in print to identify your company or your company’s products and/or services.

Service-oriented businesses should consider whether it will be easy for their prospective customers to recognize what services the business provides, based on the name of the company (example: Friendly Dog Walkers or Bright Accounting).

3. Avoid decisions by committee.

People rarely agree about anything. And when it comes to naming, this is always true.

It’s tempting to involve our friends, family, employees, and customers to find your company’s name. Sometimes, this can work out well. But there are risks. People might be upset if you don’t pick a name they think is excellent.

You’ll also find yourself trying to find consensus – which can lead to a very plain name. If you must involve others, pick a small group of people who understand you and your business (and pick a mix of right-brain types and left-brain types so that you can have some variety).

Once you’ve selected a few possible choices, you should share them with a few trusted friends, family, and customers to get some feedback about the name.

Pick a person who will ultimately decide, provide input, and then let that person pick the name. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time or will compromise on a name that’s weak but tolerated by everyone.

4. Avoid business names that are too narrow or too literal.

Think about how your company may evolve and make sure that the company name can grow with the business.

For example, your original name will be too narrow and restrictive if you name your company iPhone Accessories and later expand into selling accessories for other products.

The same advice applies even if your company sells a niche product.

For example, if you sell antique lamps, you should consider whether you might sell more than lamps in the future. Naming your business Joan’s Antique Lamps may be too limiting when you later sell antique clocks and furniture.

5. Give yourself options.

Even when you find a name you love, consider other possibilities.

Select several names that can work well for you and register those domains to have options. Don’t anchor yourself to a name prematurely before you’ve done some due diligence.

6. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t get a matching domain name.

Look for a company name that is also available for registration as a domain (ideally, as a .com domain).

You should understand that .com domains are prevalent, and you’ll struggle to find available domains that match your company name.

A strong and memorable name that requires a descriptor for the domain name is often much better than a less memorable name for which you can an exact match domain.

7. Consider whether you can obtain a trademark.

It’s essential to ensure that your competitors are not using the same name in your industry.

It’s not uncommon to find similar (or even identical names) in different industries, but this can confuse your customers and vendors.

If your competitors are using the same name – you’ll expose yourself to possible litigation, and you’ll likely be unable to obtain trademark protection for your company name. Since intellectual property is valuable, this is not something you should take for granted.

So, select a company name that you’ll be able to register for trademark/servicemark protection.

Trademark rights arise only through commerce (when you offer items for sale and use the trade name or logo in your marketing materials or on the products). You are not required to register a company name – you can acquire common law rights simply by using the name in commerce.

8. Conduct a Secretary of State search.

You’ll most likely want to register your business with the Secretary of State. Most states require some form of registration for you to operate a business lawfully in the state.

Most entrepreneurs and business owners register their business as an LLC or corporation to insulate themselves from personal liability.

You can search your state’s records to ensure that there are no business registrations with identical or similar sounding names.

This is especially important if you operate your business under an assumed or trade name that differs from your company’s legal name. In such cases, you’ll have to register a DBA (doing-business-as) with your Secretary of State. For about DBAs, take a look at this comprehensive DBA guide.

9. Avoid naming trends.

You’ll want your company’s name to evolve as trends evolve, so be careful to identify the trends and avoid following them.

For example, in the late 1990s, it was trendy to use a .com after a company name if it was an Internet business. After the Internet “bubble” burst, “.com” became synonymous with having no business model, and those companies who survived very quickly dropped “.com” from their names.

10. Avoid obscure words.

Company names that help tell stories can be powerful and memorable (think about Google, for example). But obscure words or references might be difficult to spell or pronounce. Be especially sensitive if you’re trying to reach a mass audience (such as on the Internet).

Obscure or invented names can work – Xerox is a great example – but this often requires a huge marketing budget and tremendous effort.