Branding
Naming your business without losing your mind
A friendly, step-by-step way to find a name you’ll still like in ten years, even if every good domain seems taken.
Naming a business is like naming a baby, except the baby also needs a web address and nobody’s grandmother gets a vote.
It is the job founders dread most, and we have sat through enough naming sessions to know why. The good news: there is a method, and it mostly involves writing down terrible ideas.
Start with a feeling, not a word
Before you open a thesaurus, decide how people should feel when they say the name out loud. Cosy? Clever? Slightly mischievous? Write that down first and pin it up.
Every name you consider later gets held against that note. It saves hours of arguing about words that were never right for you.
Know the four kinds of name
Nearly every business name falls into one of four families. Knowing which one suits you cuts the search in half.
Kind | Example | Good at |
|---|---|---|
Descriptive | Hello Plant Co. | Saying what you sell |
Evocative | Moonlit Swim Club | Setting a mood |
Playful | Tiny Giants Coffee | Sticking in the memory |
Family | Hartley & Daughters | Earning trust |
Four steps to a shortlist
Set aside one afternoon, a big sheet of paper and a friend who will be honest with you.
Fill the page with at least fifty names, bad ones included.
Cross out anything that fights the feeling on your note.
Circle the five you’d be happy to say on the phone.
Sleep on them, then put those five through the tests below.
Fifty sounds like a lot. It isn’t, and the dreadful ones are what shake the good ones loose.
“We had 140 names on the wall. The right one was number three. We needed the other 137 to be sure.”
Jonah Reid, owner of Fieldnotes Records
Test the finalists
A name that looks handsome on paper can still trip up in the real world. Two quick checks catch most problems.
The say-it-out-loud test
Ring a friend and tell them the name once, without spelling it. If they can write it down correctly, you’re safe. If they ask “is that with a K?”, think again.
The ten-year test
Picture the name on a van in a decade. “Dave’s Laptop Repairs” is awkward once Dave starts selling phones. Leave yourself room to grow.
When the web address is taken
Don’t panic, and don’t add a hyphen. Putting “hello”, “studio” or your town in front works nicely, and nobody minds.
Pick one and get on with it
No name feels perfect on day one. It earns its meaning from the work you do under it, the same way a logo does.
So choose the finalist that makes you smile, register it this week and move on to the fun part. Stuck between two? Say hello and we’ll happily cast the deciding vote.
