Choosing a business name can feel deceptively simple. A few words on a page, a quick domain search, and you are done.
In reality, naming a business is one of the more difficult branding decisions to get right. The name needs to work today, but it also needs enough flexibility to still make sense if the business grows, changes direction or enters new markets.
The strongest business names are rarely the result of suddenly finding the perfect word. They usually come from a structured process of exploring ideas, eliminating weak options and testing the strongest candidates from several different perspectives.
Start With the Business, Not the Name
Before brainstorming names, define what the business needs the name to achieve.
Consider who you want to attract, what you want to be known for and how you want people to feel when they encounter the brand.
A technology company wanting to appear innovative and disruptive will probably approach naming very differently from a professional services firm that needs to communicate trust and experience.
It can also help to define what the name does not need to do. Your business name does not necessarily have to explain everything you sell. Your website, tagline, messaging and visual identity can provide much of that information.
Trying to force the entire business proposition into the name often leads to something long, generic or difficult to own.
Decide What Type of Name You Are Looking For
Business names generally fall into several broad categories.
Descriptive names explain what the company does. They can be immediately understandable, although they can also be difficult to differentiate.
Suggestive names hint at a benefit, idea or characteristic without describing the product directly.
Invented names use newly created words or unusual combinations. They can provide considerable freedom when building a brand, but often require more marketing investment before people understand them.
Founder names use the name of an individual or family. These can work particularly well where reputation, expertise or heritage is important.
Abstract names may initially have little connection with the product or service but gain meaning as the brand becomes established.
There is no universally correct approach. The appropriate naming territory depends on the organisation, market and ambitions of the business.
Generate More Ideas Than You Think You Need
One of the most common naming mistakes is becoming attached to the first reasonable idea.
A better approach is to generate a large pool of possibilities.
Explore words connected with the company’s purpose, customer outcomes, personality, history, location, industry, technology or point of difference. Look at metaphors, combinations, shortened words and unexpected associations.
At this stage, quantity is useful.
Many ideas will be unsuitable, but weak ideas can lead to stronger ones. A shortlist becomes much easier to build when you are choosing from dozens of possibilities rather than trying to decide between the first three names somebody suggested.
Be Careful With Industry Clichés
Every industry develops its own naming habits.
Technology businesses may gravitate towards words such as “digital”, “smart”, “cloud” or “tech”. Property companies often use words such as “property”, “homes” or “realty”. Consultants frequently fall back on terms such as “solutions”, “partners” and “group”.
These words are not automatically wrong, but following the same formula as everyone else can make a business disappear into the category.
Look at your competitors as part of the naming process. If ten businesses already sound remarkably similar, an eleventh variation is unlikely to create much distinction.
Sometimes the best opportunity is deliberately moving away from the language everybody else is using.
Say the Name Out Loud
A business name has to work in conversation as well as on a screen.
Say each shortlisted name several times.
Imagine answering the phone with it. Imagine somebody recommending the company to a friend. Imagine hearing it on the radio or asking somebody to search for it online.
A name that looks clever written down may become awkward when spoken.
Pay particular attention to pronunciation, rhythm and whether people are likely to mishear it. If you constantly have to explain how the name is pronounced, that friction can become tiresome very quickly.
Test the Spelling
Ask someone who has only heard the name to write it down.
This is an extremely simple naming test, but it can reveal problems immediately.
Creative spelling can make a name distinctive, but there is a trade-off. If customers repeatedly type the wrong spelling into Google, email addresses or web browsers, your clever naming device may be working against you.
Minor ambiguity is not necessarily a problem, particularly for an otherwise memorable brand. But it should be a conscious decision rather than something discovered after launch.
Consider What Happens When You Grow
Imagine the business five or ten years from now.
Could you introduce additional products? Operate outside your current city? Sell internationally? Change the way your service is delivered?
A business called “Wellington Office Chairs”, for example, creates several assumptions about geography and product range. Those assumptions may be useful today but restrictive if the company later sells complete workplace systems throughout Australasia.
A name does not need to accommodate every hypothetical future direction, but it should not unnecessarily lock the business into something you already expect to outgrow.
Look at the Name Visually
Names are visual assets as well as words.
Try typing your shortlist in uppercase and lowercase. Put the names into a basic logo layout. Look at them as a web address and social media handle.
Short names can produce very different visual opportunities from long names. Certain letter combinations may also look considerably better or worse once they become part of an identity.
You do not need to design the final logo before selecting the name, but seeing the name rather than simply reading it can help expose unexpected strengths or weaknesses.
Check for Unintended Meanings
A name can mean something completely different outside the context in which it was created.
Search the words and variations online. Check slang, abbreviations and common associations. If the company may operate internationally, investigate whether the name has problematic meanings in important overseas markets.
Also look carefully at combinations of words.
Once spaces disappear inside a domain name, an innocent phrase can occasionally become something very different.
It is considerably easier to discover these problems during naming than after signage, websites and marketing material have been produced.
Check Whether You Can Actually Own It
A great idea is not necessarily an available business name.
Before becoming committed to a candidate, investigate existing company names, trademarks, domain names and relevant social media usernames.
The exact checks required will depend on where the business operates and what products or services it provides.
Finding that another company uses a similar name does not automatically rule it out, but potential conflicts should be investigated properly before significant money is invested in launching the brand.
This stage is particularly important because changing a name during development is relatively inexpensive. Changing it after customers know the business can be substantially more complicated.
Do Not Let the Domain Decide Everything
Finding an exact .com or .co.nz domain can be useful, but domain availability should not be the sole reason for choosing a weaker business name.
Many successful brands operate with modified domain names, additional words or different domain extensions.
The question is whether the domain is clear, credible and easy enough for customers to use.
It is worth checking domain availability early, but avoid allowing the availability of a particular URL to dictate the entire brand strategy.
Ask Better Questions When Testing Names
When showing possible names to colleagues or customers, asking “Which one do you like?” is not particularly useful.
Personal taste can dominate the conversation.
Instead, ask what each name makes them think of. Ask what type of company they would expect it to represent. Ask which one they remember ten minutes later.
These questions provide insight into how the name communicates rather than turning the exercise into a popularity contest.
The objective is not to find a name everybody likes equally. It is to find a name that performs the job the brand requires.
Avoid Trying to Make Everyone Happy
Naming by committee can quickly result in compromise.
One person wants the name to sound corporate. Another wants something creative. Someone else wants the company location included. Another person prefers the founder’s surname.
The result can become a name nobody dislikes but nobody remembers.
Establish clear naming criteria before evaluating ideas. That provides something objective against which each candidate can be considered.
For example, the criteria might include being distinctive, easy to pronounce, suitable internationally and broad enough for future expansion.
The discussion can then focus on whether the name meets those objectives rather than individual preferences.
Give Good Names Time
Some of the strongest names do not immediately feel obvious.
This is particularly true of invented, abstract or unexpected names. Because they are unfamiliar, they can initially feel strange.
That is not necessarily a weakness.
Put shortlisted names aside for a few days and return to them. Use them naturally in sentences. Imagine seeing them on a building, website, proposal or product.
Sometimes the name that initially seemed unusual becomes the strongest option once familiarity develops.
Conversely, a name that produced an immediate reaction may quickly lose its appeal.
The Name Is Only the Beginning
A business name does not operate independently.
Its meaning will ultimately be shaped by the visual identity, messaging, customer experience, reputation and marketing that surround it.
Apple would be an unusual name for a technology company if we encountered it for the first time today. Amazon tells you very little about online retail. Many globally recognised business names only feel appropriate because years of brand building have given those words meaning.
That is an important consideration when naming a new business.
You are not necessarily looking for a name that tells the entire story on day one.
You are looking for a name with enough distinction, relevance and flexibility to become associated with the story you are about to build.
