When you create a new business, coming up with a name is one of the most important aspects. The brand name will be something that will generate a lot of interest from audiences. It will be how you identify yourself, your brand’s ideology, and how customers will talk about you. Therefore, it can be one of the most important decisions you make.

However, how to come up with a business name can be one of the most challenging aspects of running a business. In this article, we look at tips on how you can come up with a business name, whether if you're planning on running an online store, or any other type of service.

How to Come Up with a Business Name

12 Tips That Will Help You Learn How to Come Up with a Business Name

Below we have gathered 12 tips that will guide you through the process of coming up with a business name. We've helped many businesses come up with a new business name. Based on that experience and some other things we've encountered over the years, we bring you these tips.

1. Avoid Hard-to-Spell Names

The first tip is that you don’t want to get customers to type in or write your name wrong. About 1 in 10 search queries on Google include a spelling mistake. Spelling mistakes mean that customers could not find you or, worse, go to a competitor.

If in doubt, ask a few friends if they can spell your name just from listening to it. If they can’t, then you have a bad name option.

2. Avoid Limiting Names

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Whether the name is based on the products you’re selling or where you are based, try to avoid names that limit your future business success. Jeff Bezos understood this perfectly by naming his business ‘Amazon instead of Online Books.

So think about where your business will be in several years and consider that in your business’ name creation.

3. Be Unique

Don’t use a name that has already been used or is in use. It can confuse audiences and in today’s internet, an established business is more likely to be ranked higher in search results than a new brand. You’re just going to make it harder for your brand to be found.

Do searches on Google and social media to ensure that your brand’s possible names aren’t in use already. Also, when using the tool above and clicking each result, you will be directed to a page which can check domain availability.

4. Use a Name that Conveys Value

Ideally, you want to make sure that your name has something valuable to the audience. Either it needs to say something about your business’ services, products, ethics, or something else that can help distinguish you from competitors.

While this isn’t always the case. Those brands that are more catchy and don’t have a lot to do with what they do tend to require a lot more investment in branding and advertising. Therefore, those on limited budgets might need to consider a more simple name.

5. Trademark Search

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You must do a trademark or service mark search. Some companies are not active but have protection.

Similarly, you will want to do a Secretary of State search that allows you to find any businesses that have been registered as a corporation or LLC.

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6. Assess Whether your Name is Catchy

You don’t want to have a boring name for your business, no one will remember it. But you also don’t want to have a name that no one will get and concentrate more on the question, ‘what?’ than learning about yourself. Therefore, ensure that you have a catchy name.

Consider reaching out to your support network to see if they have any ideas about whether chosen name ideas are catchy.

7. Ensure the Name is Good When Said Aloud

A good business name needs to read well as well as be written well. Therefore, speak to lots of people and check your name in other languages too. General Motors accidentally named one of their new car models ‘Nova’, but didn’t realize that their name meant ‘doesn’t go’ in Spanish.

There are so many examples of when brands have made a mistake with their brand names. So be sure to read examples and learn from their mistakes and not make the mistakes in your own business.

8. Use Online Resources

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A business name generator, like the one here, can be an invaluable resource when creating a business name idea. All you need to do is to add a keyword for your business and a range of possible brand names can be generated for you to potentially.

Always be sure that you check these names out and ensure that they aren’t being used by another brand and there is an available domain.

You can check out the business name generator tool here.

Get a Name Idea

9. Incorporate Your Story

Be sure that you incorporate some personality into your business’ name. You want people to know that you are passionate about your business and a name can be a great way to tell a story. What are you about, what are you passionate about, and what started your business journey? Business names don’t just have to be about your product or location.

10. Use Emotions

Emotions are a vital selling tool. Customers are more likely to buy from a brand that has an emotional pull than one that is all too corporate. That is why so many brands utilize warm and happy colors and language within their brand, logo, and slogan.

Emotions can be conveyed very subtly or you can use emotions in numerous ways on your brand name.

11. Be Inspired by Other Brands

While you should always have a unique business name, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be inspired by other brands. For example, Amazon is such a great name choice for the eCommerce brand because they wanted to be the largest eCommerce website in the world, like the river is the largest in the world.

They also wanted to sell everything possible online, so wanted to include the letters A to Z in their name. You will also notice in their logo that they have an arrow that goes from A to Z and it looks like a smile (adding emotion to their branding).

12. Check the Thesaurus

Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for words that you might want to use for your brand. For example, synonyms for ‘genius’ include brilliance, cleverness, brains, erudition, wisdom, sagacity, and others.

While these aren’t always going to be relevant. They can be a great option for you to think outside of the box.

Final Word: How to Come Up with a Business Name

If you’re struggling with how to come up with a business name, then you can use the business name generator and the 12 tips above to help you get started. It can take a while, but taking your time can often lead to a successful brand identity.

FAQs
Depending on what statistics you read, the success rate of businesses can be significantly poor. Online shops can fail within 120 days, and service businesses, about 90% won’t make it to five years, with 50% failing in the first year.
Starting a business with no money doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t advertise. You can promote your brand on social media and with email marketing for literally nothing, helping you to generate leads and sales.
About one in three small businesses don’t have a website. However, that doesn’t mean that they are successful. About 50% of sales have at least one online touchpoint. So a website is necessary to improve the chances of success.
There are several ways you can raise funds for your new business venture. One of the best options is to use personal savings. Or you could get a bank loan, borrow from friends/family or try crowdfunding. The choice is yours.
A website can cost as little as $100 to build or as much as $10,000. It depends on the quality of the website, the size and the speed at which you need it built.
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