Founders often fall for a name before they have tested it. A good name is easy to say, easy to spell, available where you need it and does not make a promise the business cannot keep. This guide sets out a method, and says plainly where you need a professional.
What a name has to do
- Be said easily by your customers, including over the phone and in a noisy shop.
- Be spelled the way it sounds, or be short enough that the spelling does not matter.
- Fit the business now and the business you want in five years, so it does not box you in to one product or one lane.
- Look good on a signboard, a small icon and a WhatsApp profile picture.
- Be available: a free domain or a close one, matching social handles and no clash with an existing business in your field.
A working method
- Write what the business is, who it is for and what feeling you want customers to have. One short paragraph.
- Choose a style: a founder or family name, a descriptive name, an invented word, a word from a language you love, or a place. Each has strengths. Descriptive names are clear and easy to find but hard to protect. Invented names are easy to own but need more explaining.
- Write fifty names without judging. Short words, real words and real places. Ask two or three people to add theirs.
- Cut the list to five. Remove anything hard to spell, anything that sounds like a competitor, and anything with an unfortunate meaning in another language or dialect.
- Run the checks below on the five, then choose the one you are happiest to say aloud for ten years.
The checks to run
- The say-it test: ask a stranger to repeat it after hearing it once, then to type it. Count the wrong spellings.
- The meaning test: ask people who speak Hindi, English, Rajasthani and any other language your customers use whether it means anything unintended.
- The search test: search the name on Google and on Google Maps. If a similar business already ranks in your field and city, choose another.
- The handle test: check the domain and the Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube handles. A name you cannot get online costs you every day.
- The sign test: write it on a board and look from the other side of the road. Check letter height with the signboard letter height tool.
- The trademark and company-name check: look at the public records of the trademark registry and the company registrar for similar names, and ask a qualified professional before you register or print. This guide is not legal advice.
Common mistakes
Choosing a name that describes today's product when you plan to sell three more. Choosing a name no one can spell. Choosing a name because a friend liked it, without testing it on customers. Registering a company name before checking the trademark. Spending the budget on the logo before the name is settled, then changing the name.
After you choose
Claim the domain and the handles on the same day. Set up your Google Business Profile and WhatsApp Business profile with the exact name. Then design the logo, the colours and the signboard so they work together: the brand colour palette builder is a good start for colour, and the logo files every business should own lists what to keep. If you are building a new brand from scratch, see branding for startups on a small budget, or send a short brief.
