How to Choose the Perfect Brand Name for your Business

As a starter, getting to choose the perfect brand name for your business can be quite a hurdle.

Everyone in business strives for more recognition, relevance, and consequently, more patronage. And branding is the key to improving your business in any competitive industry. 

In business, fierce rivalry between firms with decades of branding advantage and emerging startups is a daily occurrence. Today, businesses like Airbnb are challenging the old hotel industry, while innovations like cryptocurrencies are upsetting the traditional banking system. 

Having a great brand identity is precisely what you need to give your company a chance to close the gap and perhaps exceed your competition in this fiercely competitive era. But the first and most important facet of your brand is your business name.

Brand naming is a hassle, especially for new entrepreneurs. So, in this guide, I’ll be revealing the techniques that helped us discover over 35,000 intriguing business name ideas for founders that were in search of the perfect brand name. 

With this guide, you don’t need an overwhelming budget or specialized professionals. Even small businesses with low reach can easily follow these instructions to get the greatest results in the least amount of time possible. 

Identify Your Brand

When trying to choose the perfect brand name for your business, you must not forget to research your brand and take it into full account.

As a business owner, you must recognize that your brand is how people interact with and perceive your company. While your business is what you specialize in.

Think of Costco as a simple example. When you hear the name, what do you instantly perceive about the brand? To us, it has a simple and practical tone. And for the biggest retail company in the world, the name is a perfect match. 

A technological device like the iPhone or MacBook, however, could not be given the same name since it would not accurately represent who they are or what they do. 

Now, the first requirement for correctly naming your business is to have a fantastic brand imagination.

Being aware of the following aspects of your brand can assist you in enlarging your brand imagination and help you see your business’s core qualities:

Start by:

• Knowing how you want your brand to feel and look to your clients
• Which beliefs and values you uphold
• What tone is suitable for your brand 
• The intense emotions that you wish to stir in your clients 

Knowing these core aspects of your brand identity will put you in a much greater position to start a thorough process of creating a strong name.

Establishing your business’ brand identity depends on selecting the proper tone. A captivating tone will assist you in defining your business’s personality, identity, and position. And finding a tone that resonates with your target market and your company’s values and goals is a must-have for your brand.

You can give your brand a pre-eminent, modern, emotionally engaging, playful and fun, or practical tone.

For instance, Louis Vuitton comes off as a pricey and luxurious company, whereas Slack communicates a cheerful, vibrant, and engaging tone.

Proceed to Brainstorm Great Name Ideas 

Having fully understood your brand and having gotten a tone you chose to stick with, your next step in the journey to choose a perfect brand name is to proceed to actually get a fitting name. 

Though you can choose to brainstorm alone, working with a team makes the process faster and more lively. You can create a team, present your findings about your brand to them, and begin brainstorming.

However, note that the brainstorming process shouldn’t include any analysis. So don’t waste time evaluating each name you create or come across. Simply concentrate on unleashing your imagination and letting it flow.

Feel free to write down unusual words you’re unsure of. In fact, write down any odd word that comes to mind. What can be made from them is a mystery that perhaps can benefit your business. 

Here are a few crucial resources that can make you brainstorm name ideas far more successfully and easily. 

• Thesaurus
• Matching Words
• Any industry jargon used in your sector.
• Words with visuals, maybe referencing color

Also, because various age groups have varied viewpoints on classic vs. current names, you have to consider including people of all ages in the brainstorming process. 

We conducted a poll in 2021 and noticed that younger age groups, between the ages of 25 and 34, preferred to choose businesses with fresh, creative brand names, whilst older age groups, between 45 and 65, were more inclined to trust well-known classic brands. People in the middle of both options were between 35 and 45. 

Therefore, having a variety of people across various ages on your team will help you to generate ideas from a number of viewpoints.

Before the conclusion of your brainstorming session, try to write down at least 200 prospective name ideas that resonate with your business. Gathering this many names will give you a lot of names to consider when you start trimming the list. 

Choose the Top Names From Your Selections

Before you settle to choose the perfect brand name for your business, make sure your creative team has access to the naming brief that describes your ultimate tone and brand identity.

The next thing to do after that is to double-check that the names you’ve thought up aligns with the values and character your company wishes to convey.

Moreover, you should consider how well the names you’ve picked convey your brand, how they look and sound in written form and on social media respectively, and how appealing they are to you and your staff. Try to collect at least ten of the most remarkable and catchy names that remain after this step.

Keep in mind to avoid using overly emotive names if you want to be seen as a pragmatic brand. However, feel free to play within any tone category and choose a name that is simple to pronounce and doesn’t translate to something negative in a different language. 

Even if you want a name that is basic and solution-focused, you could try out unusual spellings, like Lyft, or short, lively phrases, like Zoom. 

Validate your Preferred Name

We trust that your top name from the list of names you nominated was the desired business name you were looking for! Your best name, however, must first pass a few simple tests before you can go all in and start using it.

Validation can help you assess how well a name fits with your business. Therefore, confirm your name by:

• Getting Feedback From Your Target Market: It’s critical to get input from your target market before choosing the perfect brand name you’ve found. Your target market must love the name you chose. 

Ensure you get the opinions of friends, family members, and even total strangers you meet in a bar or restaurant. Make it a point to compile the feedback from your audience in writing or by conducting a poll on the social media site of your choice, before you finally choose the perfect brand name.

It’s best you emotionally distance yourself from the brand names you’ve come up with since the choice is up to the audience, and their favorite names might not be the ones you prefer.

• Make Sure its Domain Name is Available: In essence, every company requires a website that is simple to access. You must therefore verify that the domain name associated with your preferred brand name is accessible.
• Trademarks: Even though you might not enjoy this, it will prevent a lot of legal problems because trademarks protect the majority of frequently used terms. Therefore, try your best to enlist the aid of a legal advisor to assist you with the trademark application procedure.

You run the danger of getting letters asking your company to stop operations if you neglect this check. 

Conclusion

A catchy brand name has the power to influence the future of your organization since it has the potential to instantly increase sales and have an impact on your company’s financial performance.

An intriguing company name that captures the tone and spirit of your business and appeals to your target market will captivate and bring more customers to you.

So, as you get to choose the perfect brand name for your business, keep these steps in mind and you’ll end up with a great name that doesn’t just sounds right but captures the real essence of your business and resonates with your target audience.

You can learn more about choosing the right brand name for your business by reaching out to our support team here.

Now, it’s your turn. What’s your best challenges when it comes to choosing a brand name that works for your business? Drop your comments below!

About the Author

Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.