How to Choose a Brand Name

Apple, Amazon, Starbucks and many other brands have very interesting names that got stuck in our minds the day that we’ve all heard them. Let’s be honest, sometimes we don’t even remember how we lived without these words in our vocabulary and how funny that right now we use them every day, but, wait, how did they actually create those names?

Choosing a brand name is not an easy task and involves lots of brainstorming sessions (cups of coffee, obviously) and researching. Some say that it should be simple, catchy and actually mean something, so, people could associate it with your business easily, while others tell you that name is not the most important thing and that creating a strong reputation and building the brand itself would be much more efficient for you in the long run. The question that comes to mind is which strategy should you choose?

If you feel confused and have read multiple articles about how to choose your perfect brand name using billion different tactics and still don’t have a clue of how to name yours, then hopefully these tips will help you clear your mind and have a bit more structure in the whole process of choosing a power name for your brand.

How to Choose a Brand Name

Get Inspired

First and foremost, start with inspiration. Before jumping right into your brainstorming session and writing different variations of names on a piece of paper, try to get inspired by people that have already done the work.

Search the web. Use the same old, but still good Google and try to find some brand name ideas, for example, this website is selling different business names and you can just look it through to give yourself more perspective, but, also, you may find a name that you have been looking for and would consider a purchase. Give it a chance because you never know what you may stumble upon.
Explore different languages. If you already have some words in mind but it seems, like, they’re still missing something, then don’t hesitate and go straight to a translator to see versions in different languages.
Play with name generators. Of course, name generators won’t give you the best name but they can give you more words to play with. (e.g. you can use this one from Shopify)

Analyze Your Future Business

After you’ve made your research it’s time to analyze your future business.

First of all, focus on what you’re offering to the world. Remember, it’s not only about the product or service itself. It’s more about the experience that people are going to have. Get into the shoes of your audience and imagine what would they feel and how would they react.

Also, plan ahead and think about where you would like to see your business in 5-10 years. Do you want to stay local or you want to expand nationally (or maybe globally, dream big, girl!)? Are you planning to sell online only or you want to have a brick and mortar store in the future? These are the questions that you should go through very carefully and make sure that you’re honest with yourself because it would definitely make a huge impact on the name that you would eventually choose for your business.

Finally, if you’re debating whether you should register your brand by your own name, think about publicity for a second and dive deep into yourself. Are you an extrovert at heart and the person that loves to be surrounded by people 24/7 or you would rather stay at home with a cup of tea and a great book (or watching Netflix) on a Friday night? If you’re a type A personality, then additional attention to your persona would only evolve your brand and it’ll definitely help you build your own personal brand, but if you like to stay behind the scenes, then figuring out the name that wouldn’t be attached to you 100% would be ideal.

Create a Mind Map

Creating a physical mind map (or go for Pinterest!) will help with visual representation and would give you a better feeling of a brand that you’re creating.

If you want to learn how to create a mind map and how it can help your business grow, then head on to the blog post that we’ve created for you if you haven’t checked it out already.

Use Simple Phrases & Familiar Concepts

Make sure to use simple phrases because the use of weird words could confuse your audience and would be hard to memorize. Therefore, it would be much better to use words and phrases that people understand and are already familiar with.

Emotional Appeal

Positive emotions are one of the strongest drivers for people to notice a new brand and come back to it over and over again. While choosing your brand name, ask yourself these questions. Would it evoke positive or negative emotions? What would be the first association that would come in people’s minds?

Listen to Yourself

We can give you billion more tips on how to choose your perfect brand name, but at the end of the day, you should listen to yourself and nobody else. It’s your business and you’re the person that knows the right answer. Don’t give up, girl, we’re here with you and will cheer you up no matter which path you’ll choose.

Final Checklist

If you’ve finally chosen your perfect brand name after going through all of these steps, my congratulations to you! You’ve made it! But before registering the name, you have to go just one step further to make sure that you’ve thought about all of the possible legal issues that may arise and have eliminated them at the beginning.

Here’s the list that we’ve made for you. You can save it on your phone or print it out to check all of the boxes when you’ll be done with them and be totally prepared to win the market with your new perfect brand name.

Check domain name. It’s always better to choose .com because of your future SEO optimization (Google tends to prefer .com domains instead of others and rank them higher).
Check spelling. It shouldn’t be confusing and people should get it right away without asking you a couple of times to spell it correctly.
Check your name in other countries/cultures. Make sure that the meaning of your name is not contradicting in other cultures because if you’re planning to expand you might have undesired issues further on.
Test your name. If you’re still not sure if you’ve picked out the right name, then don’t hesitate and ask your friends/family members or make a survey and ask your social media friends. If you need a 3d person opinion, by no means, use it.
Check copyright regulations.
Do a trademark search.

Final Tip: Don’t Stress!

Stress is not good for anyone, so, don’t push yourself too hard and don’t critique yourself if you can’t come up with the proper brand name right away. Give it a couple of days; go through this post one more time and you’ll definitely find it. Remember, the world needs what you do and it’s worth having the best name!