name
Are you having trouble finding the right name for your startup? Choosing the right name can have a big impact on the success of your brand. But choosing the wrong name can result in a lot of losses.
In this guide, we will help you pick the right name for your startup that will help you build a strong connection with your audience. Use our startup generator tool along with these 9 tips to come up with the perfect name for your business.
1. Keep Your Startup Name Short
The best starup names usually do not have more than 2 syllables or 22 characters.
Apple, Nike, Rolex, Amazon, and Walmart are all billion-dollar brands, and they all have one thing in common. They all have short brand names.
Just like other successful brands, your business name should also be short and easily roll off the tongue. If you want to make your brand name memorable, then try not to stretch your startup name to more than two words.
If you are struggling with finding a great name for your business, then do lookup our free business name generator tool.
2. Avoid Hard to Spell Names
Your customers will have a hard time finding you online if you have a hard to spell name. Your goal as a startup is to make it is easy for your target audience to reach out to you.
Try and avoid using complicated spellings, for example, replacing letters with numbers. Make sure that your name should be spelled exactly the way it sounds.
3. Check for Domain Availability
Your startup won’t be complete without a good looking website, and for that, you need a domain name exactly as your startup name.
When you have the list of potential names, you need to check for available domains that you can use.
Startups are launched every day, and there are chances that someone has already bought the domain name that you wanted.
This situation makes people to either settle for other domain extensions like .net, .org, and .biz because the .com domain was already taken. Or go back to the idea board and try to come up with a new name for their startup.
Bonus tip: always check for domain name availability before you decide on a name. You can use our business name generator to make sure that the domain name is available.
Over the years, customers have started associating .com domain names with credible businesses. And that is why we recommend that you shouldn’t settle for any other domain extension except .com.
If the .com domain isn’t available, then you should try to come up with a different name for your startup. But if you can’t find a good replacement, then you should seriously consider buying it from the current domain owner. This might cost you a lot of money, but it’s still a good investment as the .com domain name will bring credibility to your business.
4. Your Startup Name Shouldn’t Restrict Growth
Don’t pick a name that is too narrow, as this will limit your brand’s ability to grow. Imagine if Bill Gates had decided to name his business “Desktop Computers Inc.” He wouldn’t have been able to expand his product line like the way he has today.
It makes sense for startups to initially focus on a single product, location, or target market. But that still doesn’t mean that you should name your business on something so specific. Having a name like “Best Brooklyn Bakers” would make it difficult to allow you to expand your business outside of Brooklyn without facing any challenges.
Always leave room for expansion when you are naming your startup.
5. Be Original
You need to pick a startup name that is brandable, something that would get attention on social media. For that to happen, you need to pick a name that is original and hasn’t been used by anyone else or has had a past association with another brand.
Do a thorough search on the internet and make sure there isn’t a single brand out there with a name that sounds like yours.
If you are out of luck, you may find that someone has already beaten you to the punch by picking the exact name that you wanted. But don’t let that discourage you, go back to the drawing board and come up with other startup name ideas. Or, as we have mentioned above, you can buy it off the current owner.
You also need to make sure that you pick a unique name for your brand. A name that stands out on its own. You can make your brand name memorable by avoiding common names like “Bill’s Jeans Company.”
Check out our brand name generator tool to come up with awesome company name ideas for your brand name.
We bet that there are a lot of people out there named Bill doing the exact same business. By picking a common name like that, you won’t be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
And you also need to do a trademark search on USPTO.gov (if you are located in the US) and see if you can get a registered trademark for your name. If you are located elsewhere, you need to search your local legal bodies on Google to make sure that you can get your trademark registered. Having a registered trademark will prevent others from using your name without having legal consequences.
6. Brainstorm Name Ideas
If you are brainstorming for the first time, then you can use these rules to come up with some good brand name ideas.
- Keep an open mind. While brainstorming, it is important to list down every idea that comes to your mind. Don’t think of any idea as a silly one, because there aren’t any silly ideas.
- Focus on quantity. Get a minimum of 20-25 name suggestions so that you have enough options to choose from.
- Let your creativity flow. Don’t be afraid to list ideas because they sound crazy. If you hold back, then you might miss out on the good ones.
- Get your peers involved. The more people you have in your brainstorming sessions, the more ideas you will get. By working on each other’s contributions, you can come up with a great startup name.
If you find yourself stuck with generating name ideas, you can use our startup name generator tool. It can help you come up with the perfect name for your startup by generating thousands of ideas.
Bonus Tip: Also, use a thesaurus along with our tool so that you have more variations to play with.
7. Design a Logo
While looking for the perfect name, also keep the logo design in mind. Your logo is the face of your brand, and it will be tied with all your marketing campaigns and branding efforts.
And statistically speaking, visuals are processed faster than words. Having a visually appealing logo makes your brand memorable. So, it’s not a bad idea to invest time and money in designing a good logo.
You could use an online logo maker or hire a designer to get a high-quality and unique design.
While you are looking for a good business name for your startup, you need to ask yourself how well your startup name will translate to your logo? If you have a brand name that is too long, then it won’t make up for a good logo, keep it short and simple.
8. Make Sure The Name Sounds Good
Sometimes cool startup names look good on paper but sound awful when they are said aloud. You want to pick a name that is easy to say, as this will make it easy for your target audience to remember your brand.
If you pick a name that is hard to pronounce, then you will be missing out on word of mouth marketing as your customers won’t be able to recommend your brand properly if they can’t pronounce it or spell it.
You should conduct a survey asking the people in your surrounding to say your name out aloud and then asking them about their opinions.
Based on these opinions, you can determine if you have picked the right name for your startup or not.
9. Make it Catchy
As a new business, you need to come up with a catchy name for your startup so that you can attract your target audience.
Picking a catchy name will make your brand resonate with your target audience. You can do a little wordplay if you are using two words by making them rhyme. This will make it easy for your target audience to recall your brand if they are recommending it to someone else.
How do you make sure that you picked a name that is catchy? There isn’t any tool out there that can help you pre-determine if your name is going to be catchy or not. The best way to figure it out is through the feedback of your peers and through your instincts. If it doesn’t sound catchy to you, it probably won’t sound catchy to others.
How to Register Your Domain Name
People often ask, “What’s in the name?”
Your startup name is your identity, and it comprises of your values, your beliefs, and the hard work that you’ve put in to build it. That is why branding experts all around the world advise that new businesses should spend a good amount of time in finding the right name.
Nameboy helps you generate more creative business name ideas by analyzing the keywords you’ve entered.
Nameboy is different from other tools because it uses A.I. (artificial intelligence) to combine common words, prefixes, random words, suffixes, and the search keywords with helping you suggest cool and catchy YouTube names for your YouTube channel.
Instead of random names, the domain name generator tool will generate a results page with the best company names related to your keyword.
Then from the list of names, you can select the unique business name you want along with the right domain extension (TLD).
Now we know when you’re just starting out, you may not have the budget to register the domain name. But it’s important to do this because domains are snatched up like hot cakes! A domain name will enable you to build your own website and have professional email addresses.
We’ve worked out 2 awesome deals to help you register the domain name right away:
1. Domain.com: You can register the domain in your own name on Domain.com , one of the most popular domain registrars. As a Nameboy user, you’ll get 25% off on your purchase on Domain.com.
2. Bluehost: Sign up for a web hosting plan with Bluehost and get a free domain name. Bluehost is one of the best web hosts with reliable hosting services at affordable rates. You can get started for as low as $2.75 per month and you’ll even get a free SSL certificate and CDN that will make your website more secure and faster.
For more details, see our step-by-step guide: How to Register a Domain Name for Your Website (Beginner’s Guide).
We also suggest grabbing the relevant social media handles for your startup as soon as you can.
We hope that the tips we shared helped you in finding the best business name ideas. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or new to the business world, give our startup name generator tool a try; it will surely save you a lot of time by generating ideas instantly.
Here’s to hoping you have a successful launch.
FAQs on Picking a Startup Name
How do I create a startup name?
The best way to come up with a brandable business name is by using a company name generator. Visit Nameboy and type in a few keywords to find a relevant name ideas with the domain available.
How does the startup name generator work?
Our startup name generator utilizes advanced algorithms to generate unique and creative names for your startup. Enter a few keywords and it will give you a list of potential business names that are memorable and resonate with your brand identity.
Can I search for available domain names using the startup name generator?
Yes! Our startup name generator offers the functionality to search for available domain names. Once you generate a name, you can check its domain availability and register a relevant and memorable domain for your startup.
What is a good startup name?
A good startup name will depend on your brand and what it is about. Are you an eCommerce site? Are you a cloud kitchen or a tech company? The name you pick should be unique and relevant to your target audience and brand. The best startup names are short and memorable and more importantly, it resonates with the brand’s message and target audience.
How do you pick a catchy name?
Use an online name generator like Nameboy to brainstorm naming options. Nameboy is a free business name generator that will combine random names, prefixes, suffixes, alliterations and more to generate a list of catchy business names for you. The name search results will give you one-word names as well as phrases so you can choose a great business name.
What are the benefits of having a catchy startup name?
Catchy short names tend to click better with audiences as they are easy for potential customers to remember and have a good ring to them. You’ll be able to generate momentum and popularity for your startup.
Should my startup name by SEO-friendly?
It’s not a hard and fast rule to optimize your startup name for SEO. But you can use keywords in your brand name if it makes sense. To rank on search engines, it’s best to implement SEO techniques such as keyword optimization, meta tags, and content strategy to improve your startup’s visibility in search engine rankings.
What platform should I use to build my website?
We recommend using WordPress to set up your startup business site. It’s free to use, scalable, and gives you complete control over security and adminstration.
If you’re setting up an eCommerce business, then you can use WordPress with WooCommerce. There are also platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and SquareSpace but they come with a price tag.
We also create a tutorial on How to Start a Small Business Website (Step by Step) to help you get started.
That’s all. We hope you found a great new business name for your startup. You may also want to see How Much a Domain Name Costs? (Pricing Breakdown).