How to Choose The Perfect Business Name: 4 Helpful Tips

Learn how to choose the perfect business name with extra helpful tips and ideas to get the best titles for your company or startup needs

By Claudio Pires
Updated on October 4, 2022
How to Choose The Perfect Business Name: 4 Helpful Tips

80% of male and 76% of female customers purchase products from brands they know. And that means that no matter how big or small your company might be, you need to create a brand and a business name that will allow you to stand out in your industry. Learn how to choose the perfect business name with extra helpful tips and ideas to get the best titles for your needs.

But even though that can seem simple enough, if you don’t take the time to think through your options and come up with something that resonates with what your company is about, you can end up having to rename your company later. 74% of S&P companies have rebranded their business in the first seven years, which means that the initial choices they made did not work out.

Let’s explore a few helpful tips that will help you come up with the perfect business name below.

Use a Business Name Generator

The most difficult part of choosing a business name is developing the initial ideas. When you’re staring into a blank page, writing down the first few options you could consider can seem like an impossible task.

And that’s why one of the first things you should do is try a business name generator that can take off the initial pressure and provide you with a virtually infinite number of ideas you could try out. 

If you use one of the leading options today, it can help you work with various parameters to come up with a name that is relevant to your situation and speaks to the unique ideas, products, and brand that your company aims to embody.

Once you have a list of ideas you like, you can always come back to them and refine them as you progress in the process and discover more insights about what direction you want to go in. But often, these initial ideas can become seeds that not only blossom into the eventual name of your product but also give you plenty of direction when designing your branding and even your voice.

Consider Descriptive Names

Consider Descriptive business Names

Many of the most memorable, catchy, and perfect business name have a specific meaning related to what the company represents or wants to achieve, so choose the perfect name. Even though there are famous exceptions, most leading companies today created names that played into what their main purpose or activities were in the beginning.

At the same time, vague names without a meaning have largely gone out of fashion because they don’t give the brand any life and can seem impersonal, as they can theoretically represent almost any faceless company instead of a specific brand.

But at the same time, you don’t want your name to be too obvious. For instance, if you have a business that sells computers, don’t just name it Computer Store. Instead, look for a play on words that is memorable, related to your field, but also distinct enough to provide you with a brand that will be yours only.

Keep It Simple: Tips to Choose The Perfect Business Name

Even though you want to be distinct in your business name selection, it’s important to balance the line between staying original and keeping it simple enough so that it will still be memorable.

As your creative juices get flowing, you may come up with ideas that are more out there than others. And while they may be clever, unique, and interesting, some of them might be too obscure, unusual, or confusing to serve your goals.

Therefore, try to come up with something that represents the core ideas of your business while still being catchy and simple, allowing your audience to remember the name and associate it with the quality products and services you provide.

Perform Competitor Research

Finally, as you go through the list of business name ideas, consider which names will provide you with the best fit in your market. Your company will not operate in a vacuum, so you don’t want to come up with a name that will be similar to a prominent competitor, as that will work against you when trying to become more known in your industry.

Looking at what your competitors are called can help you eliminate some of the names that are too similar while also providing you with insights on which options might be the perfect fit that stands out and brings something new for your target customer to notice.

Memorable But Not Too Different Tips to Choose The Best Business Name

Ideally, you can register your company name as a trademark. But for small businesses, this can be difficult.

While generic or geographic business names like “Best Plumbers” or “Chicago Pizza” are great for attracting customers, they don’t get trademark protection. On the other hand, the names that create the strongest brands are made up of names like “Xerox,” which can leave potential small business customers scratching their heads.

Try to strike a balance by choosing a name that is unique and creative but still describes the quality of your business. Sometimes a company selects a name that suits the city it is located—for example, Cleveland Garden Care. But what happens when the company decides to expand into Akron? The moniker city that once seemed so perfect no longer fits – and may even drive customers away.

Conclusion

Many novice business owners treat naming their business as an afterthought. But even though it might be a small task compared to some of the other challenges you’ll have to face, the way your company is called can play a role in its success.

With the tips above, you should have a much easier time coming up with the perfect name that suits your company and even acts as a foundation for your entire brand. 

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.