How to Choose a Name for your company ?

Selecting the right name for your company is a critical step in establishing its identity and making a lasting impression on your target audience. A well-thought-out name can convey your brand’s values, personality, and purpose. To guide you through this important decision-making process, here are some key considerations to keep in mind when choosing a name for your company.

1. Reflect Your Brand Identity

The essence of your brand should be reflected in the name of the company. Consider the products or services you offer, your company’s mission, and the values you want to communicate. A name that aligns with these aspects helps create a cohesive and meaningful brand identity.

Questions to think about when trying to find the essence/spirit of the company are- Is the name edgy? Classic? Is it something that will match your company’s overall theme? what is your company about and what you are planning to achieve through it? Get the feeling of what your products are , i.e. ,what is your brand DNA? What are you providing your customer with ? what is your brand equity ?How you want to project your company in the market I.e. brand image? And to make sure that your customer gets the same message. I.e. brand image = brand identity?

Once you have a general idea of what you want your company to be about, start brainstorming possible names. Write down as many as you can and then choose the ones that interest you the most. A good idea is to make it short (preferable only two words).

2. Keep it Simple and Memorable

Choose a name that is easy to spell, pronounce, and remember. A simple and memorable name will make it easier for customers to recall and share with others. Avoid overly complex or lengthy names that may be challenging for people to remember or type into search engines.

This means that it would be important to consider SEO, as the company name would dictate the domain, and keywords in the long term. Questions to think about are- Do you think your potential brand name will catch people’s attention and stick in their minds? Does the name sound good, or is it fun to hear and say? Is it visually appealing?

3. Consider Your Target Audience

Think about your target demographic and what appeals to them. A name that resonates with your audience can create a stronger connection and make your brand more relatable. Make sure to reflect on what the preferences and expectations of your potential customers are. Have a clear idea of exactly what message you want to send, and whom you want your brand to resonate with. This will help you first choose a style (preeminent, playful, pragmatic, modern, intriguing, powerful).

For example, if you are selling consumer-based products, and your target consumers are millennials or generations Y or Z, you will have a bit more flexibility to think outside the box with intriguing names. However, if you are a corporate company aiming for baby boomers, you’d be smart to choose something more classic like Zenith Capital.

Before brainstorming name ideas, write down some traits that are unique to your brand. Many startups make the mistake of explaining their features or business in the name. This leads to boring and dull names.

Visualize the key ideas-The next step is to come up with the different ideas and images to convey in your name which are inherently linked to your brand. Instead of focusing on the descriptive element — i.e., what you sell — focus on expressing one or two other core concepts that are essential to your brand, culture and values.

For example, if you are a food-delivery startup, your ideas could convey images of healthy living, ethically sourced products or great customer service and quick delivery time. Keep in mind that your name is only as strong as your brand. Your brand is only as strong as the experience you deliver to people. How well you set and meet expectations plays a big role in the experience people have with your brand.

The trick is to dentify the emotions you want to evoke in people. Brainstorm names around those themes. What symbols and words represent such things? Personally I like to think around words that are associated to the feelings, and aspirations of what the product I’m selling gives my customers rather than the product itself. Side note – make sure people know what it is without you having to spell it.

4. Check Availability and legal implications

Before finalizing a name, ensure that it is legally available and doesn’t infringe on existing trademarks or copyrights. Also make sure to check for all social media channels, and domain names to make sure the name does not constitute an infringement. A thorough search can help you avoid legal complications down the road. Check domain name availability as well, especially if you plan to have an online presence.

Once you have your style, themes, and purpose clearly laid out, it’s time to really start experimenting. But before trying out different names, you should know which areas to avoid. With so many trademarks out there, the freedom to use almost any particular English word is becoming slim. The common danger zones are: Single English words, Power words — like force, united, omni, icon,. Symbolic words – like bridge, spring, sage, rocket.

The Harvard Law Review did a study recently titled Are We Running Out of Trademarks? which found that more than 70% of common English words have already been trademarked. This supports the idea that literal name are hard to trademark.

But just because you can’t use one stand-alone word doesn’t mean you can’t combine these words into something original. Transmutations are a possiblity like Zappos or Zumba. This and that names like – Haute and Bold are another possibility. Compound names like SnapChat and WordPress or Visual Story like Red Bull can all be different ways to find a name that is not taken.

While compounds and transmutations are great, you should say the words out loud to make sure they stay within the following three guidelines: Is the name easy to say? It should roll off the tongue, rather than twist it. Is the name easy to hear? Consumers should be able to hear your brand name then quickly type it into Google to find you. Is the name easy to spell? Simple misspellings such as Flickr, Xero and Lyft are much easier to trademark, but if they are hard to spell, problems could result.

Usually, you want to avoid very literal names (books.com) because it is extremely limiting and short-sighted. It’s very hard to enforce the trademark as well. You usually want a name that you can build into a brand that can go anywhere (Amazon). If you live in Norway chech out Navnesok.no

5. Scalability and Flexibility:

Make sure that the name you choose can grow with your business meaning that it will not be affected by future expansions, changes in product offerings, or potential shifts in your target market. A name that is too niche or limiting may hinder your company’s growth in the long run.

If your company operates internationally or plans to do so in the future, be mindful of linguistic and cultural nuances. A word that mean one thing in one language does not necessarily mean the same in another and also ensure that your chosen name doesn’t have a negative connotation or meaning in other languages and cultures.

Choose a name that has longevity. Trends come and go, so selecting a name based on the latest fad may not serve your company well in the long run. Aim for a timeless and enduring name that will withstand the test of time

6. Differentiate from Competitors:

Stand out in the market by selecting a name that distinguishes your company from competitors. Avoid generic terms that could easily be confused with other businesses. A unique name helps create a strong brand identity and fosters recognition.

7. Test the Waters:

Before making a final decision, gather feedback from potential customers, colleagues, and friends. Conduct surveys or focus groups to gauge the initial reactions to the name options you’re considering. This feedback can provid

8. Inspiration:

Ideas to draw inspiration from when choosing a brand name:

• Predatory animals/animals in general
• Geographical locations/Regions
• Some type of rock or stone
• Historical Figures/Civilizations
• CEO Name or initials
• Ancient mythology or words for example greek mythology
• Some type of castle or fort
• Character or place from books/Stories or shows
• Bodies of water or bridges

9. Types of brands:

Descriptive names are names that explicitly convey the product offered by the company. Advantage of descriptive names are that it clearly conveys what kind of business it is and what the core competency of the company is..

Even though, descriptive names can feel somewhat boring, there are plenty of companies who have been able to be succesfull with a descriptive name.

Examples of such companies include: Toys R Us, E*Trade, General Motors, YouSendIt, The Weather Channel,Hotels.com, Bank of America, The Body Shop, Whole Foods, Holiday Inn, The Container Store, Vitamin Water,Booking.com

Evocative names are names that use suggestion and/or metaphor to convey the spirit/essence of the company. Some of the best brand names are evocative names because they enable a company to tell a powerful story about an idea that’s bigger than just the products or services they sell.

Another advantage of evocative names are that they are generally easier to trademark than descriptive names (although, it’s getting harder and harder to find an existing word that isn’t already trademarked in a given industry.)

Examples of Evocative company names include:Nike,Amazon, Virgin,Apple, Lush, Uber, Dove

Invented names are made up names that are truely unique. Because the search for an invented name isn’t confined to a finite set of existing words, this naming type offers the broadest creative territory when naming your company or product. But that doesn’t mean a good invented name is easy to create.

Inventing a name that sounds like a real word and has some semblance of meaning can be hard. This is why most invented names evolve from common root origins (Latin or Greek), are actually portmanteaus (a combination of two or more words), or are intentional misspellings that leverage the meaning of an existing word. Invented names are usually a breeze to trademark, but the more unique they are, the more time and money you will need to spend to create a meaningful brand story around them.

There is, however, plenty of famous companies that have uses invented names. Examples include: Exxon, Kodak, Xerox, Verizon, Adidas, Google, Pixar, Rolex, Spotify, Lyft and Flickr.

Lexical names are names that rely on wordplay for their memorability. Puns, phrases, compound words, alliteration, onomatopoeia, intentional misspellings, and foreign words are all styles of this popular naming type.Lexical names are often clever—sometimes too clever—and get their impact from pairing words for linguistic effect.

This naming type has been used to great effect by consumer brands in industries like snack food, pet supplies, and restaurants. It’s a style well-suited for playful brands in fun-loving spaces. When it comes to corporate branding, you won’t find many serious B2B brands whose names fall into the lexical category.

This is a great example of knowing which naming type is best suited for the brand you’re looking to build and the competitive landscape in which you operate. Lexical brand names also risk feeling a bit dated, regardless of which industry they’re in. Unless you can come up with a world-class pun that’s never been used before, today’s customer is more likely to roll their eyes than open their wallets when encountering a lexical brand name in the modern market. Lexical brand name examples include: Dunkin’ Donuts, Krazy Glue, Sizzler Steakhouse, Krispy Kreme, Froot Loops, Dribbble, Laffy Taffy, Whiskas, Mello Yello, Cheez Whiz and Hubba Bubba.

Acronyms are abbreviations formed from inital letters. there are obvious challenges with an acronymic brand name. A combination of letters does not, in and of itself, have the same meaning as the words it signifies. It can reference those words, but only if your audience knows what they are. (How many people stopped on the street could actually tell you what the letters AT&T or IBM stand for?).

Instead, acronyms usually take function as essentially invented names. Whatever meaning they have is the result of years of branding and marketing, not of the words they signify. Over their decades in existence, brands like BMW and CVS have invested millions of dollars in both brand positioning and brand design to imbue these letters with trust and credibility. A startup these days would be hard-pressed to come up with a great reason to name their company with an acronym, though. As a rule, acronyms are difficult for audiences to remember and even harder for attorneys to trademark. Acronymic brand name examples include: IBM, BP, UPS, BMW, MTV, GEICO, HP, H&M, P&G, AT&T, CVS and BBC.