How to come up with a business name: 11 creative strategies

You’re likely here because you want to start a business and need to come up with a good name for it. Coming up with a business name is one of the most important steps in starting a business. Your company name is much more than just a label – it’s one of the key pieces of your brand identity. It’s what your potential customers will remember, talk about, and search for online when looking for what your company offers. 

Naming a company isn’t something you do in just a few minutes. You could try, but the options are almost endless, making the process overwhelming. If you need help getting the brainstorming started, this article is for you! 

Read on below, where we also cover the rules that apply when you choose and register a business name. 

What makes a good business name?

A good business name is easy to remember and reflects your brand’s identity. It should resonate with your target audience, and if your business targets customers beyond the UK’s borders, the name should make sense internationally. 

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to ensure you choose the best name for your business: 

• Will the name work in 5 years?  To future-proof your business, it might be best to avoid a name that won’t be suitable as your company grows. For example, if you’re opening a catering company in a specific town, you should avoid calling it Stoke-on-Trent Catering if you plan to expand to other cities. 
  
• Is the name SEO-friendly? A SEO-friendly company name isn’t necessarily one that includes keywords. The most important thing is to choose a unique name that doesn’t resemble another company’s name. With a unique name, you’ll have a better chance of standing out in search results without unnecessarily tough competition from other companies with similar names. 
   
• Can the business name be used as a domain name? Alongside developing your business idea and choosing a company name, you should keep your domain name in mind. Ideally, you should choose a business name that you can also use as a domain name. This makes it easier for your customers to find you online. 
  
  For example, if you choose a company name with special characters, bear in mind that domain names with certain characters might not be compatible with all domain endings. We will look into domain name registration a few paragraphs further down in the article. 
  
• Is it easy to spell? If your company’s name is difficult to spell, you create an unnecessary obstacle for your potential customers. It might seem like a trivial issue, but there is a real risk that you could lose sales if part of your target audience finds it easier to spell and google your competitor’s name. 

What rules apply when choosing a business name?

When you are selecting a business name, it’s important that you follow the current national and international guidelines.  

In the UK, there are basic guidelines that you must follow. These include:  

• Business names must be unique and not “too like” to an existing company name.  
• You can’t get around a “too like” name by using symbols or special characters. 
• Company names can’t use offensive language.  
• Company names can’t falsely indicate a connection to government or local authorities.  

All the rules along with examples can be found on the UK government guidelines page. 

Check the domain name first

Before you design a logo, order business cards, and set your business name in stone, you should always check whether your business name is available to avoid building a brand on a name that is already taken. 

But before you register your business name, you should check whether it is also available as a domain name. First, because you should ideally be able to use the same name for your company’s website and business email. This is also because your company name should be unique, and it isn’t unique if someone else already owns the domain.

Is the business name available? 

Once you’ve checked if the name you’ve chosen is available as a domain, you need to check if it’s also available as a business name, so you can register both as soon as possible. To find out if a company name is available, you can search the Companies House register. 

How to come up with a good business name

Now that we’ve covered what makes a good company name and the rules you must consider, we can kickstart the creative process. This is typically the biggest challenge but also a fun and exciting process that allows you to view your upcoming business from many different angles. 

Below, we’ve put together a list of ideas to help you find the perfect business name. 

1. Your company’s story

Your company’s name may be hidden in its story. Think back to the moment you realised you wanted to start your own business. What inspired you? What is your vision? Write down the entire process from idea to business plan. This text doesn’t have to be well-written as it’s only a springboard for your brainstorming.  
 
When you’ve finished the text, you can start combing through it for keywords, thoughts, and concepts that can be used in your company name. The writing part shouldn’t be skipped because it’s what gets the thoughts flowing. The moment you have to describe something in writing, your brain starts working in different ways than when you just sit with a pile of loose thoughts.

2. Start with something personal

Although your business name needs to make sense to others besides yourself and your acquaintances, you can still start with something personal, such as your name or nickname. Think of Adidas, where the name comes from the founder Adolf Dassler’s nickname Adi, or the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s, whose name consists of the two founders’ names, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

3. Combine two or three words

If you’re struggling to capture the essence of your company and vision in a single word, try combining several descriptive words. An example of a company that has used such a name is the furniture and interior shop Nordic Nest. Their name tells something about the shop’s range of Nordic design and conveys the message that you can create a cosy home with their products.

Another example is the streaming service Netflix, which also combined two words to create their business name. The name consists of the English slang term “flicks” (films) spelled with an x and “net” because the films can be watched on the internet. When Netflix first launched, however, films had to be ordered online rather than streamed, but that’s a story for another time.

4. Be inspired by other companies

Maybe you’ve already been inspired by the examples we’ve mentioned above. If not, you can take a scroll online and study the names of companies that offer products or services like those you will offer. Write down the best names and study them thoroughly. Describe why they are good, what they signal, what they mean, and, if relevant, whether they can be interpreted in multiple ways. The process will give you plenty of input and hopefully also useful ideas for your own business name.

5. Grab the dictionary

Make a good cup of coffee, grab the dictionary, either the one you can leaf through (and spill coffee on) or one of the many online dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster. Open up to random letters or start with A. Yes, there are many words, but there’s also tons of inspiration to be found in the form of words you don’t normally think about.

6. Dig into mythology and history

There are many powerful names to be found in history and mythology. These names often have a deeper meaning that can help strengthen the story of your brand. There are many examples of major companies that have borrowed their names from history and mythology. One of the most famous is Nike, which borrowed its name from Greek mythology, where Nike was the goddess of victory. Another example is Ajax, a cleaning product named after a hero from Greek mythology. And finally, there’s Amazon, named after female warriors from, yes, you’ve guessed right, Greek mythology.

7. Consider an acronym

Acronyms are abbreviations consisting of the first letters of words or parts of words. They are easy to remember and allow for a company name that is short but meaningful at the same time. An example is the retail giant H&M, which stands for Hennes & Mauritz, and IKEA, which is an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the founder’s name, the farm he grew up on, and his hometown.

8. Experiment with spelling

Another popular shortcut to a unique company name that stands out from the crowd is to tweak the spelling slightly, for example, by changing one of the letters. We’ve already touched on an example of this when we mentioned Netflix, which replaced the “cks” in “flicks” with an “x.” But there are many other examples, including the Finnish food delivery platform Wolt, which took the word volt (a unit of electric tension) and replaced the first letter with a W.

However, if you choose this type of company name, you should make sure that the spelling is not so far from the original word that it becomes too difficult to understand or looks messy.

9. Choose a descriptive name

Sometimes the most obvious choice is the best one. In fact, there are plenty of examples of companies that have succeeded with a company name that describes exactly what they offer or do, such as Booking.com, Burger King, General Motors, Whole Foods Market, and the Nordic clothing chain Dressman. Although this type of company name may not be the most creative, it can be a strategically good choice, especially in industries where it is important to be clear about what you offer.  
 
If you go with this strategy, you’ll need to make sure that your existing competitors’ names are not too similar. If you use an English name, it is also crucial to consider whether it will be too difficult to achieve good search engine rankings with a descriptive company name, especially if the word you use in the name has a very high search volume.

10. Start with a feeling

Another good strategy is to base your name on words that evoke emotions that resonate with your target audience. This can be extremely effective and increase the chances that your audience will remember your company name and associate it with something positive. An example is the skincare brand Dove. The name evokes a feeling of something peaceful, soft, and natural, which helps strengthen the brand’s identity, as most people in their target audience want to have wonderfully soft skin.

11. Use AI or a name generator

If you’re completely stuck, you can either use an AI tool such as ChatGPT or one of the many name generators available online. When using AI, it’s important to craft a good prompt that provides the AI tool with detailed information about your company. 
 
We asked ChatGPT to come up with 5 suggestions for company names for a (fictional) online shop that we envision selling organic and sustainable spices and herbs. It gave us the following suggestions: 

• PureHarvest Spices 
• GreenRoots Herbs 
• Herb & Earth 
• Nature’s Spice 
• EcoSpice Market 

Not all the suggestions are equally good or unique. Therefore, you may not be able to use one of the names that such a tool provides for you. However, it can still be a very helpful starting point because the suggestions can spark your creativity. 

A professional email for your business

Once you’ve decided on a business name and registered that as well as a domain name, you need to create a professional email on your domain. This ensures that you can communicate with your customers, partners, and suppliers in a professional and credible way. 

Most of us will have a better impression if we receive an email from a company that writes from an email address linked to the company that is providing the information.  
 
For example, let’s assume you receive emails from two plumbing companies. One email comes from the address john.exampleson5555@gmail.com, while the other comes from john.exampleson@plumbingcompanyname.com.  
 
As a receiver of the email, you will likely get a better impression of the email sent from the plumbing company’s own domain. This is precisely why you should create an email for your business on your company’s domain. 

Your next steps

Choosing a good business name is just the beginning of your journey. Once you’ve chosen the perfect name, registered a domain name, and created a professional email for your business, you can start setting up a strong and competitive brand. If you need inspiration along the way, you can explore our Academy. Here you’ll find articles on everything from marketing to web design, search engine optimisation, and audience segmentation. Good luck with your new business!