Sandro Botticelli was once Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Mark Twain was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Jackie Chan was Chan Kong-sang. The decision to adopt a new name has many motives, yet many feel that, if chosen properly, the right name will become a key to the desired doors — or rather, what’s behind them.

The same goes for a business, project, or product.

In the digital era, it’s a challenge to come up with a name that will be noticed among other catchy, daring, and offensively genius ones. How can you ever compete with TikTok, YouTube, Google (News - Alert), Instagram, Tesla, and so many others?

Here’s a short list of ideas that’ll help you to come up with the best name for a company. Or you can simply try a business name generator.

Thoughts and Feelings

Some literary masterpieces and songs were inspired by a name, first of all. However, the conventional methodology is to have a product ready, then give it a name. The advantage here is that it’s easier to come up with the right word or phrase when you’re already looking at the item.

Answer these questions:

• How should the audience feel about the chosen name?
• What emotions and feelings does the name evoke?
• Does it convey the essence of the business?
• Is it catchy?
• Does it have a positive connotation?

If a name wasn’t born during this process, write down the keywords that came up. This will become a foundation for future steps.

Creativity Boost

The list of keywords may look like a mess. Don’t get frustrated; it is a valuable mess.

• Brainstorming — this works great when there are at least two people involved.
• Peeping at competitors’ names — not only to get inspired but to avoid mistakes, too. Why? There’s a famous story about a manufacturer of thin layer chromatography plates that called itself Analtech. It’s not the best name for a company, is it?
• A business name generator is a helping hand that will turn your keywords into a work of art.

Writer’s block can easily turn into namer’s block. Name generators provide you with an injection of enthusiasm.

Long-Run

After there’s a name ready, think of the following:

1. Does it have the potential for future expansion?

• Amazon sounds more appropriate for a platform that offers much more than just an online bookshop, which it originally was.

1. Is it going to work if the business goes international? And it’s a tricky one. Not only does it have to be pronounceable for foreigners, but it also has to be in harmony with culture and language.

• Electrolux, a Swedish company, had a hard time in the USA market with the motto for their vacuum cleaner “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.”
• Coca-Cola had its bad times, too. In China, the sound of the name could be understood as “Bite (News - Alert) the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with wax.”

Not convinced yet?

• At the start of their career, one of the most famous British music bands, The Beatles, had to rename themselves “The Beat Brothers” for the German audience. It turned out that their original name sounded closely to Piedels, which in Low Saxon is used for the male anatomy.

The Birds and The Bees Trap

In 2022, it’s essential to pick up a univocal business name. Stay off associations with offensive or obscene words, political issues, or race. To avoid sneering or accusations, check the chosen name or word combination for slang or second meanings.

It’s easy — just find a service like Urban Dictionary or Online Slang Dictionary and type your business name.

This mistake is more frequent when it comes to content translation for other languages. However, social media has affected all languages. If you have a teenage sibling or child, it’s a good idea to consult them, too.

Finish Line

Provided that the chosen name has passed these tests, there are final steps to make everything perfect.

Check the uniqueness of the name, so there’ll be no legal issues with plagiarism. There are numerous trademark websites out there for each country, and some can be used for free.

Check the domain name. In other words, find out whether the online version of the business name is occupied. If it is, contact the owner of the domain name and see if you can purchase it for yourself.

Final Thoughts

There are hundreds of rules on how to pick up a name for your business, and unless they’re all combined in a methodical order, there’s a chance the name won’t work out at all. Instead of surreptitiously following the marketers’ textbooks, pay attention to the major rules that have been listed.