A business name does more work than most founders realise. It sets tone, signals audience, and lives on every invoice, domain, and search result you'll ever appear in. Getting it right is worth slowing down for.

Step 1: Define Your Positioning Before You Name Anything

Naming without positioning is guesswork. Before you brainstorm a single word, answer three questions clearly: Who is your customer? What do you do for them that others don't? And what feeling should the brand leave behind?

Write these answers down in plain sentences. Your name will be judged against them. If a name doesn't fit your positioning, it fails — no matter how clever it sounds in isolation.

Step 2: Decide What Kind of Name You Want

Business names fall into recognisable categories. Understanding them helps you choose a direction rather than spinning in circles.

  • Descriptive – says exactly what you do (e.g. British Airways). Easy to understand, harder to protect.
  • Invented – made-up words or combinations (e.g. Kodak, Spotify). Distinctive and ownable, but require more marketing to build meaning.
  • Founder names – personal and credible, but limit scalability and can complicate future ownership.
  • Metaphorical – borrows meaning from another concept (e.g. Amazon, Apple). Flexible and memorable if the link is clear.
  • Acronyms – compact but rarely memorable unless the brand is already enormous.

There is no universally best category. The right choice depends on your market, budget, and how much brand-building work you're willing to do over time.

Step 3: Generate a Long List Without Filtering

Set a timer for 30 minutes and write down every name that comes to mind — good, bad, and absurd. Aim for at least 50 candidates. Use synonyms, foreign words, compound words, portmanteaux, and deliberate misspellings. Quantity is the goal at this stage.

Tools that help here include a thesaurus, Google Translate, etymology dictionaries, and AI tools like ChatGPT for lateral associations. Don't judge yet. The point is to exhaust obvious options so you can find something further from the centre.

Step 4: Apply a Practical Filter

Cut your list down by running every candidate through a short checklist.

  • Is it easy to spell when heard aloud?
  • Is it easy to say when read for the first time?
  • Does it work in your key markets and languages (check for accidental meanings)?
  • Is it distinct from direct competitors in your category?
  • Does a .com or relevant country domain exist or is it purchasable?
  • Is it short enough — ideally one or two syllables, three at most?

Most names fail at least one of these checks. That's fine. You're looking for a shortlist of five to ten candidates that pass most of them.

Before you fall in love with a name, verify it's actually free to use. Search your national trademark register (the IPO in the UK, EUIPO for Europe-wide protection) and Companies House or your local business registry. A name that's trademarked in your category is a legal and financial risk, regardless of how well it fits your brand.

If you're serious about protecting your own name, budget for a trademark application early. It typically costs a few hundred pounds and can save significant trouble later.

Step 6: Test It in the Real World

Share your shortlist with a small group of people who represent your target customer — not just friends and family. Ask them what each name makes them feel, what kind of business they'd expect it to be, and which they'd remember tomorrow. You're not looking for a popular vote; you're listening for confusion or strong instinctive reactions.

Also say the name out loud in the context you'll actually use it: answering the phone, introducing yourself at a meeting, reading it on a business card. Names that feel awkward in use rarely improve over time.

Step 7: Commit and Move Forward

Perfectionism at the naming stage is a common trap. No name is perfect. Amazon sounded like a river; Apple sounded like a fruit company. What makes a name great is consistent, confident use over time — not the name itself.

Once you've chosen, secure the domain, register the business, file for a trademark if appropriate, and claim social handles immediately — even on platforms you don't plan to use yet. Then build something worth the name.