Naming Your Vision: The Art and Science of Brand Naming
- Arnold
- Aug 11
- 7 min read
Your brand name isn’t just a label, it’s your first impression. A promise. Something to inspire your target audience. That’s why a powerful brand name is the cornerstone of success for any modern startup. It sets the standard for your brand, laying the groundwork for your identity and shaping how your audience sees you the moment they first interact with your business. Of course, naming your business brings significant challenges, it can be daunting. But it's also ripe with unparalleled opportunities to forge a memorable and impactful presence from the get-go.
This guide explores both the challenges and the opportunities that come with naming a new business, exploring the essential considerations for selecting the perfect startup name.
Why Your Startup Name Matters
Brand Perception
A well-chosen name can convey the essence of your brand in an instant. It’s generally the first point of contact between you and the public, wielding a powerful influence on how your target audience perceives your personality and principles, as well as the products and services you offer. Take Nike, for instance. The brand was named after the Greek goddess of victory and it works perfectly for the personality that the company embodies, set off by the tagline “Just do it”.
Memorability
In a crowded, competitive space, a memorable name differentiates your brand from the rest. Unique, catchy, and easy-to-pronounce, the perfect brand name cements your business in the minds of the audience, making it easy to recall and stimulating purchasing decisions. This level of memorability is crucial when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing, the leading source of brand discovery in the United States. Think how Zoom kept it short and snappy, describing the benefits of the software in one word. Or how Coca-Cola leaned into alliteration, or Google invented a new easy-to-pronounce word. They all manage to stay “sticky” thanks to the ingenuity of their names.
SEO Marketing
Choosing a brand name that’s strong and relevant can improve the SEO of your business, boosting visibility and making it easier for your niche target audience to find you online. For example, if your name is unique and easy to type, users are less likely to misspell it when searching, leading to better direct traffic. On the other hand, an unconvincing, hard-to-pronounce or confusing name can water down your marketing efforts, making them less impactful. And a generic name could dilute your online presence, leaving you battling for visibility among a sea of similarly named brands.
Exploring Different Naming Approaches
When it comes to naming your business, there are a variety of approaches you can take. Let’s explore some of the most common:
Descriptive: These types of brand names clearly communicate what the business does (e.g., “Joe’s Pizza Joint”). These help consumers understand the offering, yet can lack impact, originality and memorability. Also, you need to be sure that your descriptive name doesn’t limit your growth. For example Southwest Airlines expanded its service beyond the south-west of the US, but most likely had to pun some strong marketing to get that message across.
Evocative: A powerful brand name is often one that suggests a feeling or quality associated with the brand. This can conjure an emotional response in a concise way, conveying the personality of the brand in an instant. Think of how Dove creates a connection with the idea of purity and gentle care, or how Amazon delivered on its promise to become the world’s biggest book store. However, these names can be less informative than a descriptive brand name.
Abstract: These brand names use invented or unusual words (e.g., Xerox or Kodak). Abstract brand names have the potential to be unique and memorable, but often require more effort in brand building and, if not chosen wisely, can be detrimental to brand development. Keep it easy to pronounce and try to link the idea back to your brand as much as possible.
Founder-Based: Some of the most successful brands in the world have taken inspiration from the name(s) of their founder(s) (e.g., Adidas, Disney, Louis Vuitton). This is a very effective way of creating a unique and memorable brand name, but it could confuse and deter the audience.
Compound: Many businesses decide to mix two foundational concepts that capture the essence of their brand (e.g., "PayPal"). This is a highly effective way of capturing the essence of the brand in a succinct way, but it has the potential to be too ambiguous.
Getting Ideas on the Board
Developing the perfect name for your business is a crucial first step, and there are multiple avenues to explore.
The Discovery Phase
Before any brainstorming, a robust discovery phase is essential. This involves deeply understanding your brand's:
Mission & Vision: What problem do you solve? What future do you envision?
Target Audience: Who are you speaking to? What are their aspirations, pain points, and cultural references?
Core Values: What principles guide your business?
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What makes you different?
Competitive Landscape: Who are your competitors, and what are their naming conventions?
The Brainstorm
Begin with brainstorming sessions between you and your team. Consider key concepts related to your industry, target audience, and your brand’s unique value proposition. Word association and mind-mapping techniques can be used to spark creative ideas thet go beyond industry terminology.
Think about emotions, benefits, metaphors, and experiences related to your brand. If you're a coffee shop, don't just list coffee words – think 'cozy,' 'awake,' 'community,' 'comfort,' 'ritual.'"
Explore words from other languages with meanings that align with your brand’s core principles. Ensure the meaning translates well and doesn't have unintended negative connotations in target markets.
Consider looking to the past and exploring mythology, literature, and history – for example, many leading brands have taken names of ancient gods as inspiration, including the likes of Nike and Hermes.
Also, utilize a thesaurus or rhyming dictionary. Remember, during these initial stages, it's best to involve multiple perspectives and avoid censoring any ideas, setting a dedicated time to let the creativity flow.
The Shortlist
Once you have a list of potential names, analyze them against a set of key criteria. This will enable you to whittle down your selection to a shortlist made up of powerful brand names. This could include memorability, relevance and how easy it is to pronounce. You’ll also need to ensure that the brand name is available – this involves ensuring you can trademark your brand name to protect your business.
Consider applying these preliminary filters:
Pronounceability: Is it easy to say and understand?
Memorability: Is it easy to recall?
Relevance: Does it align with your brand's essence?
Uniqueness: Does it stand out from competitors?
Longevity: Will it remain relevant as your brand grows and evolves?
Negative Connotations: Does it have any unintended meanings in other languages or cultures?
While this guide to choosing a brand name is a useful framework, it's also worth considering the expertise that a specialized agency like Semiya can bring to the table. As an expert digital marketing agency with experience in brand strategy and linguistics, we can ensure that your chosen name is not only original and captivating to your audience but also aligns perfectly with your long-term business goals.
The Crucial Step: Availability Checks
Before investing significant time and resources in naming your brand, it’s essential to ensure your desired domain name is currently available. Breach of brand name trademarks can result in expensive lawsuits ranging from $120,000 to $750,000 in the US to between £100,000 and £500,000 in the UK.
Ensuring your brand name is a registered trademark helps to cement legal protection and exclusivity, meaning you can protect your brand from potential infringement. A trademark provides exclusive rights to use your brand name for specified goods and services, preventing others from using a confusingly similar mark. This legal protection is paramount to safeguarding your brand identity and intellectual property.
Maintaining consistency across your website and social media platforms is essential for brand recognition and online presence. To do this, choose a brand name that has available handles (usernames) across the main social media platforms relevant to your target audience. Having clear, consistent social media handles boosts your visibility online, making it easier for your target audience to find and engage with your brand.
When it comes to securing your domain, you can look beyond .com. Consider other relevant TLDs (Top-Level Domains) like .co, .net, .org, or industry-specific ones (.tech, .app). The primary .com is often preferred, but there is huge competition for these domains and if you have a name that isn’t invented, you may find it already taken. That’s when these secondary domains can come in useful.
To check your brand name for visibility, use the following tools:
www.godaddy.com: The main domain internet domain registry, Go Daddy enables you to find out the availability of a website domain and the price for purchasing one.
www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search: The website for the United States Patent and Trademark Office enables you to search for brand names, goods and services using specific words.
www.gov.uk/search-for-trademark: The UK’s official trademark search tool is useful for checking if a similar trademark to your brand already exists in the UK.
branddb.wipo.int: The Global Brand Database has several search filters covering multiple data sources, meaning you can narrow your search to countries, keywords and more.
Avoid the hassle and eliminate any doubt when searching for the availability of your brand name. Visit a name marketplace like Semiya's and handpick your own brand name. You can buy the brand name and domain name together, enabling you to secure your brand name trademark later down the line.
Choosing with the help of experts
While it's crucially important to get your brand name right, as a fledgling business, your chief concern is getting the business off the ground.
Delegating the brand naming process to an experienced agency or handpicking your brand name off the shelf is a great way to lay the foundations, giving you the perfect launchpad for a successful business.
At Semiya, we ensure your name isn't just creative, but deeply integrated with your long-term business objectives and market positioning. Our team assesses names for unintended meanings, ease of pronunciation, and cultural resonance across your target markets. For startups, time is money. Delegating this complex process allows you to focus on your core business, knowing your brand's foundation is in expert hands.
Need a name quickly? We offer a curated selection of pre-vetted, strategically developed brand names, complete with available domains. All you need to choose one and we’ll help you refine your logo and visuals so your brand is ready to go.
