12 Ideas for Naming Your Brand

Company Naming Tips and Ideas to Help You Succeed

At Killer Panda, our naming team understands that it takes both “art” and “science” to create a great brand name. Keeping that in mind, we’ve developed a list of 12 Ideas for Naming Your Brand.

Our team develops names that can be aligned with your unique, authentic and differentiated brand promise. In short – we develop names that capture the soul of your company in a power-packed set of characters. Now, with our “12 Ideas” you can develop a killer brand name too.

Some of the latest innovative brand names that we’ve developed:

We’ve put together a list of 12 naming tips and other helpful ideas that you should take into account when naming your company.

Brand Naming Tip 1: Form a Decision Team. It’s great to have help in selecting a name. So you’ll want to put together a small decision making team. The smaller the team, the easier it will be to make decisions. We have been involved in far too many new company naming projects that have been burdened with unwieldy decision teams. You will also want input from diverse participants — like potential customers, vendors, family and friends.

Brand Naming Tip 2: Your Company Name Should Be Short in Length. The length of your company name really does matter. In most cases, a successful name for a company, product or service is short in length — usually fewer than ten characters. The longer the name, the greater the chance for confusion, mix-ups and misspellings. And because all growth-driven firms must have an active on-line web presence, a typo or misspelling in a name by a customer will likely send that buyer to a competitor’s website. The name selected should roll off the tongue and have a pleasing sound and texture. The best names for a new company are clear when vocalized and easy to pronounce.

Brand Naming Tip 3: Your Company Name Must Be Clear and Easy to Spell. Your name choice should be easy to spell. Ideally, the perfect name should have only one spelling option, in short there should be only one way to spell the name. The more alternatives there are in the spelling of a prospective company name, the more likely a firm is to confuse or lose customers.

Brand Naming Tip 4: Your Company Name Should Be In Sync With Your Logo Design. The elements of visual design include size, typestyle, color, layout and other graphic elements are important when selecting a company name. A winning company name has a visual design that works in harmony with the overall strategy of the firm. Design considerations should be undertaken in conjunction with company name creation.

Brand Naming Tip 5: Consider Expandability & Global Considerations. Consider the universality of your company name choice. The best names for a global company should have a universal appeal and be culturally non-offensive. It is also important to consider the degree to which a name can be expanded or is narrow in scope. The name should allow for growth and change in a marketplace and other industry changes. The best names for a company may be secure with the goal of significant expansion while others may be highly specialized and targeted.

Brand Naming Tip 6: Create a Keyword List. You will want to create of list of the keywords that capture the essence of your company. Brainstorm as many keywords as you can. Dissect these keywords into their root elements. Go to the “Search Here: Enter a Keyword” entry bar — located at the top of this page. Enter a keyword into the search bar. All the available company names that contain the keyword will be displayed. Make a note of the names that could work for your company.

Brand Naming Tip 7: Determine Your Key Marketplaces. Think about all the industries and marketplaces that represent the activities of your company. Most companies are involved in businesses that span multiple industries. Take a look at the category list on the right and select the industry that fits you best.

Brand Naming Tip 8: Search for Company Names Based on a Core Attribute. You should consider selecting a company name that evokes a key characteristic or attribute of your company. So click here to find a catchy Brand Name, cool name for your brand, a creative brand name, a fresh sounding brand name, innovative name for a brand, or unique brand names.

Brand Naming Tip 9: Search for Names by Length. Consider searching for a company name by length. So if you’re looking for a short 4 letter brand name, a short and powerful 5 letter brand name, 6 letter name for a brand, and a 7 letter brand name, you can find it quickly and easily.

Brand Naming Tip 10: Check for Name Use. Over 65 million businesses are launched every year in the United States and around the globe. There is a very high likelihood that the names you like are being used somewhere around the world. You must select a name that is unique and not similar to another name in use.

Brand Naming Tip 11: Check Dot-Com Domain Name Availability. Your company name is of no use unless you can acquire the exact-match dot.com domain. While there is some value in other domain extensions (like dot-org and dot-net), the clear Top Level Domain (TLD) extension is dot-com. The company name and the domain name must be identical.

Brand Naming Tip 12: Your Business Name Must Be Suitable For Your Marketplace. A company name can be developed for industry specific application or could have broad application to multiple industries. Depending on the strategic goals and objectives of the firm an industry specific name or a broad application name may serve as a good choice for the enterprise.