Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

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You have a great idea for your startup company. The idea of going into business for yourself has been brewing for a long time and you are finally ready to jump. The name of your company is key.

When it comes to choosing a name, you shouldn’t become obsessed but at the same time, you should understand that the most appropriate name is an extremely important part of your business and can definitely be a contributing factor when it comes to the success of your business. If the name that you have chosen for your startup is not the best, you may want to rethink that and rename the company.

Another thing to bear in mind when choosing a name is that you only have to pay for the name once and you will own it forever. It is important to be satisfied with what you have chosen so that you don’t have to go through the hassle at any time in the future of having to choose again. Additionally, if you have to change the name of your company, the longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.

There are many thoughts and factors that are important when it comes to choosing the name for your startup:

  • A description of what you do: The name should reflect what you do and what your startup stands for. A simple name is usually the best choice because it is easier than a more complicated name to remember.
     
  • A legal name: It is very important that you make sure that no other company has the same name as you have chosen and that the name is not trademarked to that other company. An easy way to find out if your name is unique is to go to uspto.gov.
     
  • A single-meaning name when spoken: Make sure that whichever name you choose cannot be interpreted more than one way when spoken out loud. An easy way to tell this is to tell someone the name of your startup and ask them to repeat it to you. You will be able to tell easily if there is any ambiguity in the name.
     
  • A single-meaning name in the search engines: If the name that you have chosen sounds like some other word, it will be harder for people to distinguish the name.
     
  • Your domain name can be obtained: When you try to register your domain name, you should have chosen a name that has not been registered by anyone else yet and can be purchased by you for a reasonable price. Your domain name should be simple, memorable, and should not have any punctuation in the middle of it. You want people to be able to type it easily. Also regarding the domain name, make sure that you get a name that has the .com extension and not .net or .org. The reason why this is so important is that when people type in your company name and hit enter, it will go directly to your website. It won’t happen that way with the other two extensions.
     
  • A short name: A short and simple name is best. The longer your company name, the more letters other people will have to type when they are writing about you and your company. When it comes to people tweeting about you, remember that there is a 140-character maximum for each message. You want to take up as little room as possible.
     
  • An available Twitter  handle: You should try to choose the simplest Twitter handle possible (and a handle that is as close to the name of your startup as possible).
     
  • An available Facebook page: A great way to test this is if you go to http://facebook.com/yourname. See what happens after that. You can also do a search on Facebook and see what comes up.
     
  • The first letter of your company’s name: The first letter of your company’s name should be a capital letter. The reason that this is important is that a lot of people will misspell the name of your startup if you have it starting with a lowercase letter. That won’t be good for your business. There is an interesting theory that if you want to raise a large amount of money for your startup, you should give your company a name that begins with either an “S,” a “C” or a “T.” 
     
  • Vowels and consonants: Make sure that you give your startup a name that sounds like an actual word. It will cause fewer problems for other people.
     
  • Work in the main keyword: If possible, try to work in the most important keyword for your startup into your name. This is very important for search engine optimization (SEO) and it also lets your website visitors get a sense of what your business has to offer.
     
  • The meaning behind the name: A common question that you are likely to get from people when they learn the name of your startup company is what is the story behind the name. It is something interesting that people will remember about you and your business. 
     
  • Classy vs trendy: When choosing a name, it is best to choose one that is not trendy. The interesting thing about trends is that the words lose context and meaning after the trend has run its course. It is best to choose a name that will be meaningful throughout time.

Conclusion

When it comes to starting your own business, there are so many seemingly inane elements that are actually significant. They require thought and if chosen correctly, they will make a tremendous difference to the success of your business. The name is one of those and when choosing that, you want to make sure that it is on the tips of everyone’s tongue all of the time.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

Author

  • Carolyn Cohn

    Carolyn Cohn is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Services of CompuKol Communications. Carolyn manages CompuKol’s creative and editorial department, which consists of writers and editors. Her weekly blogs are syndicated globally. She has decades of editorial experience in online editing, and editing books, journal articles, abstracts, and promotional and educational materials. Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

8 Responses

  1. Bob Gaber says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Media Professionals Worldwide
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    Please don't be cutesie. Two things people remember, something that they like and something that they hate. There was a commercial, years ago that extoled, FAB WITH BORAX, FAB WITH BORAX. I hated it, BUT I rememebed it. The idea to to have it relate to what you do or sell. Then the idea is to get your name out. There are very few "Jellos" of the world. Everyone knows, Automax Sales Training and Consulting. (Say's it all, but it wasn't the name. It was the marketing of the name)
    Posted by Bob Gaber

  2. Marco Monfils says:

    Thank you for sharing, lots of good advise.
    Subject to the complexity of the desired message(s), it may make sense to spread the communication weight between the core elements of mass marketing, that is brand name, slogan and logo.
    The exact opposite would be to unite brand name = logo = slogan, well worth considering in this day and age of cluttered attention spans and clutter marketing techniques.
    By combining logo into brand (name), and merging that into the slogan, provides consumers with a 3 part story for direct interpretation, in one click, tweet, or post.

  3. Lya Sorano says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: ForbesWoman
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    Here is my vote against intriguing names. You should not want to make your prospects guess what you’re all about. An exception might be a company that is immediately poised for a meteoric rise (e.g. “Amazon”) to global brand status. For most start-ups, choosing a name that announces the company’s products or services (“North Carolina Christmas Trees”, “XYZ Family Law Practice”) is the smart thing to do. I recently founded “Atlanta Women in Business – Loans, Inc.”. We are a group of business women, based in and around Atlanta, and we will be providing small loans to start-ups.
    Posted by Lya Sorano

  4. BarryB Brindisi says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Writers
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    Hi Carolyn,
    I can certainly agree with you, on this. In my case, the interesting name was my blog site. A couple of years ago, I tried "Beth Berakah" and it seem to create confusion for the readers. "What does that mean?" would be the typical question some friends asked.

    More recently, I moved my old web site over to WordPress.com and chose a much better name. It spoke more to what I sought to do. It also helped to find more knowledgeable people to give advice. 🙂
    Posted by BarryB Brindisi

  5. Diane Stephenson says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Books and Writers
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    Great information, Carolyn. Creating a business name, a web site name or even a business e-mail is not as easy as some people might think. It's the same with finding just the right title for a book. You have made some excellent suggestions that should steer people in the right direction.
    Posted by Diane Stephenson

  6. Murray .Grossan, M.D. says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Non-Fiction Writers
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    Carolyn you are SO RIGHT. Worse, you have to have a name that Google search will find.
    I picked out the name Ear Aid for my tinnitus pill. Worst name you could possibly have. If you google Ear Aid you get hearing aids, walker aids- sometimes you might find it on page 8 or 9
    Great names include Neuronomics for retraining the brain for tinnitus and
    Airborne for alka seltzer with a vitamin.
    I want to change Ear Aid to Four Way Tinnitus Relief but my wife says no.
    Posted by Murray .Grossan, M.D.

  7. Wayne Blohm says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: AOL Small Business
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    In our over 75 years in busines we have come across a wide variety of names. Some of these names were before the Internet rev. Here are some samples: Curl UP & Dye; Hairlines; Art of Cake.
    Posted by Wayne Blohm

  8. ON COMMON GROUND Conflict Resolution Services says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: NJ Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO)
    Discussion: Picking an Intriguing Name for Your Startup

    I agree. It is a reflection of yourself and the indication of the kind of service values people can expect from you.
    Posted by ON COMMON GROUND Conflict Resolution Services