Guide to naming your brand (template included)

This is a framework to help your team find a brilliant, unforgettable name for your product or service.

The steps are grouped into 3 sections:

1. Strategize - clarify objectives and set criteria

2. Brainstorm - generate ideas and categorize options

3. ‍Evaluate - screen list and select a winner

Searching for the right name can be a daunting task, especially when you don't have the right tools or technique to work from.

Without setting some ground rules, you risk defaulting to the loudest or most senior person in the room. Creativity can become stifled and you might end up with a mediocre name that meets the least resistance. The strategy outlined below gives you and your team a framework to bring clarity and guidance to the naming process. 

Strategize

Naming Criteria

Let’s review the areas to explore and to avoid. Keep these rules of thumb in mind when you go through the Naming Evaluation Rubric (you’ll learn more about that in the Evaluate section).

What a name should be 

There are five key criteria that lay the foundation for a strong brand name.  Just remember, that a good name should make you SMILE.

S - Suggestive

• The name evokes something powerful or unique about your brand.

M - Memorable

• The name should resonate with your audience and feel familiar. 

• The name has to be meaningful to the audience, not just the internal team. 

• A long meaningful name is better than a short meaningless one

I - Imagery

• Strong images aid in memory.

• If people can visualize your brand with an image, it’s much stickier.

• The name should lend itself well to a logo design.

• The name should look visually pleasing when written.

L - Legs

• The name should have extended mileage.

• The name should lend to a clear theme

E - Emotional

• The name should conjure a deliberate emotion 

• If your brand makes people smile, you can stick it on anything

What a name should not be

Just like there are principles of a good name, there are sensible things to avoid as well. The following areas are key signals of when you should BAIL on a potential name.

B - Boring

• Boring names are easily forgettable.

• They don’t create a sense of identity alongside the brand. 

A - Awkward

• Awkward names are names that are confusing to pronounce, hard to spell, or overly clever without being clear.

I - Internal

• Internal names rely on insider information or jargon to make sense. 

• Steer clear of names that could make your target audience feel uncomfortable, confused, or like an outsider.

L - Limiting

• Limiting names are too narrow. 

• They don’t give the brand space to grow into its vision and may prevent future category expansion or revenue streams. 

• A limiting name might reference a geography, group, style, or age group that is not eternally relevant for the brand.

Remember, a strong brand name makes a lasting impression because it’s memorable and enjoyable. Avoid names that could make your customer feel confused or out of touch with the brand. 

Brainstorm

Now that we’ve got a good idea of what a great brand name should include and how to avoid a weak choice, let’s move on to the creative part: brainstorming!

As you brainstorm, remember that ideas are additive. This simply means that by generating lots of ideas, you’ll increase your odds of finding a great brand name. Focus on getting your ideas down on paper. Speed and volume is the name of the game while you brainstorm. Ideas build off other ideas, so the process of molding, pushing, and adding will eventually land you on something truly original. 

A risky way to brainstorm: run a brainstorming meeting. They’re too confining, lack process, and bias towards extroverts. 

A better way to brainstorm: use the internet. It’s the single most powerful brainstorming tool. The ideal number of people in a brainstorming session is one!

Broadly speaking, a brand name can be descriptive (e.g., Whole Foods), made up (e.g., google), metaphorical (e.g., Nike), or real words that suggest an attribute or benefit of the brand (e.g., Uber). 

Here are five thought starter categories to kick off your brainstorm:

1. Word Bank

   Before you fire up your Firefox browser to look for ideas, write down at least 8 words related to your brand. Remember, this is not meant to be a list of names, just sparks to fuel your brainstorming process.

2. Thesaurus and Dictionary 

   Select a word that you want to explore and begin your online brainstorming. Use websites like thesaurus.com. Find synonyms and related words. Look up the related words to spark more inspiration. Take a look at your results and write down at least 5 promising words that you find interesting and relevant.

3. Movies, Books and Songs

   Think of book titles, TV series, movies, albums and band names. These are all fodder for super sticky names. Bonus: you can’t trademark book titles, so they’re up for grabs! 

4. Images

   A picture can say a thousand words. Type some of the keywords you’ve selected into google one at a time and head to the “Images” results tab. This should give you even more ideas that are emotionally resonant with your brand’s mission.

5. People and Places

   Think of well-known people that embody the spirit of your brand. Are there any famous figures that could be used as a metaphor for what your brand is like or aspires to be? Fictional figures? Greek gods?

The categories we just reviewed should get your creative juices flowing. You should be writing down any and all word combinations that might work for your name. 

Time box your brainstorming to 5 minutes per category, and then move on to building out your list. When you present your shortlist to your team or naming committee, you’ll probably have 4-8 favorites to add to the combined shortlist for our final step: Evaluate.

Evaluate

Naming Evaluation Categories

Choosing your name is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make as you develop or rebrand your business. It’s the first thing people see or hear, and it’s their ability to recall and describe your work that makes this piece especially powerful.

That’s why a “gut feeling” is not enough when it comes to picking the right name. This is where a more formal process comes in handy. It brings objective evaluation to a decision that can often feel ambiguous and overwhelming.  

Your team will align on a number of names to evaluate. This grading system works best with a list of 15 - 30 names. If you’re working with a larger team of 8 - 10 people, then have everyone contribute their top 2 -3 names from their brainstorm. With a smaller team, each person can add a few more names to the rubric. 

Once you have your shortlist of names, you will look at each option through the lens of nine key questions. Let’s briefly review the categories in our grading system. 

Positioning 

Does the name position your brand to win? Does it feel clear and powerful?

Experience

Does the name resonate with your target audience?

Impression

Does the name make an impact when you hear it?

Feeling

Does the name embody your mission and vision?

Look

Would the name lend itself well to logo design? Is the name visually pleasing?

Read

Is the name easy to read, pronounce, and spell?

Uniqueness

Is the name unique and distinctive?

Memorability

Is the name easy to remember?

Availability

Is it possible to exclusively own and trademark this name?

For each naming option in your combined shortlist, you will assign a binary grade (‘yes’ or ‘no’) to each category. Your grade indicates whether the option satisfies the given category. The strict grade of “0” or “1” is there by design, otherwise grading gets too nuanced to be useful. For each name you will have a final grade out of nine (9). 

→ You can request access to a template Naming Evaluation Rubric here. 

You can do this exercise as a team or individually. If done as a team, the group will grade each name as a unit. If done individually, the project lead will duplicate the evaluation rubric so each person has a table with the same combined shortlist. Then final scores are averaged for the group.

Finally, sum up the scores in the right column and circle the three highest scores. These are your top 3 names. 

Outro

After analyzing each option from different angles and with clear objectives in mind, you will have three strong candidates for your brand name. It is advisable to involve your executive leadership team, board of directors, or investors at this point for a final vote or a discussion on the rationale behind your decision.

However, it is important to note that preliminary trademark screening alone does not provide a legal opinion. Therefore, the last step is to consult a trademark attorney or proceed with trademarking the names yourself.

The purpose of this naming strategy is to provide you and your team with a framework that brings clarity and guidance to your process. That way, you can create a brand name that you’re proud of and excited to share with the world!