What a good name can do
A good name is easy to pronounce and easy to spell after hearing it. It sticks in the mind, sets you apart from competitors and grows with you: “Pizzeria on the Square” becomes tricky once you open a second location.
If you want to work internationally, check early how the name sounds in other languages – and what it means there. More on presenting yourself abroad under International brand building and in Multilingual website.
Three kinds of names
- Descriptive. Says what you do – often industry plus place or family name. Instantly understood, but easily confused and hard to protect.
- Associative. Evokes an image or feeling that suits you. A good middle ground between clarity and distinctiveness.
- Invented. A new word with no fixed meaning. The most distinctive and the easiest to protect – but it needs a presence that explains what it stands for.
How to go about it
- Collect without judging. Words, images, terms from your industry, from other languages, from your own story.
- Make a shortlist. Strike out anything that’s hard to pronounce, too long or too close to competitors.
- Test it out loud. Say the names on the phone. Do people need them spelled out? Do they mishear them?
- Check. Is the name available? More on that in a moment.
- Decide and secure it. Good names are taken quickly.
Is the name still available?
- Domain. Is the matching address with .com or your country’s ending still free?
- Social media. Does the name already exist as a profile on the channels you want to use?
- Competitors. A simple Google search shows whether a company in your industry already has that name.
- Trade mark registers. Your national register (in Germany, that of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, DPMA) and the register of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) show whether similar marks are registered.
These checks are no substitute for legal advice. If you want to register the name as a trade mark, it’s worth consulting a lawyer specialising in trade mark law.
Secure it straight away
If the name fits and is available: secure the domain and profiles on the same day. That’s exactly how it went for us – the idea for Mundara was born at a bar in Bali, and the name was secured on the spot.
From name to presence
A name only comes alive through its presence: logo, colours, typeface and the way you speak. How these work together is covered in Corporate design and Having a logo designed. If you’d like support: Logo & branding – or talk to us about your name ideas in a free intro call.