How to come up with ideas for a business name in 8 steps

A business name is central to a company’s brand identity, and understanding how to come up with a business name is a crucial task for any new entrepreneur. Like other elements of your brand, your business name can evoke a distinct feeling among your target market, communicate your values, and help you stand out in a competitive business niche. In this guide, we’ll examine this important item in your business checklist, including elements of a good business name, important naming conventions, and the 8 steps you should follow when picking a business name.

What is a business name?

In the UK, businesses can have an official company name registered with the government’s Companies House for tax purposes, and a trading name, which can be different for the purpose of branding. When you’re looking into how to come up with a business name for the first time, it’s important to be aware of a few key restrictions which may narrow your shortlist of choices. When looking into how to choose a business name in the UK, you’ll need to ensure your name:

• Isn’t the same as, or very similar to, a registered business name on Companies House or a trade mark on the UK Intellectual Property Office.

• Doesn’t contain sensitive words designated by Companies House or suggest a connection with the government.

• Isn’t offensive.

Depending on how you plan to register your business, there may be other restrictions you’ll have to bear in mind. For example, if you’re setting up a limited company, your officially-registered name will have to end with “Limited” or “Ltd”. Aside from these rules, the name you choose for your business can be anything you want. This provides an opportunity to get creative and come up with a business name that reflects the values and goals that represent your business and drive you as an entrepreneur.

What makes a good business name?

Like many creative tasks, there’s no rigid formula for figuring out how to name a business that’s right for you. However, there are some best practices which you may want to consider as you work on coming up with ideas and narrowing down your potential options. Here are a few general rules to follow when creating your business name.

Keep it simple and memorable

Before someone in your audience becomes a paying customer, they’re likely to go through several points of contact with your brand. For example, someone might notice one of your print ads or listings in a local business directory, then come across a post you’ve made as part of a social media marketing campaign, sign-up to your mailing list, and finally receive an introductory offer voucher from a direct mail campaign, before coming to your shop and making a purchase. As you won’t be the only brand vying for your audience’s attention, it’s essential to choose a business name that’s simple and memorable enough to stay fresh in the minds of your target audience after they first read it.

Some well-known examples of simple and memorable UK brand names include Innocent, Warburtons, and AllSaints. This will help you build the value of your brand in the minds of your target market and make your business easy to remember and find when potential customers are ready to buy.

Make sure it’s authentic and emotional

When thinking about how to choose a business name, some business owners become preoccupied with trying to think of names that reference the kind of product or service they’re selling. Although this strategy has been used by successful brands, for example WeBuyAnyCar, it shouldn’t get in the way of creating a brand name that captures an authentic brand identity and creates an emotional response in your audience. Business names can create different emotional responses and associations in the minds of an audience. If a jewellery store, for example, is called The Mismatched Menagerie, its name could communicate a brand identity that’s quirky, playful, and eclectic. If a business in the same niche is called Belmont and Carrington, this might evoke a sense of prestige, luxury, and sophistication. Though neither of these names have an explicit reference to jewellery, they both succeed as authentic reflections of their businesses’ brand identities. They are designed to create a distinct emotional reaction in their unique audiences.

Make sure it’s scalable

Your business name should be flexible enough to reflect your long-term plans for products, services and development. This means avoiding 2 common pitfalls when exploring how to create a business name:

Choosing ephemeral or time-sensitive words

A target audience’s parlance can change dramatically in a relatively short time period. With this in mind, it’s crucial to avoid using words and phrases in your business name that are trending with your audience right now but could be irrelevant and outdated in a few years. Brand names like KetoFitShop, for example, may be able to capitalise on the popularity of the keto diet but could become limiting if they choose to develop into other products.

Having a narrow focus on your products or services

If your business plan is based on a few specific products and services, then this could be highlighted in your business name without any negative effects, and even help to fortify your brand identity. However, if you’re starting with a narrow focus and planning to expand your offering in the future, choosing a business name with too much focus on a particular business product or service could become an obstacle for future development. Apple, for example, was originally named Apple Computers, but shortened this to reflect a broader offering including iPods, iPhones, and later streaming services like Apple TV. If, for example, you’ve started a home-based bakery that delivers to customers’ homes, then Cakes2YourDoor would start as a perfectly relevant and descriptive name for your small business. However, if you plan to open a brick-and-mortar high-street bakery in the future, this name could make your audience assume you’re a delivery-only business, and discourage them from visiting your physical shop.

Get other people’s opinions

Your business name can often benefit from sharing your ideas and asking for external input throughout the process. There are many benefits of discussing your business name ideas with people within your target audience to get the most relevant and applicable feedback. This will allow you to discover how well a business name idea resonates with your customers,, and help you spot any potentially negative connotations tied to your business name ideas. This can be achieved through running focus groups, one-to-one interviews, and other forms of market research. Conducting primary market research can also reveal a variety of other ways to develop your business strategy, looking at variables such as how to differentiate your brand from close competitors, pricing a product, and pricing services. However, if you’re starting a business with no money, or developing your business with a limited budget, then sourcing this kind of ideal feedback may not be affordable. Some more accessible ways you can gather feedback on your business name ideas include:

• Reach out to friends and family to discuss your ideas.

• Participate in social media groups and forums for business owners, share your ideas, and invite feedback.

• Attend business networking events, industry conferences, and similar meet-ups to share your ideas, and learn from other merchants’ experiences with naming their businesses.

By sharing your ideas with others and inviting their feedback, you can validate your ideas, get constructive feedback, and find new inspiration to fine-tune your business name ideas. This will help you find a name that isn’t restrictive, resonates emotionally with your audience, and represents your authentic brand identity. It’s worth noting that if you feel a particular need for primary market research, but don’t have the available funds or budget to conduct this type of research, you could consider getting a business loan, applying for small business grants, or running a crowdfunding campaign.

What to avoid when choosing a business name?

Though exploring how to think of a business name is a creative endeavour that gives you a lot of freedom, there are still some restrictions you’ll need to keep in mind and avoid. Here are 3 key elements you’ll need to avoid when choosing a business name:

Sensitive and restricted terms

Business names registered on Companies House can’t be offensive, or contain any sensitive words specified by the government. This list of sensitive words contains a number of seemingly benign terms such as ‘Sheffield’, so be sure to check it carefully on GOV.UK before you settle on a name. Some other designated sensitive words include:

• Co-operative

• Federation

• Queen

• King

• Royal

• Society

Names that are already registered

It’s important to check if any potential business name you want to proceed with isn’t already registered with the government or trademarked. Companies House maintains its availability checker, which allows you to check your business name against a database of registered UK businesses. It’s also a good idea to check their trade mark search tool, which you can use to make sure your intended trading name doesn’t overlap with other legally-protected names.

Failing to research business-type requirements

When registering a business, some classes of formation will need to abide by specific rules to be accepted by Companies House. When naming a sole trader business, a common business type for self-employed driving instructors, mobile hairdressers, and personal trainers, you’ll need to make sure the business name is unique and doesn’t contain limited company identifiers like ‘Ltd’.

It’s common practice for sole traders to use their own name as the official, registered business name. If you’re planning to start a limited company, you’ll need to include ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’ at the end of your registered business name, for example in Dyson Limited.

7 types of business names to consider

When starting a business, the inspiration for your business name can come from many different sources. If you’re finding it difficult to create a shortlist of ideas, it can be useful to look at examples of well-known brands and the approach they adopted to come up with their names. Here are 7 types of business names and examples of successful UK brands that have used them.

Origin and founder names

Origin and founder names are business names that reference an important detail about how the business was founded. Often, they include the names of the founder or a principal investor, but can also reference a place or story that’s central to the business’s origin. Though these kinds of business names may not be particularly evocative when your target audience first reads them, they can be an effective prompt to encourage people to learn more about your brand story. Origin and founder names can also help humanise your brand by telling your audience more about the people behind the brand. Some well-known businesses that use origin and founder names include: 

• Dyson - founded in 1991 by James Dyson. 

• Sainsbury’s - founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury.

• Rolls Royce - founded in 1906 by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce.

Descriptive names

Descriptive business names focus on the core product or service that your business offers, and are intended to give an uninitiated person a clear idea of what your business does. Wholly or partially descriptive names are particularly popular among service-based businesses, with government statistics showing that ‘services’ is used in 5.4% of all business names between 2015 and 2020. Though descriptive names can potentially be less creative than some other name types, they have the advantage of educating people in your target audience by telling them exactly what your business does as soon as they see your logo. Some famous businesses that use descriptive names include: 

• General Motors.

• Compare the Market.

• Lean Cuisine.

Geographic names

Geographic business names reference a geographic area that has special significance to the brand. This is often the place where the business was founded or a region that inspired its product development. Like founder and origin names, these names help to tell the brand’s story by conveying its origin and heritage. This can help build a sense of trust or credibility in your target audience if they reference an area that’s well-known for the craftsmanship of a particular product. Some well-known geographic business names include: 

• The West Cornwall Pasty Company.

• Yorkshire Tea.

• The Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Abstract names

Abstract business names are any names that use invented words. Abstract business names don’t do anything to describe the product or brand story, which might put them at a disadvantage compared to descriptive, founder, and geographic names. On the other hand, abstract names have the advantage of being automatically unique and with the right marketing strategy can stick in consumer’s minds due to their originality. With more than 5.51 million small businesses registered in the UK, an abstract name can help your brand stand out in a crowded market and have a more memorable impact from the first point of contact. Successful UK brands using abstract names include:

• Ocado

• Aviva

Acronym names

Acronym names are used to abbreviate a business name made-up of a string of words, usually 2 to 3, into the first letters of each word. Often, this kind of name is used more out of necessity than creative inspiration, for example when 2 businesses with founder or origin names are merged and the parties involved want to maintain the sense of heritage in their business name. It’s also worth noting that acronym names tend to be more common in B2B (business to business) industries than B2C (business to customer). While B2B businesses that use acronym names can help convey a sense of professionalism, a B2C acronym name could run the risk of making a brand identity feel cold or dehumanised. Some well-known acronym names include: 

• BUPA (British United Provident Association)

• RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland)

• B&Q (Block & Quayle)

• BT (British Telecommunications)

• BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)

Lexical names

Lexical business names use some form of wordplay. These business names can make use of alliteration, intentional misspellings, puns, or invented compound words to describe their product or service, while also making the brand name unique and memorable. Successful lexical UK business names include:

• Hobnobs 

• Weetabix

Compound names

Compound names fuse 2 (and occasionally more) words to create a compound word. Compound business names often serve a similar function as descriptive names, helping to give new, uninitiated people an idea of the product or service you’re selling, while still emphasising a unique brand identity that stands out in the market. Some well-known compound business names include:

• NatWest

• EasyJet 

• BrewDog

8 steps to coming up with a business name

Once you’ve understood the traits of a strong business name and the forms they can take, you’ll be ready to start the process of choosing a name for your small business. The process of creating a business name can take a lot of different forms depending on the specifics of your entrepreneurial journey. However, the following workflow may be useful for settling on a business name that matches your brand and is compelling for your audience.

Understand your brand and market

When exploring how to pick a business name, it’s important to begin with a clear understanding of your brand identity and the norms of the market you’re entering. These considerations will help you keep a sense of direction when brainstorming potential ideas, and ensure you’re focusing on names that accurately reflect your identity. Some key factors to consider when you’re reviewing your brand and market before naming a business include your:

• Mission, vision, and values.

• Target audience.

• USPs (unique selling points).

Considering these factors will help ensure your business name ideas are a good match for your space in the market, and avoid names that contradict accepted naming conventions in your niche.

Your mission, vision, and values

Consider the less tangible, but still important factors that define your business’s identity. If you haven’t written a mission statement yet, this could be the perfect time to carry out this project, helping you articulate the purpose your business is going to serve and the values that drive your decision-making. With a refreshed understanding of the activities and values that drive your business, you’ll be better-equipped to make sure your business name ideas reflect these main pillars of your identity.

Your target audience

Revisiting your target market research can also provide a great opportunity to consider your audience’s main pain points, and find ways that you can frame your business as a solution to these through your business name. The compound brand name QuickBooks, for example, tells its audience that it’s able to make the process of bookkeeping faster and easier.

Your small business USP

Taking time to consider your business’s USP is another effective way to focus your business name creation on the qualities that make you unique as a merchant. Making a point to come up with a business name that emphasises your USP will help convey your value proposition to potential new customers, and fortify the unique aspects of your brand for your existing customer base. One example of this is Tesla, which draws on the name of famous inventor Nikola Tesla to convey a unique emphasis on forward-thinking innovation.

Start creating brand names

Once you’re equipped with a refreshed idea of your brand identity and target market, the next stage is to come up with unique and creative business name ideas that reflect these features. Workshops and brainstorming sessions Having designated workshops and brainstorming sessions where you and your team can gather to discuss ideas is often a great way to get into a creative mindset and generate fresh ideas for your small business. These sessions involve bringing relevant people from your business together in order to freely discuss ideas, share feedback, and help each other figure out how to decide on a business name. When creating business names through a collaborative session, you’ll benefit from having more diverse perspectives that spark innovation, and a dedicated time slot that will keep everyone focused on the task. If you’re starting a side hustle or are newly self-employed, a brainstorming session may be as simple as sitting in a distraction-free space and noting down ideas based on your research. However, if you’ve already carried out an employee hiring drive, it’s important to make sure relevant people are involved in your business naming project, such as:

• Co-founders or key investors who have a special interest in the long-term success of the business.

• Marketing or creative team members who will be involved in advertising your business.

• Friends or family who fall within your target audience demographics.

Effective tools for brainstorming

When you’re carrying out your brainstorming sessions, it may be useful to use digital mind-mapping tools like Miro or MindMup to keep a record of your ideas and the brand elements you’re planning to focus on. These can be especially useful if you’re starting an online business with a remote team and it isn’t practical to have your workshop or brainstorming session in person. Other tools that might be useful for helping along your naming workshops include generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Just make sure to be specific with your AI prompts, and provide plenty of details regarding the kind of brand identity you’re trying to encapsulate with your business name and type (e.g. founder, abstract, compound) you’re aiming for. During any kind of workshop or brainstorm, it’s a good idea to revisit some of the general rules for coming up with a good business name and keeping these in mind, for example:

• Making clarity and simplicity a priority.

• Considering the emotional impact of potential names.

• Researching how well the brand name will translate across different regions and cultures.

With focused sessions for workshopping business names, and support from the right tools, you’ll be able to keep all your best ideas organised and easily revisit them when you’re making a final decision.

Keep it simple and memorable

After you’ve spent time workshopping, you may have a fairly expansive list of brand qualities and concepts you’ll want to incorporate into your business name. While it’s useful to draw on diverse sources of inspiration to create a business name that reflects your business’s identity, it’s also important to keep your prospective ideas simple and clear. By keeping your business name simple and easy to understand, your target audience will find it easier to remember, and hopefully get a sense of your value proposition from the first contact.

Future-proof your business name

Suppose you’ve decided that your business is going to have a narrow focus, in terms of products or services. In that case, you may want to use a descriptive business name alluding to this particular value proposition. For example, if you’re opening a jewellery retailer that specialises in charm bracelets, CharmHaven might be a suitably future-proofed name that alludes to the main flagship product you’re going to focus on. However, if you have plans to expand into other niches in the future, or you just want to keep your options open, then it’s important to make sure your business name is future-proofed and able to scale with you and keep you open to new business opportunities. To ensure you’re not limiting the scalability of your business name, focus on a long-lasting meaning in your business name. This means avoiding references to short-lived trends, for example food and drink brands incorporating a trending diet in their brand names, and consider abstract names that can mean anything you decide they mean. If you find it challenging to decide on the right level of scalability for your business name, it may be helpful to carry out a small business SWOT analysis. This will give you a more long-range view of the opportunities and obstacles your business could face in the future, and how this might affect how your business scales.

Check for availability

It’s important to check the availability of your ideas as you develop a more focused list of names that could potentially be your final choice. Aside from ensuring your idea is original and stands out in its market, this will help you avoid potential disappointment in cases where a business name that seems perfect for your brand turns out to be taken. Checking a business name’s availability should begin by visiting the Companies House website and searching for your prospective business name. Make sure there are no registered businesses that are either the same as, or very similar, to your idea. For a more thorough review, checking a business name’s availability should go beyond Companies House, as official business names and trading names can be different. Some of the additional checks you may want to consider include:

• Domain name availability, which you can check with domain name registrars like IONOS and GoDaddy to ensure your intended web address is available for your online store.

• Searching for your intended business name on social media.

• Searching your potential business names on Google using boolean operators, e.g. “your business name”.

• If you have plans to expand into international markets, check how your intended brand name translates into the relevant languages.

• Searching government registers like Companies House and the UK Intellectual Property Office to ensure your intended business name, or a name that’s very similar, isn’t already taken.

As you develop a shortlist of potential business names, it’s important to periodically check the availability of names that appeal to you to avoid disappointment.

Remember that if your ideal business name is already taken by another entity, it could be possible to buy the rights to a domain or business name if you have the funds and are able to reach out to the owners and negotiate.

Get feedback on your business name

Ultimately, your business name will need to spark some interest in your target audience and be memorable enough for people to find you again as they move through the stages of your customer journey. Some of the best ways to source feedback on a potential business name include:

• Discuss your ideas with friends and family.

• Run surveys, focus groups, and other kinds of primary market research. These activities can drive up your start-up business costs, you may want to consider more affordable alternatives, such as running free social media polls in communities that attract your target audience.

• Attend networking events or reach out to other entrepreneurs online to gauge opinions from fellow merchants.

• Hiring freelance branding consultants on platforms like Fiverr for outsourced assistance.

By sharing potential business name ideas and getting outside perspectives, you can gather plenty of constructive feedbackfor further development of your brand name, and uncover new sources of inspiration that could help you refine your options further.

Test your new business name

Once you’ve worked through the previous phases and settled on an original business name that you’re excited about, the final check is to test how your business name looks in the various real-world contexts where it will appear. Some of the tools and services you can use to test how your business name will appear to your audience include:

• Logo mockup tools like MockupWorld or Design Cuts.

• Online store builders like SumUp Online Store.

• Storefront mockup tools and services, such as SignFab UK or Hampshire Signs & Plastics.

• Business card creators like Moo or Instantprint

• Labels and product packaging services, like Label Planet, Avery UK, PSDMockups, and Smartmockups

• Flyers and poster companies like Solopress or Vistaprint UK.

• Brochures and catalogue printers like ExWhyZed.

• Branded merchandise services like EverythingBranded or Awesome Merchandise.

For many small merchants, hiring a graphic designer or branding agency to create mock-ups of a business name you’re not committed to yet may not be financially practical. For a more affordable solution, consider using design tools like Canva or Adobe Spark to create professional-standard visual assets and get a clear idea of how your business name will look across promotional touchpoints.

Registering a trade mark for your business name

One of the legal requirements for starting a small business is registering a trademark to keep your intellectual property safe. Trademarks are legally recognised elements of your brand, specified as your intellectual property. Typically, a trade mark will cover your business name, logo, slogan, and other creative assets that you want to distinguish as your business’s property. With a registered trademark in place, your brand elements will be protected from anyone who might try to copy or plagiarise them, and you’ll have the right to take legal action against those who do. The steps involved in registering a trade mark for your business include:

1. Define your trade mark, for example your business name, slogan, logo, colour scheme, or a combination of these.

2. Check the trade mark register for existing trademarks that are the same or similar to yours.

3. Choose the trade mark classification that’s most relevant to your product or service.

4. Submit your application.

To understand this process in more detail, you can read a more comprehensive guide to registering a trade mark on GOV.UK.

Officially launch and promote your new business name 

Once you’ve checked your business name’s availability on Companies House, domain registers, and social media, you’ll be ready to officially register your business.

Registering your business name

The process of registering your business name can vary greatly depending on the business structure you’re planning to adopt. If you’re starting your business as a sole trader, the registration process is as simple as signing up for self-assessment tax returns within the deadlines at the end of the financial year, and registering a trading name if relevant. If you’re planning to register a limited company, you’ll need to take additional steps. These steps include registering an official company address and submitting details of the company directors and shareholders, along with certain pieces of documentation like a Memorandum of Association. Whichever business structure you decide is right for you, it’s crucial to research the relevant requirements and seek professional legal advice to help you through the process.

Promoting your new business name

With your official registration finalised, you’ll be ready to start promoting your new business name through official, branded materials. This is when you can start drafting ideas for a logo which will frame your business name in branded materials, and give your audience their first hint of your brand identity. If you’re unable to hire a professional graphic designer, there are many tools which can help make designing a high-quality logo easier, including:

• Canva

• Adobe Express

• Looka

Like the business naming process, you can take many different approaches to designing your logo. However, some popular best practices you may want to bear in mind include:

• Keep your designs simple, clear, and uncluttered to help them stay memorable.

• Consider symbols that tell your audience what kind of products or services you’re offering.

• Make sure the logo will be recognisable in different sizes and formats, e.g. as part of an email footer or a social media profile viewed on relevant mobile apps.

• Choosing colours, fonts, and other elements that reflect your brand identity.

Once you’ve settled on a logo design that’s reflective of your business name and brand identity, you can start implementing it on branded materials to understand exactly how it will appear to your audience. Some of the marketing materials where you should plan to display your new business name include:

• Your website header and footer.

• Your email signature.

• Business cards.

• Signage, if you have physical premises.

• Printed materials such as flyers, brochures, packaging, and delivery inserts.

• Print and online advertising.

• Promotional merchandise, such as pens, mugs, and tote bags.

• Packaging.

• Staff uniforms in relevant business types like bars and restaurants.

• Vehicle branding, for example, if you’re running a delivery or taxi service.

Before rolling out your brand name through these materials, it’s important to spend time developing your brand guidelines that all your promotional touchpoints will follow. A clearly-defined brand guideline will ensure that your business name, logo, slogans, and other creative assets stay consistent across all promotional materials. This will help give your audience a strong sense of your brand identity no matter where they encounter it, and provide a strong foundation to develop customer relationships in the future.