The idea of exactly what your business is going to be usually comes first. Secondly, most often, is giving a title to your idea. What exactly is going to be the name of your business? Some people turn to their childhood for inspiration or a beloved family pet. It could be a made up word you dream of one night and feel it has the right ring to it. Even still there are some people who study foreign words for the perfect meaning behind their chosen business. Whatever the inspiration or relation may be, the naming of your business is one of the most important parts of becoming a CEO. Having a brand behind a strong title can make all the difference in the world.
Rescue a CEO and CEO Blog Nation asked entrepreneurs how they got their business name?
Pure simplicity
Well, my business name is not overly creative. It's not named after a pet or some 3 am product idea. It's simply Desiree Marketing. I would've gone with Desiree Wolfe Marketing, however, recently engaged, and old fashioned about taking his name, it didn't sit right with me to use a last name I was going to dispose off. So, I simply dropped the Wolfe and kept it Desiree Marketing – It's who I am and what I do with no hidden meaning or innuendo!
Thanks to Desiree Wolfe, Desiree Marketing
In on the action name
My company Launch.it is a platform to launch new products and services. We wanted to be a verb like “Google it, tweet it, pin it,” so we decided just to bake it into the name so by default we were an action. Did you “Launch it yet?” and “Just launch it.” How many times have you heard someone say those lines? It was a tough decision to not be a typical .com website but so far it has paid off being an “.it” Italian top level domain – everyone loves it!
Thanks to Trace Cohen, Launch.It
Getting in the ‘pitch'
As I sell English copywriting services in a non-English speaking country, I thought it was important for the company name to explain what the company does, hence The Write Stuff. What I didn't realize back in the pre-Internet days (which are not as far away as they seem), is that many people around the world had the same idea, or at least came to the same naming conclusion. On a local level, the name has been successful. Those that “get” it, often smile at the name. Those that don't get it straight away sometimes ask, which of course gives me an opportunity to pitch the business to them. So globally, I'm still happy with the name. As my core specialty is providing marketing services to European business, I'm not overly bothered by the other Write Stuffs out there in other countries, which range from translation agencies to editorial services and freelance writers. One of the issues that companies face after a few years is that they can outgrow their name. Maybe the person who founded it moves on. Maybe the activity that drove the early growth is no longer the main focus. This has happened to The Write stuff to a degree, as we gained experience in naming, branding and web marketing. But The Write Stuff is broad enough as a name to carry most of these activities.
Thanks to Michael Leahy, The Write Stuff
Inspiration from a younger crowd
My company name is Aunties Place. I raised my 2 nephews and 1 niece. When they were young we would talk about a lot of things. One day I asked them what should I name my business I inspired at that time to open was a daycare and restaurant. And they said at the same time Aunties Place I will never forget that moment and that name I'm still working on the daycare but my catering company I have has carried the name for the past 14 years Ive been in business.
Thanks to Kay Matthews, Aunties Place
A strong sisterhood
Moi Moi means “little sister” in Cantonese. I came up with this name when beginning the business partnership with my little sister, Alana. Moi Moi is proudly a family-run business. There are more meanings to the name as well: ‘Moi’ is incorporated in our signature jewel, Moissanite, which is The Most Brilliant Jewel in the World. In French, Moi Moi means ‘me, me’ which reflects jewellery not only being bought as gifts of love, but for self-enjoyment. ‘Moi’ also means ‘Hello!’ in Finnish, and ‘beautiful’ in Dutch!
Thanks to Lauren Chang Sommer, Moi Moi Fine Jewelry
Variations of a last name
When I made the decision to go out on my own I did the typical name searching that one does when they are trying to be creative, strategic and most of all be different to help the business stand out from the crowd. This included searching the web, looking at businesses I feel compete in my space and that I aspire to be as good as, talk with friends and family and of course ask my wife what she thought! In the end I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and leverage my last name and put it to good use (my last name is Marmot). Marmot is mostly recognised as a quality outdoor clothing brand (especially for cold climates). Marmots are also a small animal – a member of the squirrel family. There is a ski Marmot Basin (in Canada), a Marmot winery and more. I always liked the word “inc.” from old school bugs bunny and road runner cartoons. So voila I named my company “Marmot inc.” and so far the name and business has been very well received.
Thanks to Simon Marmot, Marmot inc.
All in the family
My mum launched her bags and accessories label, l'call, in 2010 when my grandmother passed away. We had always planned to develop a label for her creations but had no real name concepts in the pipeline. Not long after my grandmother's passing, my mum came up with a made-up acronym that sounded like a real word which ended up being ‘l'call' (sounds like le-coll) which is actually the first letter of her and her sister's names: Lollie, Catalina, Angie, Lucy and Linda. The synthesis of their names was in memory of my grandmother and significant to the inspiration of the designs. Each design is named against a range, whether it's an Angie clutch bag or a Lucy tote. All are unique, handmade and one-off.
Thanks to Mary Cruz, l'call
Using the initials
Tinybeans' CEO, Stephen O'Young's own name inspired its business name. Nicknamed, SOY for his initials, Stephen called his first company Soyabean. The idea for Tinybeans came once Stephen became a father. The combination of feeling like a bad parent for failing to create baby journals for his 3 sons and having a son who struggled with a speech delay led him to create Tinybeans. Tinybeans is an online photo journal that encourages parents to take a photo a day and create an album, bit by bit. The journal works as a private social network for families and the dream is to provide easy ways for families to encourage their children's development.
Thanks to Stephen O'Young, Tinybean
Movie inspiration
My pampering business for corporate events and weddings, Pure Chica, has a funny story behind the name that very few people know to this day! My business partner and I loved the movie SuperBad and spent hours rolling around laughing quoting silly lines from the movie. One of our favourite's was McLovin who was planning to go and get his fake ID in order to purchase alcohol for the party. McLovin quote “At lunch I'm going to pick up my brand new fake ID.. Chica Chica yeaaah, fake ID fake ID” One day over lunch whilst brainstorming for our name I quoted this line and said “we gotta have CHICA in the name!” So adding PURE in front, PURE CHICA was born! The version most people know is that it translates as “pure woman” or “purely for girls” as chica also aptly means girl in Spanish. Pure Chica has a great ring to it and everyone loves the name, but very few know where it was originally inspired from.. well l until now!
Thanks to Janine Earl, Pure Chica
Finding a trendy phrase
I wanted a catchy but relevant business name that instantly called out to my target markets. I’m a niche market shoe shop (online as well as bricks & mortar), specialising in larger shoes for women from size 10 upwards. From the time I grew to my height of 178cm, I spent years searching for shoes that a) fit and b) were fashionable. The only options seemed to be men’s shoes (yes, really) or frumpy, daggy shoes. Whilst working on my business plan, I had been coming across more and more references to ‘glamazons’, particularly in association with models and other tall, glamorous women. I realised that Glamazon Shoes would embody my vision for the business perfectly – tall, strong, confident, fashionable, modern women and girls. Interestingly, the term ‘glamazon’ also has an association with drag queens and transgender folk, which is a big market for me as well. I love the duality of the name as it perfectly captures my main markets.
Thanks to Mira Smoljko, Glamazon Shoes
A childhood nickname
While I was at high school in the 1960s, a friend nicknamed me “Ninja” (I have Asian heritage) after characters in a television series called “The Samurai”. This was significant because the hero was the first Asian to gain positive cult status amongst my peers in racist Australia. It was before The White Australia Policy officially ended in 1973, although it still exists in many Australians. Twenty years later, when I decided to become a professional speaker and executive trainer, a marketing consultant asked about my background and experience for branding. When I told her about my martial arts training, she insisted that I included “Ninja” in the name, and she didn't know about the high school nickname, so it was obvious that it should be my branding. 2013 will be my 25th year as “The Corporate Ninja”.
Thanks to Ron Lee, The Corporate Ninja
Fitting the name with the company
It took a little while to come up with a business name. At first I traded with my name – just to launch and learn over time how the market responded to our business. When the time was right to establish a brand, we had a few brainstorm sessions involving staff, family and friends, discussing our strengths and what set us apart from other similar businesses. InsideOut PR – came about a few days after these sessions. Why InsideOut? – We manage internal and external communication – While we are external consultants, we pride ourselves on becoming a core part of our client's team – Our service offering extends beyond traditional PR – to capture all marketing communication and PR solutions – Our core philosophy of ‘client addiction', means we take time to get to know our clients inside out We were so excited when we found the right name – it fit seamlessly. I believe you need a few days to let your unconscious get to work following active brainstorm workshops – the best ideas will then transpire.
Nicole Reaney, InsideOut Public Relations
Every cloud has a silver lining
My business name came through that saying ‘every cloud has a silver lining'. As a Funeral Celebrant, I wanted to be a ‘silver lining' to the bereaved to help them see above the dark cloud that descends when someone dies and recreate for them the beauty of a life that had been led. After some thought, the ‘lining' word didn't sit so well, so it was cut down to Silver Celebrants. To me it has many meanings, I relate it to a shiny silver star that reflects the person who has died and the life that is being celebrated as well as ‘silver' being something that is precious.
Thanks to Robyn O'Connell, Silver Celebrants
Go girl Go
My business name was definitely inspired by others. It came about while in my previous career literally running from one executive office to the other with board papers in hand and office staff chanting ‘go girl go'. Months of procrastinating with several business names filling my head and keeping me awake at night it was meant to be. My Go2 Girl was born in 2008. I loved that I could reflect back on previous experience and skills that not only would relate to my new business venture but also reminded me of where I came from and what had driven me to register the business name that is now so memorable for others and keeps me smiling when in action.
Thanks to Maree Brodie, My Go2 Girl
From a dream
A stylish French woman appeared to me in a dream in 2005. She spoke of my destiny being connected to candles. She said that she simply loved luxury, aesthetics and indulgence, because the please her soul in the same way that art, literature and music did. A friend well versed in French history later identified her as Madame de Pompadour, and this soon evolved into the Pompadour Philosophy. I wasn't someone who burnt candles at home, but the dream haunted me for years, until I finally launched “Pompadour” in 2009.
Thanks to Nicole Tomazic-Spanger, Pompadour
Youtube Inspiration
After weeks of wracking our brains we were inspired by a short video on YouTube. It was about a man called Narayanan Krishnan who quit his job as a chef to cook and care for hundreds of impoverished and destitute people in his area. He is a Brahmin which in India means he is not supposed to touch, speak to or acknowledge these people. He says “we are have 5.5 litres of blood. we are all the same”. We loved the concept and used the name Five Point Five for our business and website. Everybody has 5.5 litres of blood, we all have the ability to make a difference.
Thank to Serena Star Leonard, Five Point Five
A clearer name
The business was originally called ‘News Equals Business', as this best represented what we did for clients (publicity and email marketing/content marketing for B2B). However the name was hard for people to understand over the phone. After the fiftieth person repeated ‘musical business' back to us, we decided to shorten the name to NewsBusiness. Incidentally when we applied to change the name with the QLD Dept of Fair Trade, we were initially told we couldn't, as the name was too close to industry magazine ‘Bus News' (?). After talking to the editorial team at Bus News, we were finally able to get our name change.
Thanks to David Bateson, NewsBusiness
Astrological studies
Hello, I came up with the name “It's In The Stars” for my astrology gift website because I have been studying astrology since I was 12 years old and felt the name made it very clear it was involved in astrology. But it is also broad enough to give me flexibility to add different astrology products to my business. I now have email reports, luxury hardcover reports as keepsakes, gift-boxed gift certificates, luxury gift baskets containing gift-boxed gift certificates, DIY Kits to let you make you own hardcover reports, and phone, personal and Skype consultations with me and astrologers in the UK, USA and Canada. I started my business because I had been hand-making beautiful astrology reports as gifts for friends getting married and for those having children to understand their relationships and children better and I wanted to create a company which would create those as luxury gifts.
Thanks to Elizabeth Ball, It's In The Stars
A name of multiple meanings
Our business name — Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps — is a triple whammy. First, there are three co-owners; hence the “tri.” Second, we modeled our jazz camps after baseball fantasy camps, where aging aspirants get to perform alongside and learn from professionals. And third, the tritone is a musical term and a key element in jazz: It's the pitch that falls three whole tones from the root of a scale, a somewhat dissonant note popularly called the “flat five.” It resonates well with our target audience — adult, amateur jazz musicians. Our name has been serving us well since 1998.
Thanks to Bob DeRosa, Tritone Music, Inc.
Born from being tired and frustrated
Dribble Bibble multi-purpose baby bibs was born from being tired and frustrated from changing wet bibs and wet clothing all day long from my drooling baby. Every baby goes through a teething stage and I knew other parents were feeling the same way. One day my son splashed so much during a bath that he made my outfit soaking wet. But I noticed within minutes it was dry. I knew at that moment I had found the perfect fabric for my product. This multi-purpose, reversible baby bib keeps clothing dry from drool, formula, and solid food. One side not only absorbs drool/formula but dries within minutes. The other side is pocketed for solid food feeding. With Dribble Bibble, One Bib a Day Keeps the Moisture Away! It is virtually impossible to stain this amazing product as it comes in a beautiful chocolate brown fabric with blue, pink or green trim. It is mom-invented and a must-have for the diaper bag. As a bonus it is Eco-friendly since there is less laundry to do.
Thanks to Deborah Rothschild, Dribble Bibble
A play on words
I have launched terefic.com half a year ago. The name is a play on the words. The three middle letters “ref” stands for references. Terefic is the first job references website for job-seekers. It's free. Most resumes present cold hard facts (company, title, employment dates, degrees, etc..). A reference is more personal. It typically describes personal skills and qualities. That's why we're terrific. I also needed a domain name that was available and affordable. I paid $8 for terefic.com. I was inspired by meetic.com, which is the premier dating site in Europe. It's also a play on the words, “meet” and “mythic”.
Thanks to Emmanuel Toutain, Terefic
Based on search engine optimization
As Search Engine Optimization was originally going to be our main source of marketing and was, at the time, really starting to hit its stride as a viable route to take, one of the hot tips coming from Google and the search engines was to have your targeted keywords (i.e. the words that when people search you want to rank high for) in your domain name. We took this concept and ran with it when naming our company and grabbed the best domain that was as similar as possible to our number one targeted term. As the desired term was pretty generic, we were pleasantly surprised to find the domain name available. Thus the name of our company, Shipping 2 Canada, was born. As time has gone on and the search engines have begun to put less value on “exact matching” of domain names with reference to ranking preferences, we have still found the name to be remarkably effective as the simple, descriptive term perfectly sums up what our company does (finding people the best prices when shipping to or from Canada) and allows for a seamless transition for the user from research to arrival at our site. Here's to more good years ahead.
Thanks to Ari Strauch, Shipping 2 Canada
Using translated names
When I started my business, I had a client and had to come with a name fast. My criteria were – The domain name had to be available and the pronunciation of the name had to be obvious. I am originally from India, and my kids have Indian names. I took my kids names and translated them to English, joined them and created SageLamp. My entire family (My wife and my parents) hated the name initially, but now after 2 years it seems natural to them.
Thanks to Vikram Cadambe, SageLamp Solutions Inc.
Inspiration from books
My business name “The City of Shamballa” was inspired by many of the books I read between 2006-2009 about the New Age movement. After researching deeper into the material, I felt this was the name for my online social network business.. My network is a specialized niche for those interested in the New Age genre. The members of the network can choose free access for social networking content or optional paid access for certain material hosted on the network. Company image and my image are attached.
Thanks to Chris Comish, The City of Shamballa
Founded from an available domain name
My business name resulted from my website address. At the time that the site was created, the domain I wanted to use, Karen Fitzgerald, was unavailable. But FitzgeraldArt was. I chose that rather than create something complex. I felt it was important to attach my name to the business, and to indicate what business I was in. FitzgeraldArt makes perfect sense in that regard.
Thanks to Karen Fitzgerald, FitzgeraldArt