How to Name an App, Company (The Essential Guide)
You probability have some of these questions:
- How good brand names are created?
- How to find name ideas? Where to look for them.
- How to come up with creative, unique names.
- And how to check for name availability? To avoid legal problems.
You are not sure where to start. What is important and what isn’t. You feel overwhelmed. You need a step-by-step guide.
This article will answer all these questions and many others.
Let’s get started!
What if you already have a brand name?
This article will help you check if your brand name is good.
Because the bad brand name will make it harder for you to get downloads and users /customers. It can also lead to legal problems.
Note:
I will use the word “app” instead of the company/game/app. But you can use this process to name almost anything.
This first section (0.1) is for apps/games only. If you want to name a company or something else skip it.
0.1 Brand name + Keywords = App name
This is the best naming structure you can use for your app name.
Spotify: Brand name + Keywords
In this context, a brand name means an app/company/game name.
Examples of brand names: Nike | Spotify | Microsoft | Duolingo | Instagram
What are keywords?
Keywords are the words and phrases that people use to find things/companies/apps. Keywords also show what your app/game does/is.
Spotify keywords: Free Music | Podcasts | Streaming
How to come up with an app name:
1. What makes a good brand name?
2. Types of brand names
3. How brand names are created?
4. How to stand out?
5. How to come up with a creative, unique app name?
6. Trademarks and meaning of the brand name
7. Web & social media app name availability.
8. Ask for feedback.
1.0 What makes a good brand name?
Good brand names are memorable and they tend to be: simple, short, and different. They are also easy to pronounce & spell. This makes it easier for people to share and find your app.
- Memorable
- Easy to pronounce & spell
How long should the brand name be?
Up to 3 words and 25 characters. Shorter is better.
2.0 Types of brand names
Descriptive:
Descriptive brand names describe a particular feature or function. They can also take the form of an acronym. In the past, descriptive names were the most common. Today because of common use and the way search works, it makes them a bad choice.
Examples of Descriptive Brand Names:
General Motors | KFC | Band-Aid | Coca-Cola
Fun fact: When launched, Coca-Cola’s two key ingredients were cocaine and caffeine. The cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut (also spelled “cola nut” at the time), leading to the name Coca-Cola
Source: Wikipedia
Pros:
- Easy to understand
- They can show a unique selling proposition (USP)
Cons:
- They can be too long
- Harder to protect
- Only work in one language
- Not memorable
Note: This is the worst type.
Suggestive:
Suggestive brand names “suggest” something about your app or brand in a creative way. They show the big picture.
A great example of a suggestive brand name is Nike.
Nike, the shoe company got a name from the Greek goddess of victory Nike. Therefore Nike “suggests” victory.
Examples of Suggestive Brand Names:
Nike | Droid |Fitbit | Mountain Dew | Uber | SirusFM | Amazon
Pros:
- They show a bigger picture
- They can show why you do what you do (this is insanely important)
Cons:
- There are no obvious cons.
Abstract:
Abstract brand names don’t have a clear connection to the app/game/company.
Examples of Abstract Brand Names:
Google | Starbucks
Pros:
- They are generally easiest to protect
- They don’t mean anything
Cons:
- They can sound like medication
- They can sound like something negative
3.0 How brand names are created?
Real Words
These brand names are constructed by using real words.
Example: Uber means designating a person or thing that exceeds the norms or limits of its kind or class.
Uber | Slack | Mint | Sharp
Composite/Compound
These brand names are constructed by compounding two or more words.
Example: Facebook is constructed by compounding words face and book.
Facebook | Ray-Ban | Mastercard | Microsoft | DreamWorks | Allstate
Invented/Coined
These brand names are constructed by changing/adding/removing letters.
Example: Pinterest brand name is contrasted by combining the words “pin” and “interest” and then removing the letters “i” and “n”.
Pinterest | Kleenex | Google | Vudu | Pentium
Foreign Words
These brand names have meaning in other languages.
Example: Samsung in Korean means “three stars”.
Samsung | Lego
4.0 How to stand out?
What is the background?
What brand names do other similar apps/games/companies use?
Find and collect them. Why?
- Because you can’t use the same brand name as they use. Therefore you want to know what to avoid.
- Because you want to differentiate your brand name from theirs. This will help you stand out.
How do you find similar apps/games/companies?
- Make a list of words people would use to find your app.
- Search with these words.
- Collect brand names
Brand names are (in most cases) at beginning of the app name.
Not all apps/games have a brand name, some use only keywords. That is bad. Because without brand name people can’t find you.
For example:
I will use a math app as an example:
List of words people would use to find a math app:
math | algebra | learn math| study math|
That should be enough. Save links to apps because you might need them later.
Ask yourself: What do these brand names have in common? Are they similar? In our case, we see a lot of descriptive brand names.
Differentiating helps you stand out, it makes it easier for people to notice you.
5.0 How to come up with a creative, unique app name?
These questions can help you come up with ideas for brand name:
- What is important to you? (think about your app)
- What interests you?
- What is important for your users/customers?
Example: Detailed explanations.
- What do they want to achieve?
Example: They want to find solutions for math problems in a fast and easy way, they also want detailed explanations.
- What adjectives would people use to describe if your app was great?
Example: Fast | Easy | Detailed (explanations)
Examples are answers I would give for a math app.
Talking to users and reading reviews (both yours and other similar apps) can be insightful.
5.1 For abstract & suggestive brand names
Ideas are everywhere:
- Books
- Movies
- Series
- Favorite Actors
- Historical Figures
- History
- Dictionary
Look at synonyms: www.lexico.com | www.thesaurus.com
- Name of Starts
- Mythology
- Rhyme
For Example:
Starbucks got its name from Moby Dick book (Source)
In the next part, I will explain how you can use words to generate even more ideas and create some brand names.
5.2 Do the work.
If you have a hard time finding ideas, just give it time. Go do something else. In the meantime, your brain will connect “things” and help you find ideas.
5.3 Word association
You can use word association if you need additional ideas or to create brand names.
For example:
What comes to mind when you think “fast”?
For me:
Usain Bolt | Fast cars | SSD | Lighting | Fast animals | Movement |Bullet train |Runing
After doing a quick google search for some of these ideas I come up with a few potential brand names for the math app.
Google search: fast animals
SilverAnt — I like it because it is ironic.
Springbok — Sounds interesting.
Looking at synonyms:
www.lexico.com | www.thesaurus.com
Instead of using fast, we could use synonyms: Brisk and Swift.
We could combine words brisk and swift with a word solution to create a brand name as Facebook did with their brand name ( Face + book = Facebook ).
Brisk + Solution
BriskSolution — I don’t like this brand name because it is too long. But it could work.
We could also remove letters to create a new brand — As Pinterest did with their brand name. (See section 1.3)
(Brisk + Solution) Briskton — This brand name isn’t bad.
(Swift + Solution) SwiftSolution — Maybe too long.
SwiftSo — This sounds interesting.
SoSwift — I like this one.
Now it’s your turn. See section 1.3 on how brand names are constructed and also section 1.1 on what makes a good brand name.
You will need several brand names for the next step. Because some of them will be taken.
6.0 Trademarks and meaning of the brand name
Search for your potential brand names on:
Google | Google Play | Facebook | App Store
- If you don’t find any company/app using your potential brand name, you can go to the next step(3.2).
- If you find a company/app already using your potential brand name.
Ask yourself:
- Do they do something similar?
- Is there a possibility for people to confuse them with my app?
If the answers are yes, then that is a good example of a name you shouldn’t use because of reputation/brand issues and potential trademark issues.
If the answers are no. Then you can go to the next step(3.2).
For example:
They sell modems for rockets and you want to use a brand name for your math app.
With this step, we want to consider two things.
Trademark issues:
In section 6.1 you will check if your potential brand names are trademark protected.
Reputation/Brand issues:
If you are both in the same industry doing the same/similar thing and people would confuse you with them.
You shouldn’t use that brand name. Because if they do something bad, that could negatively impact your app.
6.1 Trademark protection:
I’m not an expert on this subject, that is why I linked to a couple of good articles.
Here are some websites/tools that you can use to find out whether your brand names are trademark protected.
6.2 Meaning of the brand name:
Do these brand names stand for, or sound like something negative in foreign languages?
In what languages? This should be a good starting point.
Example:
Mitsubishi had this problem with their car, Pajero.
In Spanish, the word “Pajero” has vulgar connotations. That is why they needed to change the name of the car.
This can be a huge problem later.
Tools/Websites:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/
https://www.wordreference.com/
Translators:
These tools and translators can help you discredit obviously bad brand names. But you will never be 100% certain. The best thing you can do is to talk to a few native speakers.
Although I understand that isn’t always possible.
7.0 Web & social media availability
Here are a few options if the domain for your brand name isn’t available.
7.1.1 Add a verb to your brand name:
Buy | Play | Use | Download
Example:
A domain for the new Riot’s game Valorant wasn’t available.
Hence they added a verb(play) in front of Valorant and got: www.playvalorant.com
Play (Verb) + Valorant (Brand name)
7.1.2 Add a relevant word to your brand name:
Example:
Tesla for a long time couldn’t get their desired domain www.tesla.com, instead of up to 2016 their domain was www.teslamotors.com
Tesla (brand name) + motors (relevant word).
7.2 Twitter and Reddit:
If Twitter and/or Reddit handles for your brand name aren’t available. You can add a verb or relevant word to your brand name.
(Look at sections 7.1.1 and 7.1.2 for examples)
8.0 Ask for feedback
What do your potential users/customers think about these brand names?
Common knowledge isn’t always common practice.
Ask for feedback only people who would use your app. And don’t ask what brand name they prefer. (Because that is just a personal preference, it matters but doesn’t help us.)
Instead, learn from them:
- Can they pronounce and spell brand names?
- How do brand names sound?
- What do they think about these brand names?
Action Plan:
- Select up to 8 brand names.
- Find potential users/customers and ask them a few questions.
- Take time to select a brand name.
Conclusion
Choosing a name for your app, or company will take time and it is not easy. But a good brand name can make a long-lasting impact on your app, game, or company.
