
5 Steps for Naming Your Brand
While it will ultimately be just one of many elements that make up your larger brand, the brand name is arguably the single most important of all of these elements. After all, the name is the first message you will send to your target audience, and while other aspects of the brand may evolve over time, the name will (ideally) never change.
Based on our own experiences with our clients, we believe that the best brand names are discovered (or created) by the stakeholders themselves. But an agency like ours can definitely help tremendously in this process by providing the frameworks, strategies, and guidance our clients need to get their creative juices flowing.
Since we like you, here are some of the most effective naming tips we’ve discovered over the years:
1. Brainstorm Keywords
Get your team together in a room with a blank whiteboard and a fresh pack of colorful post-it notes. Set a timer for five minutes, and let each of the stakeholders write down, in rapid fire style, the key characteristics and values of the product or service the brand offers.
[Piece of paper with a bunch of names covering it completely]
2. Narrow it Down
From this enormous list of keywords or characteristics, take note of the 3–5 ideas or concepts you see overlapping or being repeated. These are the areas where all of the key players are finding alignment, so they are the best places to branch out from in your journey toward the perfect name.
[ Same paper from before, with 5 names highlighted yellow]
3. Create a “Database” Using Free Association
One by one, take each of those keywords from step 2, and begin an exploration exercise called “free association.” In this exercise, you jot down every single word or concept that comes to mind based off of the keyword you start with. Remember: these words won’t necessarily be limited to synonyms; your brain may take you in some unexpected directions, and that’s a good thing.
For example, if one of your keywords is “Friendly,” your list of associated terms might be: “Warm,” “Kind,” “Playful,” “Yellow,” “Mr.Rogers,” “Puppies,” and/or “Kittens.”
[Using one of the highlighted names in the center of the page, with associated words at the edges like a bubble map]
*For some extra help with your free association game, check out WordAssociations.com. You might be surprised at some of the words that jump out at you there.
4. Experiment
After you’ve generated a hefty list of potential names via brainstorming and free association, each person on the team should identify the 10–15 names they feel are the strongest contenders. From there, the team should start experimenting with these options. Try combining multiple words, using different prefixes and suffixes, etc.
Remember, there are no hard and fast rules in the naming process, and your name doesn’t even have to be a real word. Play around with Acronyms (each letter representing a word, like IBM or BMW), Portmanteaus (word combinations, like Microsoft or Pinterest), Neologisms (made-up words, like Dumpster, Frisbee, or Kleenex), and every other name type available to us.
5. Make Sure It’s Available
When you’ve landed on a favorite, makes sure that it’s available (and original!)
Ensuring that the name you choose is unique in the market (or at the very least, within your industry) is pivotal to your brand’s success. At the same time, you can’t sacrifice authenticity. Removing vowels and other lazy spelling hacks haven’t impressed anyone since our sick AIM usernames like “Sk8rbOiLuvR13” and “xXiLuvBlinkXx” were deactivated in 2004.
Using a domain checker, like this one from GoDaddy, is one of the easiest ways to put your potential name to the test, but you’ll also want to make sure to check it against registered business names and trademarks.
If you’re currently in the process of naming your brand, we’d love to share more of the tools we’ve found to help our clients. Reach out to us at hello@herman-scheer.com!

