Should you use AI to name
your business?

Before we ask for names, we’re working out what the business could stand for. Sometimes the bigger idea is still missing. A name can help us find it, and that idea can go on to inform the identity, the language, and what the business does next. That’s a lot to expect from “give me twenty catchy names.”

Then you’re weighing all of it together. Meaning, memory, culture, the competition, availability, and room to grow. The rules change with the business. Something that works beautifully for one company could be a very expensive headache for another.

You find a name you love. It sounds right, looks good, gives you a whole world to build. Then you discover it’s too close to a competitor, means something awkward to your audience, or ties you to a product you’re already planning to move beyond. That’s why we spend so much time on the judgment around the name. Here’s what we’re balancing.

Of course we want you to like it. You’re going to be saying it quite a lot.

But especially when people are naming their first business, “I like it” can end up doing most of the decision-making. All those business considerations above deserve a vote, too. We want a name you love and a good understanding of what it can do for the business.

You can poke holes in anything. Imagine pitching Virgin for the first time: “Does that make us sound inexperienced?” “Will someone be offended?” You can practically hear the meeting.

Find a possible downside, discard the name, ask for another hundred. Eventually you’re left with something so thoroughly unobjectionable that nobody remembers it. A name may not do every one of these things brilliantly. It should do most of them well.

The work is weighing the opportunity against the risk. Which concerns matter for this business, in this market? Which can we work with? Which should stop us? Shorter isn’t automatically better. Neither is more literal. Even a name’s shape and rhythm can suggest a mood before anyone explains it.

When we were naming Notably, I reminded the client that people generally care more about what a business can do for them than a lengthy explanation of its name. Being easy to remember and recognize matters. Your name doesn’t have to deliver the whole sales presentation.

A food truck came to us with a name built around being mobile. Reasonable enough. Except they were opening a brick-and-mortar.

Now the thing that made the name so descriptive was the thing making it awkward. The business had somewhere to go. The name hadn’t planned on coming.

That’s the kind of blind spot we’re looking for. We also see ideas that feel wonderfully original until we look around the category. You and your AI can be very excited about something the competition has already done.

Imagination, judgment, and a better view of what this thing could become. A name can give an entire business an idea to operate through. It can suggest the language, the identity, the experiences, even what you do next. In many of our projects, we’ve found names that meet all these considerations and that our clients love. That’s what we’re aiming for.

For Notably, the idea grew into a whole highlighting motif: drawing attention to what deserves to be noticed. “Worth noting” gave us language to work with, too. The name started informing how the brand looked, sounded, and showed up. That’s world-building: something the business can keep drawing from. The name should be working harder.

So yes, try AI. Explore. See where it takes you. Then look closely at what you’re choosing, what it opens up, and what you might be missing.

When we’re doing our job well, we’re finding a bigger opportunity for the business and helping you understand the risks of taking it. That’s a pretty worthwhile thing to have someone thinking about before you put the name on everything.

Looking for a different place to start? Try an analogy exercise for business name ideas. Once you have a shortlist, here’s how to choose a name without turning it into a vote.