20 types of brand names.
You can name a business after yourself, a river, a sound, or a word you just made up. Somehow, these are all serious options.
That’s part of what makes naming so interesting. And occasionally a little maddening. A name can tell people exactly what you do, or give them a whole world to associate with you. Both have consequences.
Here are 20 approaches, with real brands and the advantages and headaches that come with each. Think of this as a way to explore your options before falling hopelessly in love with one.
A small naming technicality.
There isn’t one official list. Naming specialists organize these things differently. Some labels describe what a name means; others describe how it’s built or where it came from.
Patagonia is a place name. It’s also evocative. Microsoft is a blend that suggests what the business does. A name is allowed to be several things. It has enough problems already.
Find a way in.
Choose a style to see how it works, what it gives you, and where it can get tricky. The examples illustrate our reading of the names, rather than a claim about every founder’s intention.
Descriptive
01 / 20Says what the business does.
What it gives you
Useful when immediate clarity matters. People get the category without a presentation.
Where it gets tricky
The same useful words are available to your competitors. A literal name can also start feeling small when the business gets bigger.
Suggestive
02 / 20Hints at the offer without spelling out the whole business.
What it gives you
Gives people a foothold while leaving a little work for their imagination.
Where it gets tricky
The hint can age. A name built around today’s delivery method may need to stretch with tomorrow’s business.
Evocative
03 / 20Creates a feeling or a world you want to belong to.
What it gives you
Gives the brand material for photography, language, experiences, and everything beyond the logo.
Where it gets tricky
You have to build the connection. A lovely mood alone won’t tell people why your business matters.
Also geographical. These styles are allowed to overlap.
Metaphorical
04 / 20Borrows qualities from something people already understand.
What it gives you
Speed, grace, power: the animal does quite a lot of explaining for a car.
Where it gets tricky
You inherit the less convenient associations, too. And the obvious metaphors tend to be crowded.
Arbitrary
05 / 20Uses a familiar word with no direct product description.
What it gives you
Familiar language can feel wonderfully unexpected in a category. There’s room for the business to define it.
Where it gets tricky
The surrounding identity and communication have work to do. The word alone won’t explain the offer.
Invented / Neologism
06 / 20Creates a word instead of borrowing one.
What it gives you
You can shape the sound and appearance around the business. An unfamiliar word can become very recognizable.
Where it gets tricky
People have to learn it. Coining a word doesn’t automatically make it memorable, pronounceable, or available.
Compound
07 / 20Joins complete words together.
What it gives you
Familiar pieces make a new idea easier to understand. You can put a benefit and an attitude in the same name.
Where it gets tricky
Two sensible words can still make one very ordinary name. Check the combination against the category.
Portmanteau / Blended
08 / 20Combines pieces of words into a new one.
What it gives you
A blend can carry an idea in less space. Microcomputer and software became something compact.
Where it gets tricky
A clever explanation won’t rescue an awkward sound. Say it without explaining the ingredients first.
Lexical / Wordplay
09 / 20Uses a pun, twist, or double meaning.
What it gives you
A small moment of recognition can help the name stick. Waze sounds like ways: a useful connection for navigation.
Where it gets tricky
The joke may not travel across languages. It can also wear thin when someone has to spell it for the fifth time.
Alliterative / Rhythmic
10 / 20Uses repetition, rhyme, or a memorable beat.
What it gives you
Sound gives the name a little momentum. It can make an otherwise ordinary phrase easier to recall.
Where it gets tricky
A pleasing rhythm can become a naming crutch. Check what the words actually communicate.
Onomatopoeic
11 / 20Uses a word that imitates or suggests a sound.
What it gives you
The sound can make an action feel immediate. WHOOSH! gives a screen cleaner a quick, energetic character.
Where it gets tricky
Sound associations vary by language. You can also end up with a name that feels more like a feature than a business.
Acronym / Initialism
12 / 20Builds a name from initial letters.
What it gives you
Useful for shortening something unwieldy. IKEA is spoken as a word; IBM is spoken letter by letter.
Where it gets tricky
A new business doesn’t inherit IBM’s recognition by borrowing the format. The letters need meaning built around them.
Alphanumeric
13 / 20Combines letters or words with numbers.
What it gives you
Numbers can make a name distinctive and carry a specific idea. This one originally advertised opening hours.
Where it gets tricky
People may type the number or spell it out. And the fact behind it can change while the name stays.
Founder / Eponymous
14 / 20Names the business after a person.
What it gives you
Can put a human reputation behind the offer and build a sense of continuity.
Where it gets tricky
The business and the person become closely connected. A common surname may also have a lot of company.
Geographical / Toponymic
15 / 20Takes its name from a place.
What it gives you
A place can carry history, atmosphere, or a point of origin. Cisco takes its name from San Francisco.
Where it gets tricky
Ask whether the geography expands the idea or confines it. Local associations aren’t always useful in a new market.
Mythological / Historical
16 / 20Draws on a figure, story, or historical reference.
What it gives you
An existing story gives the brand a rich starting point. Nike’s association with victory suits sport.
Where it gets tricky
Those references come with cultural baggage and existing users. Check whose story you’re borrowing and how it lands.
Foreign-language / Borrowed
17 / 20Uses words or roots from another language.
What it gives you
Can carry meaning with a sound that feels distinctive in the intended market. Samsung means three stars in Korean.
Where it gets tricky
Translation is only the beginning. Pronunciation and cultural context need people who actually speak the language.
Modified spelling
18 / 20Changes the spelling of a familiar word.
What it gives you
Keeps a recognizable sound while giving the written name a different shape.
Where it gets tricky
Every unusual letter is something someone may have to remember. A spelling change is no shortcut to clearance.
Phrasal / Conversational
19 / 20Uses a phrase people might actually say.
What it gives you
You get a voice before you’ve written a tagline. This one makes an everyday product a little less polite.
Where it gets tricky
Longer names need practical testing. Tone can attract the right people and put others off, which needs to be intentional.
Symbolic / Associative
20 / 20Uses an image or concept as a source of associations.
What it gives you
A bull gives an energy drink strength and a vivid visual starting point. The name can feed an entire identity.
Where it gets tricky
The symbol’s meaning won’t be identical for everyone. This approach overlaps with metaphor and evocative naming.
A name with somewhere to go.
Patagonia could have used Chouinard, the name already associated with its climbing equipment. According to the company’s own account, it wanted to give the clothing line its own identity and avoid tying it only to climbing.
The place name brought an expansive world of landscapes and adventure with it. That’s the opportunity with evocative naming: the business gets something to build around, and space to move.
A place can be much bigger than a location.
A new word. A short stay.
In 2016, Tribune Publishing became tronc, short for Tribune Online Content. The ambition was digital transformation. The reception included plenty of ridicule.
By 2018, the company had announced a return to Tribune Publishing. That doesn’t prove invented names are a bad idea. Kodak would probably like a word.
Our takeaway: an internal explanation can make perfect sense in a meeting and still leave the audience cold. Test the name without the presentation.
Publishing→tronc→Tribune
Publishing
2016: a new name. 2018: a return to the old one.
The naming disaster that didn’t happen.
You may have heard that Chevrolet’s Nova struggled in Spanish-speaking countries because “no va” means “doesn’t go.” It’s a wonderfully convenient story. Unfortunately, it isn’t true.
Naming writer Nancy Friedman traces the myth: Nova and no va aren’t interchangeable, and the supposed sales disaster doesn’t hold up.
Language checks still matter. They just deserve more care than repeating the same cautionary tale until everyone assumes someone else checked it.
A name. Two separate words. One very persistent myth.
A little history helps.
Naming didn’t suddenly get creative when startups arrived. George Eastman invented Kodak; 7-Eleven later took its name from its opening hours. The available approaches have been around for a while. What changes is the business, the audience, and the associations a name picks up.
One useful wrinkle: Häagen-Dazs looks like it belongs in the foreign-language group, but the name was invented. The impression of a language and a word from that language are two different things.
So which style should you choose?
We could send you off with a few naming exercises and a reassuring little “you’ve got this.” But you’ve just read through 20 ways to name a business. You can probably see where this is going.
You find something memorable, but it boxes you in. Something unexpected, but nobody knows how to say it. Then you find one you love, and someone in Ohio got there in 2008.
That’s where naming gets interesting. You’re weighing what each name gives you, what it gives up, and which compromises your business can live with.