I love naming. Voice and sounds and words have always been my thing. Ever since I tried a light rebrand of milk to “Nook” (circa age 1). One thing about “Nook” though — it was already a word. And NUK is a German baby products company! So let’s jump right in there …

(1) Avoid a name that’s taken or commonly used. I’m pretty sure the legal standard is “would this cause confusion?” (I was a lawyer but it’s been, oh, a while) — that’s what would guide if you ended up getting sued. But why get sued? Or start off on this footing at all? It’s so hard to start a brand of any kind, stand out, and succeed. Why start up the hill with a rock on your back?

(2) Trademark it. One advantage of a made up/compounded name is you can trademark it. Why not? Go forward without that risk and just get it done. The simple fact of owning this name in a protected way is value (for example, if you end up selling.) While you’re at it, grab all social media channels, including ones you have no immediate plans to use. (And by the way, be sure to hold onto two naming possibilities through this stage in case one isn’t trademarkable.)

(3) You don’t need the dot.com, BUT. A remnant of the early years. That someone owns the dot com shouldn’t be prohibitive. (Especially once you trademark, making their ownership claim weak.) Brands often get the dot com later. Like Summersalt — which has their dotcom now, but went live with hisummersalt.com as I remember.

(4) A name doesn’t have to be short. Don’t obsess over length. Another hangover from when people were keying in an entire name to go to a site. When was the last time you did that? Lululemon seems to be doing ok. Very memorable and emotional. (And if your name turns into an abbreviation, that’s great. That’s love — and opportunity. Vacation Rentals by Owner — VRBO. A good solve and coolification in one.)

(5) A name doesn’t have to be literal. It can be evocative. You’d be surprised how many people still want a name to tell you what it is or does. Maybe it alludes to it. Or maybe it’s Häagen-Dazs. A name that attempts to carry the whole of a business or an idea will be … Waste Management. Vacation Rentals by Owner. (VRBO is such a relief!)

(6) A name needs a story. Not a big involved one. But something. Something you can answer when asked, play with on social, whatever. We named the CBD brand Liweli. It was a mashup of “life well lived.”

(7) It doesn’t need to be 100% pronounceable. Ideally you want people to talk about it at parties. In truth, most sharing today happens via text and social. Plenty of successful brands have a little learning curve when it comes to pronunciation. I mean who even knew how to pronounce Nike at the beginning? We still don’t know how to say Porsche. But we know there is no substitute. Aim for easy pronunciation, but don’t let it be the roadblock on something you really like.

(8) Invented names aren’t automatically hard to pronounce and remember. Pantone? Ikea? Look, emotion (and what it does! and how well!) makes something easy to remember. Playing with simpler sounds makes things easy to say, and sounds can evoke emotion. You can always invent a word that combines known syllables, sounds, even words. We named FullWell - and it was successfully trademarked before we did the logo.

(9) You get one chance at a name … BUT. Sure, it’s better to get it right the first time. But that reminds me of all the people of Love is Blind who say “I only want to get married once.” LOL. Same, kid! Of course ideally you get it right the first time, grab the socials and start building awareness. But there are ways to use a deft change as an opportunity with the right storytelling. And a smart, one-time shift is often a lot better than feeling stuck with something lifeless. Renaming is tough, but not impossible. You know what they say about lemons. Happy to help make lemonade.

Yours,

Rachel (& HCC)