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I'm starting up a web design shop and hoping to also get into custom software development.

So the problem I'm having now is coming up with a name for the company.

I want something cool and funky, but I'm not sure where to go for ideas.

Someone suggested that I name it after a fruit (well "Apple" is already taken :)), or a famous ship, etc. but somehow, those names don't seem to quite fit.

So for those of you who founded businesses, I'd like to ask how you came up with names, and if anyone has any advice about this?

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Guy Kawasaki has covered this extensively on his blog. <blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/11/how-to-name-a-n.html>; –  brendan Jan 8 '09 at 4:03
This question appears to be off-topic because it is about business not software. –  bmargulies Jul 20 '13 at 20:38
This question does not appear to be about programming within the scope defined in the help center. –  CodeGnome Oct 8 at 21:32

16 Answers 16


pick something like "iAmurioBugFoneStickr2 Solutions" (the 2 is supposed to be pronounced "squared")

  1. It always helps to add a lowercase "e" or an "i" before something as an indicator of internet-enabled technology
  2. Having a meaningless Latin-root-derived phrase (e.g. Verizon, Altria, Experian, Lucent) sounds articulate and intellectual
  3. Always try to use CamelCase or something typographically difficult. It makes someone stop and notice it, like someone who notices their shoes are squeaky.
  4. Combining words together is a great way to handle mergers. (like GlaxoSmithKline formerly known as Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, or PricewaterhouseCoopers fka Price-Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand)
  5. Creative misspellings give you bonus points for trademark protection. (Flickr, Cingular, NetFlix, Paychex)
  6. You can always add a tone of seriousness by adding a noncommittal qualifying noun at the end like "Group" or "International" or "Network".
  7. What the heck, just stick a bunch of slangy words together! (SmugMug)
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Bah ha ha ha ha haaaaa! This is the best answer ever. +1. –  Matthew Patrick Cashatt Apr 21 '13 at 17:11

Use a random name generator: http://noemata.net/nbng/.

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Nice.:) Bookmarked.:) –  Christian Mark May 5 at 2:37

For a small company, the satisfaction of your customers drives brand recognition far more than whether you have a great name. You could even have no name, and if your reputation precedes you people will know your company as "Jonathan Conway's shop" and be happy with that. If you burn time thinking about names instead of actually producing, people won't remember or care even if you have a great name like 37signals or Fog Creek.

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I found the name for my portfolio and blog using the hardest method possible today, trying to find a good, available domain name.

My reasoning is that if you're looking to create an online business then you'll want your name as the domain name. It's hard to come up with a good name for your business, but it's even harder to come up with one that's actually available.

Come up with a list of relevant words involving your business or objects you would like to have in the business name, then try a domain name suggestion tool like NameTumbler, MakeWords or any other one you can find..

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I want something cool and funky

How about "cool and funky" as a name?

You could answer the phone, "Hi: this is cool, how can I help?"

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or "Thanks for calling Cool, how can I funk you?" –  Steven A. Lowe Jan 8 '09 at 4:55
Customer: I want to talk to the other guy. OP: Please wait while I get funky. –  jussij Jan 8 '09 at 5:13
"Please wait while we're getting cool and funkeh" –  Jayson Ragasa Jul 25 '12 at 2:54
@StevenA.Lowe LMAO –  dakait Feb 27 '13 at 6:10

The best advice I can give is to make sure it's google-unique. If you pick a common noun you'll never be an early hit for your own name. String two common nouns together and you avoid that. seems to be a popular arrangement.

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String two common nouns together - you mean like "stack" and "overflow" ? –  brendan Jan 8 '09 at 4:02

In order of importance:

1) when you tell it to someone they should be able to spell it - it should not be like playing telephone ( you don't want them going to dig.com or boynboyn.com or boxy.com )

2) it should express something about the spirit of your company, without needing too much explanation

3) it shouldn't sound generic ( avoid gobusiness.com or mywebflights.com or bestcomputing.com )

Jot down a few words describing what idea inspired you make the sort of software you make instead of some other kind of software, or what differentiates the way you want to do things from your competition... then plug the words into wikipedia, google or look them up in a thesaurus.

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Whatever you come up with, make sure the ".com" domain is available. People remember the name, and assume the ".com".

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Many people spend too much time searching for real, meaningful words, only to find the .com domain is already taken.

Go for a very short meaningless dot com name, 4-6 letters long.

You may find it's surprisingly distinctive.

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Try visiting marketplaces with brandable domains such as BrandStarters so that you can find available names rather than brainstorming only to find out the name is taken. There are other similar sites with a large inventory of domains.

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what kind of software do you write? what market? what niche are you trying to fill? how will you stand out against your competition?

those are the kind of questions i'd want to answer... the names should flow from that.

for example, cerberus capital - aka the 3 headed dog from greek mythology.... and cerberus is known for gobbling up other companies....

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I used a web site (can't remember the URL) that allows you to search for available domain names. I set max length to 6 characters and eventually found eneset.com that became a name of a company.

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We used a name that represents our philosophy: ThinkBottomUp

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sounds like a porn site ;-) –  Steven A. Lowe Jan 8 '09 at 4:56
no... not a good industry to be in right now: abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/08/2461638.htm –  Jesse Pepper Jan 8 '09 at 5:04

I agree that you should take google searchability into account as well as something like 'phoneticity'. You want people to be able to point a browser to your site after having heard the name.

One way of arriving at a name would be to gather together a group of people together who are stakeholders, or maybe who are just interested, in a room with a whiteboard. Now execute a brainstorm.

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I go to places like here for software names. There are lot of sites out there like this one but I find this one to have the better names. Just adding this for anyone looking for one in the future.

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Try this site to get name suggestions, totally free. :) http://namesis-co.tumblr.com/

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