1. Mash-ups

    Select two topics and make a list of words associated with each topic, such as ‘Space’ and ‘Animals’ and then join single words together from each list to come up with a funky and unique name. For example greeting card companies ‘MoonPig.com’ or ‘FunkyPigeon.com.’

    But if you don’t want to be too risky then why not use words that are more meaningful to your business and combine them together, such as ‘group’ and ‘coupon’ which made Groupon. Another example is ‘your delivery’ which made Yodel the delivery service company.

    1. Go abstract and abbreviate

    Find a word, place or item that is key to your business and make a short art of. This is what Cisco did with Sans Francisco, where the company was founded.

    1. Use Foreign words as inspiration

    This can give your business a sophisticated appeal, such as Lego which comes from the words ‘leg godt’ which in Danish means ‘play well’ or Daewoo which means ‘great house’ in Korean.

    1. Use a Map

    Maps have thousands of places, rivers and mountains. Find one that best suits your brand. Such as Fuji (from the highest mountain in Japan) which portrays that the company aims high and goes above and beyond. Amazon named after the largest river in the World (by volume of water) or Adobe which was a creek running close to the founder’s house.

    1. Use literature, history and mythology

    For example the name Nike is the Goddess of victory in Greek Mythology (see title image banner) or the novel Moby Dick which inspired the name Starbuck (from Starbuck, the young chief mate of the Pequod).

    1. Invent a new spelling for a word

    Think of a word that is central to your business and reinvent its spelling. This is my personal favourite hence why I used it. For example ‘dsgnuk’ is an alternative spelling for the word ‘design.’ This also makes it easier to find the website name, as common words and names will be taken on the net. Reebok did the same with the word ‘rhebok’ which is an Africa Antelope. This technique is becoming very popular among big companies. Flickr, Tumblr are two examples where they have dropped the last vowel.

    1. Open the Dictionary

    If your still struggling then why not pick up a dictionary and find a meaningful work, this is exactly what the social media giant Twitter did!

    Remember start with a big list and narrow it down, ask others and get their feedback. Say it out loud and see how it sounds. Good luck and happy naming!

     

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*Nike is the Goddess of victory in Greek Mythology, (this is a modern illustration by a Russain artist) https://vgtimes.ru/news/35875-boginya-pobedy-nika-poyavilas-v-smite.html