February 4, 2025
So often, brands are burdened with the responsibility of choosing the right brand name. Let's look at some of the right ways to approach naming your brand.
When we’re born we aren’t thrown into this world with a rich personality or anecdotes and stories to tell at parties. We have no sense of style or taste in music. We don’t come equipped with jokes and idioms, or quirks that our friends and family put on a bingo card during the holidays. These are all things we acquire over time and by experiencing life through eager and enthusiastic choices. One thing we do have almost immediately is a name. While that name doesn’t hold much power yet, over time, it remains as one of the most distinct and recognizable aspects of our identity. Something that people we know and come to know, can use to quickly paint a picture of who we are and the attritbutes we carry. So why is it that so often brands don’t put as much weight into choosing the right name before all else?
In this post I hope to uncover some of the factual realities of naming within the industry, and also share some of my own perspective and opinion on why it’s so important. First, let us start with the facts of naming a brand from a brand industry perspective.
While I do’t believe creativity can have a formula, and in my opinion, creative processes should be treated as a lense to view your unique challenge and help guide the process while leaving plenty of room for innovative ideas. That being said, there are some facts about naming that can’t be ignored.
Language is powerful. If a company rebrands, but they’’ve done naming right, it remains when many aspects of the branding could shape themselves around it. Apple has had a number of diverse logos over time but the strength and importance of their name never left. As time went on, the initial concept of the apple falling from the tree to inspire hasn’t much weight but Apple’s iconic name and nostalgic identity holds more weight than it did when that concept mattered. That’s all because it’s short, it’s sweet, it’s easy to remember, and although an apple is simple, it’s association to education, inspiration, health, and heart have all carried the brand into the corporate giant it is today.
Brand names can come in a range of industries and sometimes, the type is linked directly to it’s industry. You might find acronyms or invented words in large corporations. Evocative brand names are all over the beauty and fashion industry creating mystic that drives sales, and Lexical brands are rampant in youthful products and disruptors alike. So, let’s take a look at some of the types of names and why they work and who for.
Descriptive words are just what they sound like—descriptive. This approach can have a lot of benefits for a wide audience since they leave little rom for misinterpretation or confusion. IT’s really hard to miss what Toys “R” US sells or to to buy a box of Shredded Wheat and feel upset that your cereal isn’t a sugar coated pebble. Descriptive names can still be creative and certainly should so the process of finding the right descriptive name—one that’s short, easy to remember, and catchy—can take some serious consideration.
Evocative names are the complete opposite of descriptive. They’re meant to inspire and evoke feelings, whether that be a feeling of mystique or joy, or a feeling of nostalgia or fomo. Evocative names are gretaf or companies that want style and essence through all aspects of their brand. Evocative brands name have a wonderful opportunity for your brand to pave new paths and inspire deep feelings in consumers. In 1993 Pirelli used Aphex Twin as the soundtrack of their avant-guarde ad for tires. On paper it sounded insane but in reality the campaign was like no other and is still talked about to this day as a monumental moment in brand histry.
With careful consideration to the etomology of words, and invented word can feel familiar albeit without the audience understanding why. Some savvy and word enthusiast may pick up on the reasoning with more depth, but the average consumer will feel nostalgic without exactly putting their finger on why. For that reason they can be a smart way to associate your brand to feelings and multiple ideas without being wordy and verbose. You might find invented words in large corporations who want to avoid any global conflict with how cultures and their people interprept words and meaning. We often don’t undertand the nuances of language and with a little intention and research, invented words can feel nostalgic on a global level while offending noone.
Acronyms can be tricky but they’re for reducing long names. Sometimes you may wat to be dscritpive in your name but a logo requires versatility and legibility as small sizes. More words in a brand name reduce all of these important aspect of the logo process and make it more challenging for a brand name to hold weight visually. In these cases, an acronym might just be the trick to create a memorable symbol while retaining the descriptive aspect of the company and services.
It is the wordplay that makes lexical names memorable. Puns, phrases, compound words, alliteration, and intentional misspellings can be suitable ways to bring whit, humour, and play into your brand name. IT’s hard ot forget about Hershey’s Kisses or Resse’s Pieces even though without knowledge of the product, you’d hardly understand what they’re selling. Adding whimsy to your brand name can help you stand out from competitors by offering an exciting and playful experience for the right service or product. Bounce and Beyond sounds a lot more fun than the Trampoline store, right? With careful business decisions and marketing, you’d likely find a more fun name in this example to outlast the descriptive name in this context.
Another option when you are looking for a unique name for your business is a compound brand name. This type of name brings two or more words together to evoke the industry while inventing a new word in the process. YoutTube or Webflow are great examples of compound names that both evoke a feeling while expressing the industry they serve. Youtube allow YOU, the viewer to start a channel on the “tube at any tome, and Webflow gets loads of designers in a flow state to design beautiful websites. These are both effective because they words they combines are intentional and smart with the result being short, sweet, and visually wonderful.
Last but not least, founder naming is a coming practice with business that have heritage or a recognizable founder or multiple partners. Many professional services like law firms, advertising agencies, legacy companies and even some heritage food products might consider leverage the weight of the founder or founders names to capture the spirit of the contributions they make in their respective fields. In few cases, teh name might be pulled form the life or a founde instead. Consider Wendy’s and how it’s long-lasting brand has stood the test of time but with a name that’s inspired, rather than directly tied to a founder. I wouldn’t advise this for companies who don’t have a legacy or or industries who don’t have a common practice of using founder names.
OK, so none of that really get’s into the reasoning behind why it’s important. While I listed some examples above of success stories and reasons that those brand succeeded in part with choosing the right type of name, but in the end, how does that translate to the other important aspect of a brand—the logo and brand identity. Well, here are some of my perspective that I notice many business owners overlook.
Short names most often will be memorable, easy to roll off the tongue, and in most cases potential costumers will be able to spell it, share it with friends, and get access to your services with ease. Have you ever tried to type in a url 5 times with no luck because a brand name is to hard to remember? Same. So why would you make that choice for your brand?
Short brand names will frequently look best once a logo is designed too. If you make the width of a logo with 15 letters the same as the width of one with 7, guess which will appear bigger. So you’re brand is promoting an event and your 15 letters logo is stacked next to 5 5-8 letter logos. Guess what? Yours is less visible in every single circumstance. Noone wants that for their brand and we all want to shout from the hill stops that we are the go-to brand in our space so your brand name should consider that when being decided on.
The average non-designer may roll their eyes so far in the back of their head at this comment. Designers make so many hidden decisions when designing logos—kerning, x-heights, uppercase versus lowercase, font selections, and so many other choices—and it’s a business owners best interest to trust that we know much you aren’t privy to by not having experience with what we do. That’s ok, but that trust will empower your choices and elevate your brand outcome. Choosing the right brand name also mean choosing a sequences of letters that will look good together, even if simple typed out in Arial or Helvetica. Now your logo has opportunity to look good in written as well as when your logo is present.
While you definitely want to love and be proud of your name, it ultimately doesn’t matter unless you intend to be your main customer. Chances are, you’re not and would go broke. The only people that truly need to love and resonate with your name is your audience and community. If it’s right, it’s right. IF it’s emotional, it could be right, but it’s only likely right for you. Toss your preconceived ideas aside, brainstorm and let your mind be open to creative opportunities because the name you choose is likely to last beyond any other aspect of your brand. After all, we want patrons and customers for years to come to love our business as a friend, not a transactional place that can be replaced by any other competitor.
At Kidd, my goal is to play and through that creative play, I discover unique ideas that can help you stand out. If you’re struggling to name your brand or simply don’t know where to start, let’s play. I’d love to be the creative catalyst that bring a vision to life with a name that’s perfect for you and your audience.
