How Did You Come Up With Your Business Name?

The idea of exactly what your business is going to be usually comes first. Secondly, most often, is giving a title to your idea. What exactly is going to be the name of your business? Some people turn to their childhood for inspiration or a beloved family pet. It could be a made up word you dream of one night and feel it has the right ring to it. Even still there are some people who study foreign words for the perfect meaning behind their chosen business. Whatever the inspiration or relation may be, the naming of your business is one of the most important parts of becoming a CEO. Having a brand behind a strong title can make all the difference in the world.

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Finding something catchy and memorable

When coming up with a name for my public relations and social media management company, Three Girls Media & Marketing, I wanted something catchy and memorable. It occurred to me that in the world of PR, most businesses want the word spread about them very quickly. Then, I thought about the fastest way to get news going…all you have to do is tell three girls and before you know it it will spread like wildfire! So, hence the name and our tagline, “Spreading the Good News About You!”

Thanks to Erika Montgomery, Three Girls Media & Marketing Inc.

Finding a creative name to describe my product

Hooked On Phonics is a great company name as it tells the consumer immediately what the product is. That is what I strove for when faced with the challenge of naming my company. I wanted a company name that not only conveyed what my product was but also my message. I came up with TeaCHildMath. When searching for a name for my company, I consulted my IP attorneys. They said a made-up name such as “KODAK” was far easier to trademark. I would have problems if my company name were too descriptive, i.e, you could name a computer company “apple” but you couldn't name an apple “apple.” However, as a small company I wanted my name to immediately tell the consumer what my product was in the way that Hooked on Phonics does. It took some time to come up with TeaCHildMath. TeaCHildMath immediately conveys what I'm about. My company name is my message, my mission statement. My name is my advertising. A consumer sees TeaCHildMath on a banner at a book fair and knows what I'm about. The CH is a blend combining teaCH and CHild. Customers read it as Teach Child Math. If my name were a “made-up” name such as TCM Books, they would have no idea of what type of books I write. TeaCHildMath is now trademarked in the EU, Mexico, Australia and Korea. Only Canada judged TeaCHildMath too descriptive and denied my trademark request. Although I was disappointed , the recognition I receive in the US and elsewhere far outweighs this. So my advice for a small company is be creative and choose a name that describes your product. I believe my branding plays a critical part.

Thanks to Eugenia Francis, TeaCHildMath

Having a dual connotation

My company name, Sirens Publications, has a dual connotation, just as a police, tornado, fire siren announces the coming of an emergency vehicle, or a storm, it is used to announce our masterful, distinctive literature. The other meaning came from the inspiration of the mythical siren who drew the sailors to them. Just as the Siren drew the men toward them, our literature will not only entice you, it will inspire and motivate you to reflect upon who you are and how you can make the world a better place. Ours is distinctive literature that instructs, defies conventional thinking and inspires change.

Thanks to Marie Blair, Sirens Publications

Dropping the jargon and keeping it simple

So often, public relations professionals are faced with the age-old question – “What is it you do all day?” – because quite honestly, we create connections and share stories. If those connections/stories don’t materialize, no one is the wiser. Our company name is Martin Public Relations, however our tagline says it all and I have my father to thank for that. Being a PR practitioner for years, my father never truly understood what I did, so when I started the company he yet again questioned my occupation. And yes, I responded with all textbook definitions for public relations, media relations, and corporate communications. He shook his head and said drop the jargon and just tell me what you do. My answer – Dad, we tell stories. His reply – OK, that I understand. It was so simple that it has not only become our tagline, but it’s also become our philosophy – keep it simple and tell the story.

Thanks to Chris Martin, Martin Public Relations – We Tell Stories

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To provide Arkansas an affordable attraction

Wanting to provide an affordable attraction in which Arkansans would take pride, and doubly support healthy living, I founded Loco Ropes: High adventure recreation – something we human beings crave. It challenges our minds, our bodies, our emotions, and leaves us feeling better about ourselves and others. Loco Ropes is a heart-pumping ground, tower, and treetop adventure of over 35 obstacles, or “elements,” located at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in beautiful Mountain View, Arkansas. This family friendly attraction, with an “I think I Can, I think I Can” Loco approach, excites adrenaline junkies & outdoor enthusiasts, alike. “Loco” is Spanish for “crazy,” and for many of us, performing challenging feats high above the forest floor is, well, crazy – thinking of doing it only when pigs fly. But fly they must, because as Walt Disney said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible!”

Thanks to Judy Cox, Loco Ropes

Named for the king of trees

Iroko is the king of trees. And it's the king of trees because it has two crucial elements to it. The first one is it has a very deep root system. The second element that makes it unique is that throughout its long life, it flowers. And the reason I called the company Iroko Pharmaceuticals essentially is because that concept defines the company. It defines the kind of assets that we have acquired over time, so these are assets with very deep pedigrees within the physician community, the patient community and within the pharmaceutical industry. Like the Iroko tree, with flowering every year, we come up with new ideas, new ways to maximize the value of those assets. And it also describes our staff, our people, our team – they're all Irokos.

Thanks to Osagie Imasogie, Iroko Pharmaceuticals

Using a constant reminder of what is so important in my life

I have lived on a classically beautiful boulevard block for thirty years, and it has turned out to be one of the best and luckiest decisions I have made in my life. The boulevard is a place made special by natural beauty and longtime, loyal neighbors that have enriched my life. Every night driving home when I turn on to the boulevard and see my house and the neighborhood, a smile comes across my face and the stress of the day just floats away. The boulevard is a source of well-being and inspiration that renews me each and every day. So when it came time to start my own business from home, the first idea that popped into my head was “Boulevard Projects.” The name is a constant reminder to me about what is so important in my life (family, friends, neighbors) and it has truly been the launch pad for everything good, creative, and valuable that I have produced for my family, colleagues, customers, and community.

Thanks to Scott Pickard, Boulevard Projects

Delivering comforting service

I started my Insurance Agency to support the small businesses and entrepreneurs that were not being serviced by big house brokers due to their size. I have been a small business owner for several years and understand how many “hats” or roles the business owner must wear. My business strives to make buying insurance benefits for the small business one less hat to worry about. My target market is the Gulf Coast area of Texas, and our service is as comforting as that first cup of coffee which is reassuring to the owners, like a hug. The business name is Gulf Assurance, Inc. serving small businesses and entrepreneurs with their health-related insurance needs.

Thanks to Sheri Sanderson, Gulf Assurance, Inc.

Using simple domain names

We are a resource for boomers, retirees and people planning their retirement and needed a name that would be easy to remember as well as one that would not refer to only one area of the huge amount of content we provide. After checking to see the kinds of names other sites providing content to boomers, seniors and retirees we selected RetiredBrains as the best possible easy to remember URL. At the same time we purchased a number of other domains that link seamlessly to our site. Domains like retireandwork.com and workinretirement.com which are perfect for the job board function of our site.

Thanks to Arthur Koff, RetiredBrains

An elephant never forgets

Based upon many years experience as an estate planning attorney and the desire to build a product to help families plan better and stay organized, I co-founded a online service about 2 years ago. It is basically a digital filing cabinet, but when brainstorming the name, we wanted to be creative and more exciting than an online storage unit might imply. So, we decided upon “Life Elephant” based upon the adage “an elephant never forgets.” Our service allows individuals to store “life” information and upload documents to our secure server. And since our server can't forget, an account holder can always retrieve / “remember” his or her life information. Moreover, account members get to belong to an elephant herd!

Thanks to Jennifer Luitjens, LifeElephant

Adeptness at everything we do

The name Adeptiv evolved through our desire to be Adept at everything we do and Adapt to our clients changing needs on the fly. As a result of our experiences, we have dreamed of and designed an operational platform that provides us with the tools to address all the opportunities we faced and beyond. We were constantly challenged to respond to external and uncontrollable influences and therefore, needed a technology system that was agile and quick to implement. By developing our unique technology platform we are positioned to enable your business to change rapidly due to any business need.

Thanks to Mark Chandley, Adeptiv

Focusing on each clients specific needs

I researched high and low on naming a business. There are a plethora of articles out there but you still have to decide what name you want to stand behind at the end of the day. I considered going the highly professional route and include my last name in the title but Warshaw Claims or Warshaw Billing sounded dull, dull, dull. I decided to think outside the box. What name could I hear my future physician clients discuss during say a physician networking event? Or drinks with colleagues? I chose Spotlight Claims. Spotlight's mission is to focus on each client's specific needs and not be your average medical claim billing company. The physician is the focus and hence we shine the spotlight on them.

Thanks to Jessica Warshaw, Spotlight Claims

Rebranding and finding a perfect name

I rebranded my business over the Summer.I had been in business for 6 years and the scope of the work I was doing had changed and the name of my business no longer represented the work that I did and was creating much more explanation than necessary. One of my friends/colleagues was an enormous help in creating a new name/brand for my business. We literally spent weeks on the phone, facebook and online brainstorming and checking for domain availability and confirming that the name was not currently being used. It was a lot of fun, at times incredibly frustrating and totally rewarding. The process really helped me refine the services that I wanted to offer and my message. My friend and I also learned quite a bit about each other and ourselves.

Thanks to Donna Cravotta, Social Sage PR

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Based upon the technology our product follows

We named our company ‘Affiniton' based upon the technology our products follow. We offer threat detection products, namely drug and alcohol testing products, but also tick tests for lyme disease, a sulfur mustard detection test, a home test to detect methamphetamine residue, etc. All of these tests are based upon the attraction of an antigen to an antibody, or the ‘affinity' between the two, hence the name Affiniton. We also chose this name because we are on a number of law enforcement listings that go alphabetical, so even better, our name appears near the top.

Thanks to Sherry Bender, Affiniton, LLC

For the sake of simplicity and health

We just launched our website and chose our business name ” www.onlineallergies.com” for simplicity, though the business itself was born out averted tragedy. I almost lost my step-sister to a drug allergy a few Christmases ago, so we built a simple site that lets users list then share any allergies they have with other site members. We would have liked “allergiesonline” but that was taken, so we selected Online Allergies to keep it simple. We want to prevent others from enduring the same stressful experience by allowing people to make this information online and available 24/7. We found out after the fact that every 3 minutes, someone in America is rushed to the ER due to food-allergic reactions, let alone drug and other allergies (insect bites etc.) An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Thanks to Drew Aveling, OnlineAllergies

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To avoid confusion

The original name for my floral design business was Sugar Magnolia Flowers, however there were a million of them in the country already, so I decided to change it before I got too far in. My roommate Lesley Bea, who is now a senior copyrighter, came up with the simplicity of Flour, since the original concept was a cafe/florist. The domain available was florula.com so everyone on their own started calling it Flour LA. When I incorporated I made it Flour LA, Inc for SEO purposes. We'd get some calls that thought we were a bakery, so Flour LA now comes up easier.

Thanks to Carly Cylinder, Flour LA

Derived from two long-time motivations

My business name was derived from two long-time motivations for me. First, I've always loved being near blue water – Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, even the bayous of Cajun Country where I grew up (though rarely blue). Second, my passion is history, in all forms –books, films, research, and especially genealogy. In my photo, I'm even wearing authentic 18th century fashion like that of my ancestors in Paris, France (that corset, ouch!) So to name my independent publishing business I combined my two inspirations with a literary twist. Beginning with my favorite shade of blue, cerulean to be exact, I delved into ancient history to find the Roman word for that translucent and reflective color. Et Voila! I found it in Caeruleum. The name really works – my first book of historical fiction, EVANGELINE: PARADISE STOLEN, is the winner of multiple 2012 literary awards including Best Book in LA, Finalist in the USA Book News Best New Fiction of the Year, and Independent Publishers Book Award. It's a joy to work every day under the historical Caeruleum Publishing logo.

Thanks to M. M. Le Blanc, Caeruleum Publishing

Because it reflects the community we serve

We chose the name Jamaica Drum Jam because it reflects the community we serve, the festive and light-hearted nature of group drumming events and has a pleasing percussive sound. My husband, Jim, and I first met as teenagers in band class in Jamaica, Queens, a lower-income NYC neighborhood. After reconnecting as adults, we started Jamaica Drum Jam, which provides drum and percussion workshops with the goal of fostering respect, appreciation and collaboration amongst the residents of Jamaica. Most of our workshops involve “jamming” on drums, which is an informal and intuitive way of playing as a group. While the vibe and structure of the drum jams are informal, they are led by a facilitator who presents the group with different rhythms to play. To help the participants remember the rhythms, the facilitators recite phrases which are spoken in the same rhythm to be played. Besides being a pleasant percussive sound in its own right, the rhythm of the name Jamaica Drum Jam lends itself well to being recited in this manner.

Thanks to Julie Sriken, Jamaica Drum Jam

A nod to Rosie the Riveter

Our inspiration is the WWII fictional icon Rosie the Riveter. She was a major inspiration to our country–especially to women. She represents US Manufacturing, and the strength of the American dream. All of our products are USA MADE. We place an emphasis on small business, with our vendors being women owned or led. We aim to provide a sales & marketing platform, resources and a community for women entrepreneurs.

Thanks to Alicia Vanderschuere, rosieMADE LLC

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Taking a more Biblical approach

I've discovered that companies limit their full potential to effectively execute business strategies because of fear, lack of understanding, and reliance upon human effort only. Companies often settle for “good enough” (or even mediocrity) when they fail to seek divine guidance, purpose, or intervention. I started Daring Business Strategies to offer Bible-based management consulting, executive coaching, and speaking services to for-profits and non-profits seeking to honor God in their organizations. Our vision is that leaders worldwide would seek and implement Biblical wisdom to improve the global marketplace. Our mission is to help individuals, industries and institutions worldwide to wisely formulate—and decisively implement—business strategies that honor God. What makes us “Daring” makes us unique among our competitors. We employ the Bible as a baseline measure and accountability tool, to navigate the difficult choices in business. As U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”

Thanks to Dan Purdy, Daring Business Strategies

Inspired by a book from Ted Nugent

My business name is True North Coaching, and it originally was inspired believe it or not, by a book by rock star Ted Nugent called “God, Guns, and Rock and Roll.” What interested me was that True North was used as a metaphor for always doing the right thing even if it was harder, and that was appropriate for a coaching business as I do help people set goals, and stay focused on that goal by taking a straight path and not get distracted by roadblocks, so as a coach, I am sorta like a compass helping people find their True North Path, or their purpose. Anyone who wants to and is willing to make the required efforts can find a whole new path in life. We are much more capable than many of us believe we are, and changing these limiting beliefs is my specialty. In 2006, I was diagnosed with partial Lyme disease (band 31to be more specific) which was caused by the vaccine I had received in 1999. I now have learned to eat anti-inflammatory foods like almonds and blueberries everyday, and no longer take 6-9 ibuprofen a day due to the pain. I coach people who need to get on a new path for health especially for people who need to lose weight, have MS, or Fibromyalgia for a few examples. True North, or always eating right and accepting responsibility for my own actions is what true North Coaching is all about, sometimes doing what is right is harder at first but it is always better! Make a plan, design a True North Path, take action, remove limiting beliefs, avoid roadblocks, stay focused forward, True North Coaching can help you achieve all your desired goals and get on the Path.

Thanks to Russ Fugerer, True North Coaching

Choosing an ownable and professional name

I was at the infancy of creating a marketing communications firm which would focus on creating integrated marketing campaigns rooted in partnership marketing. With partnership marketing, the skill is in identifying the right marketing partners that can lend the appropriate and relevant marketing value (advertising, in-store space, cash, brand equity) to a drive awareness of a project. I represent films, tv entities, music and lifestyle brands. So, I wanted the name to be professional, sophisticated, and ownable, and reflect that I bridge gaps via forging alliances and to somehow incorporate the first initial of my first name “O.” So, we created Omerge Alliances: “O” for Olivia, and then the merging of alliances is Merge Alliances. I love our brand name and I also love that it is 100% ownable which makes it easy to discover us via search.

Thanks to Olivia Scott-Perkins, Omerge Alliances

Because of the need for a true gentleman

I started my business after listening to customer's complaints about what they didn't like about taxi cabs. I started noticing the majority of customer's complaints were very similar. Mainly, other cab drivers taking them the long way and showing up late or not at all for reserved rides to smelly vehicles and wondering if the cab was going to get them to their destination. Knowing that many of these complaints were valid, but not for all drivers gave a bad scenario for the drivers who are trying to do the job the right way. I started thinking about what kind of person I would want to meet as my cab driver, hence the name. Gentleman Taxi. We have clean smoke free black Lincoln Town Cars that are well maintained and we guarantee our early morning pick-ups to the airport to be on time or the customer gets the ride for free. The customers can link from our site to Mapquest.com and see the best route as well as be able to figure what the trip should cost in advance. The customers will sometimes see our GPS in the taxi or follow along with their own navigation provided from their cell phone.

Thanks to Tom Peyton, Gentleman Taxi

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A name to encompass our mission

I wanted to create a name that encompassed what our mission was. Through my entrepreneurial journey I have observed that finding the right employees or contractors for an almost immediate or quick assignment can be downright challenging. As I thought about our mission, which is twofold…on one hand, we want to provide an instant service to match a business with the right fit of independent talent for their ongoing and ad hoc projects and on the other hand, providing a great place for talent to find meaningful and challenging work, I listed out many, many names and slowly narrowed down to the top ten. After much deliberation I wanted to make sure we could have a meaningful name to both stakeholders; employers and independent talent. At MyStaffNow, we believe the nature of work is truly changing….technology, work on demand and a results driven economy has given people the ability to work from anywhere. Thus, we are MyStaffNow with tagline of Work Redefined!

Thanks to Pramod Raheja, Mystaffnow, Inc.

Using a word from my birthplace

We are a management consulting firm offering “solutions” to our clients in Sales, Management, Leadership, Customer Service etc. The key word is solutions. The Greek work for solution is λύση and that's what we used as the root for the name Lysis. A great connection between what the company does and my birthplace. After a brief survey for pronunciation and other such issues we proceeded with using the name.

Thanks to John Kypriotakis, Lysis International, Inc.