How to Name a Software Company
Naming companies, startups and service businesses can be approached in several ways. Each has its pros and cons. Nowadays my clear favorite is to combine two popular English words because it makes the name already somehow familiar to customers.
Two english words
Combine two short and well known English words, which are not necessarily connected to each other. Such a name usually is about 7–9 characters long and is very easy to remember because its parts are already encoded in your customer’s brain. Such a name builds an instant, although subconscious, sense of familiarity with your brand.
Examples:
There is another twist possible with this approach. Combine an English dictionary word with a custom name or prefix/suffix.
Examples:
Three-letter acronym
Three-letter acronyms can be easy to remember and sound like company or product names. You can have a lot of competition though in that naming space, so I'd only recommend this approach if you have a serious marketing budget.
Examples:
Invent a new name
This approach allows you to really stand out, but be careful if you're building an international brand as sometimes these totally new names can have a not so nice meaning in some languages.
Examples:
Dictionary word
You can use a dictionary word as your brand if the original meaning of the word is different from what you offer. Apple would be a terrible name for a company that sells apples because you will not be able to trademark it and customers might have a hard time finding you online.
Examples:
领英推荐
Dictionary word with .com
This one is an interesting option if a major part of your business is done online. If you have a substantial budget, then this approach grants you instant credibility if the word you choose directly matches your business. The issue with this approach is that you will most probably have a difficult time getting a word trademark and you'll have to spend at least a six figure amount to get the domain.
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Other aspects of choosing a name
Check trademark availability
Before deciding on a name, make sure that you do not infringe on anyone’s trademark. Depending on the country that you do business in, this may not only be very costly if neglected, but will also make it difficult for you to build a strong, reputable and defensible brand.
Enter your desired name into Google Search and see what appears. If Google suggests a similar name, then someone else might have already built a brand that looks or sounds like yours. If you want to be on the safe side, consult a trademark attorney.
Check pronounceability
Call a friend and tell them that you started a new business, say the name and then ask them to text you the name. If too many people send you your name with spelling mistakes, then you know that you need to either adjust the name, choose a new one or prepare a solid marketing budget to get this name into your customers’ minds.
It’s also a good idea to use a service like Amazon’s Polly to hear your name in different languages. It’s free for testing purposes. Simply enter a phrase like the one below and hear how your name gets pronounced:
I work at Astec
Start with a letter close to “A”
If your name starts with the letter “A”, then you have a higher probability of being placed at the beginning of company or product lists, as they are often sorted alphabetically. The closer the first letter of your name is to “A”, the better. Don’t make this a blocker though if you have a great name that starts with one of the last letters in the alphabet.
Get a .com domain name
If you want to gain instant credibility, then consider investing in the .com domain that includes your name, like rublon.com for Rublon. Good .com domains are scarce nowadays and often quite expensive. Having such a domain name sends an instant message to your customers that you’ve invested money into your brand and that means that a good brand and hence good reputation is important to you. A .com domain will help especially if your website is going to be your main source for lead generation.
Nevertheless, if you’re in a competitive market and don’t have much capital to start with, a domain with a different TLD like .net will do fine also. Just make sure to take care of all other areas in marketing that will prove your competence and value proposition to the customer. For example Atos is a big company that operates on atos.net.
Register social media usernames
Even if you don’t plan to acquire customers through social media, your employees will care about how you present yourself on popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Make it easy for them to find you by registering proper usernames.
Software Quality Engineer at Viessmann Research & Development Center
2 年Rublon? Sounds like it has something in common with the Russian Ruble.
Cofounder, CTO, AWS Solutions Architect, coder of many platforms and products.
2 年That’s really good advice. Building a product is easy compared to branding it properly so people understand what you do on an intuitive level.