To Find a Winning Company Name, Ride Trends and Consult AI

A decade ago, renaming a company was considered perilous, if not unthinkable. Branding experts sternly warned of consumer confusion and brand dilution. Most companies avoided renaming unless it was essential, often limiting themselves to shortenings, such as Weight Watchers’ move to WW in 2018 and Dunkin’ Donuts’ shift to Dunkin a few months later. Then global events pushed numerous companies to reconsider everything from names of product lines to the entire corporate identity.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Corvid by Wix—a website builder—became Velo by Wix. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago, Russian connotations and surnames have vanished in favor of generic global-sounding brands. A week into the war, Stoli Group ditched the Stolichnaya name of its popular vodka, going with Stoli instead. “I work with three companies who have renamed because of the war in Ukraine,” says Neri Karra Sillaman, a luxury brand adviser and professor at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. “One relocated to Scandinavia and renamed in line with their values.”

When Klover considered changing its name, an agency it hired proposed “Attain.” Market testing found that consumers didn’t like the name, but business customers loved it. In November, the company rebranded as Attain but kept the Klover name for its app. “What that does is give us the opportunity to have a portfolio,” says Mandelbaum. “Klover is a successful brand within it.”

These days, customers have grown used to rebranding. Mergers, splits and startups constantly spawn new identities, and companies swiftly hammer in the change by showering social media with their updated monikers. Here’s our guide to coming up with a winning company name:

Step 1: Don’t seek perfection. Gone are naming timelines that stretch over months. Facing pressure to launch or find investors, founders often select a name in less than a week. And understand that some people will hate your new identity, some will love it. “Founders who delay are also probably spending too long building the perfect website, the perfect graphics and the perfect logo,” says Verineia Codrean, head of sustainability and strategic partnerships at Startup Norway, who has helped name hundreds of companies. “Go get your customers. That’s the priority.”

Step 2: Get trendy. Today’s names are short (one or two words), easy to pronounce and quickly digested on social media. It’s best when they dovetail with societal trends that will stick around for a decade-plus, such as artificial intelligence or the green transition. “It’s a massive advantage,” says Codrean. Here’s what not to do: Pearl Milling Company, the 2021 rename of Aunt Jemima. It’s long, trend-free and unclever.Step 3: Be creative. Today’s descriptive names express what the company does in a playful or clever manner, as with the climate impact consultant Plan A (there is no plan B, get it?) and Startup Norway’s annual event, Startup Extreme (tag line: “extreme times, extreme opportunities”). Online eyewear retailer Warby Parker, which launched in 2010, is named after two Jack Kerouac characters. It needed a trade name that resonated with customers, because the company is incorporated as the uncatchy JAND Inc. Originality offers another advantage: There’s less risk customers will stumble across a competitor.Step 4: Think about place. Creative names often use locations, foreign words or well-known folk characters to convey an attitude or value. European food delivery company Oda takes its title from a women’s name in Norway. “You will not have to worry about a competitor using that,” Codrean says. “And it gives you room to grow—meaning you can go in any market.” Allbirds Inc., a shoemaker that advertises the sustainability of its products, combines references to nature and New Zealand—where one founder hails from—which has few native land mammals.

Step 5: Ask a chatbot. Tell a service such as ChatGPT your mission, vision and any trends you want to communicate (“Come up with 10 potential names for a sustainable clothing company”) and see what comes out. Try various queries to get multiple options for brainstorming, and test potential names on target customers.

What not to do: Don’t rely too heavily on friends and family. They aren’t your target audience and they’re likely to support you even if you choose something lame. And don’t name the company after yourself, which is limiting, narcissistic and very early aughts. Finally, remember that renaming is a viable option if your first choice doesn’t work out—though it’s typically avoidable. “Most of the time I advise clients not to” change their name, Sillaman says. Instead, consider rolling out a separately branded service or product—whose name you can, once again, obsess over.

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