How to name a product: a step-by-step guide

Why this matters

Naming usually goes wrong in one of two ways. Some people fall in love with the first decent idea and find out it's taken after they've paid for a logo and a website. Others brainstorm for weeks, end up with a spreadsheet of 200 names and can't choose. A simple process avoids both, and it works whether you're naming an app, a service, a physical product or a whole startup.

1. Define what the name needs to achieve

Write two or three plain sentences about what you're naming, as you'd explain it to a friend. Then note what the name has to do: help people find you, make you sound credible to buyers, stand out in an app store, or work as the umbrella for future products. This brief is your yardstick. Every candidate is judged against it, not against your mood that afternoon.

2. Identify the audience

A procurement team, a teenager scrolling an app store and a local customer looking for a plumber read names differently. Write down who will hear the name first and where: a sales call, a search result, word of mouth, a shelf. If you sell abroad, list the markets, because pronunciation and meanings change between languages.

3. Decide what the name should signal

Pick three or four words for the feeling you want, such as calm, expert, playful or premium. List your competitors and similar products too: you'll want to sound different from them, not like another entry in the same list. Note any words to avoid and any sounds or fragments you're drawn to.

4. Generate several naming directions

Before you list individual names, choose a few styles to explore. Each has a different trade-off:

• Descriptive names say what the thing does. Clear, but usually hard to own and easy to forget.
• Suggestive names hint at a benefit without spelling it out. Often the sweet spot.
• Metaphorical names borrow an image, such as an animal, a place or an object.
• Compound names join two words or parts into something new.
• Invented names are new words: the easiest to own, but they take more effort to fill with meaning.

5. Create candidate names

Aim for a few dozen candidates across those directions. Early on, quantity beats quality, and a weak name in a promising style often leads to a strong one two steps later. Don't judge yet.

6. Remove obviously weak candidates

Most candidates can be ruled out in seconds, without searching anything:

• Say it aloud. Is it obvious how to pronounce it?
• Say it to someone and ask them to type it. If they get it wrong, customers will too.
• Read it backwards and split it at different points to spot unwanted meanings.
• Cut anything that looks or sounds like a competitor, or is built only from generic category words.

Aim to get down to about five names worth evaluating properly.

7. Evaluate the shortlist

Now judge each survivor on the same criteria: fit, clarity, memorability, pronunciation, spelling, distinctiveness and room to grow. Our guide on how to evaluate a product name goes through each one, and how to compare product names shows how to weigh them side by side.

8. Check practical availability

Only now is it worth spending time on the slower checks: trade marks, the company register, domains, social handles and app stores. Trade marks come first, because they are the check most likely to force a rebrand later. See how to check whether a name is available.

9. Test the finalists

With two or three names left, test what people can do with them, not whether they like them: can they recall the name the next day, spell it after hearing it and guess what it's for? Use people who resemble your customers. How to test a product name describes simple tests you can run in an afternoon.

10. Make the decision

No name wins on every criterion. Choose the one that does its job, is clear of serious conflicts, and that you'll be happy saying a thousand times. Then secure it quickly: register the domains, claim the handles, register the company name if you're forming a company, and consider a trade mark application, ideally after a professional clearance search.

Worked example

Imagine you're naming an app that reminds people to water their houseplants. The brief: friendly, calm, for busy renters in the UK, with room to add plant identification later. The names below are illustrations only; we haven't checked them.

• Plant Watering Reminder is perfectly clear and almost impossible to own or remember. Cut at step 6.
• Hydroflorix is distinctive, but hard to spell from hearing and a little clinical for the feeling you want. Cut at step 6.
• Sprigly is short, friendly and suggestive. It survives to evaluation, where you'd check whether people spell it with one g or two.
• Watering Can is a warm image and easy to say, but it's an everyday phrase, so search and trade mark checks matter even more.

You would carry the survivors through availability checks and test them before choosing. The point isn't the names themselves; it's that each was judged against the brief at every step.

Common mistakes

• Checking last. The longer you live with a name, the harder it is to drop when a check turns up a problem.
• Being too literal. Names that describe the product exactly are clear on day one and forgettable by day ten. See what makes a good product name.
• Chasing the exact .com at any cost. It's nice to have, not essential. See does the .com really matter?
• Naming by committee. Collect input widely, but let one person or a small group decide.
• Asking “do you like it?” Most new names feel strange at first. Look for confusion and negative associations instead.

Checklist

1. Brief written: what it is, who it's for, how it should feel, where you'll trade.
2. Competitors listed, and words to avoid noted.
3. Candidates generated in at least three styles.
4. Shortlist of about five after quick spoken and spelling tests.
5. Each shortlisted name evaluated on the same criteria.
6. Trade marks, domains, company names and handles checked.
7. Two or three finalists tested with real people.
8. Decision made, and the name secured.

For a fuller list to work through before you commit, use the product naming checklist.

How NameClicked can help

NameClicked follows the same process. You describe what you're naming, it generates candidates across different styles and cuts the weak ones with quick tests, and you get a shortlist of about five, each with its strengths and concerns explained. You can add your own names and compare them side by side, and a Full Assessment checks domains and screens UK trade marks. See how NameClicked works.