How to come up with a company name: requirements for choosing + 5 ways to search for a name + 5 steps to choosing + 7 methods of naming + online services for creating a name.

Every businessman is aware that the name chosen for the company, store or shopping center can affect the fate of the case.

Often, beginning entrepreneurs, because of their inexperience, choose long and overly complicated names that have nothing to do with the direction of the business.

Because the question is how to come up with a company name  and staying in the ears of customers, does not lose its relevance.

Basic company name requirements

At first glance, it might seem that you can come up with a name for a company in 1-2 hours.

But in fact, this process is quite long and laborious.

Naming requires a huge amount of time and effort.

To come up with a company name is how to choose a name for your child.

Psychology experts single out the concept of 7 seconds.

It is during this time, according to experts, it is possible to evaluate the new interlocutor.

The same principle applies to the names of enterprises.

The target audience evaluates the brand and its name in a short period of 7 seconds from the moment of the first contact.

Therefore, it is necessary to come up with a name that in such a minimum time will be able to win over potential customers.

In parallel, it should contain three main criteria:

1. Easy to read and easy to pronounce.
2. It is easily remembered and recreated in memory.
3. It does not cause negative memories and emotions. The brand should cause only positive feelings.

These aspects are the basis for creating a name for a new company.

Regardless of whether an online store, a flower shop or a personal blog opens, an invented name for a company or production should be melodious, memorable and creative.

5 main ways to create a name in naming

Classical.

The name directly depends on the field of business.

For example: “Your milkman”, “Cow” for a supplier of dairy products.

Law firms choose the names in the style of "Letter of the Law", "Themis" (which also creates a positive feeling of reliability and a serious approach to business).

Geographical.

Basically, the creation of such names is based on binding to the nearest attraction, local legend or centuries-old traditions.

For example: “Peter and Paul Kvass”, “Crimean Spring” - for a water producer.

Composite.

It is based on the creation of phrases, which turned out due to the combination or modification of words ("Smeshariki", "Zabodaikin").

Descriptive.

Word formation characterizing the activities of the company.

It may also contain the names, pseudonyms or surnames of its creators (“Cafe at Gleb”, “Butcher's Shop”).

Associative.

Invented colorful, sensual company names that are associated with the company’s service or products (teenage magazine “Oops”, juices “Summer”).

5 steps to create a good name for the company

Sometimes a miracle really happens and the founder comes up with a brilliant idea about the name for his offspring.

But this is rather an exception to the rule.

Any companies that are professionally engaged in naming divide the process into 5 key steps.

Step 1. Analysis

An effective name is not just inspiration and a beautiful sound.

It should be based on the tastes of the target audience and correctly characterize the products offered.

To do this, an analysis is carried out on the following points:

To choose a name that customers like, you need to understand who exactly is the target audience of the product.

What do they like?

What is expected from your products?

It is important to evaluate the names invented by competitors.

Your company name must be different.

And, of course, to be better and more effective.

• A characteristic of the product or service that the company offers is compiled.
• Also important are the basic data related to the company itself: competitiveness, differences and advantages over organizations in the same direction.

Step 2. Strategy development

  At this stage, an additional framework should be set that will help to "sift through" the invented names.

The business owner should determine his wishes on the following points:

• What language will the name be in?
• Long or short?
• What style will correspond to the concept of the company (official, comic, others)?

Step 3. Implementation of the strategy

“Immediately after the moment of greatest difficulty is success.”
  Jared Leto

At this stage, names are selected that meet the above criteria.

It’s best to come up with a company name with the help of a few people.

For example, gather a couple of your best employees who have extraordinary and creative thinking.

Or arrange family council.

Do not deprive children of attention: often their imagination works even more productively than in adults.

Write down all worthy options for “names”, and then “sift” them according to the points defined in step No. 2.

Step 4. Testing the invented company name

Selected names need to be tested in more detail. Pay attention to such points:

• What associations does the name and strangers cause?
• How unique is it (especially important compared to competitors)?
• Is it easy to remember and write?
• Does it sound funny or silly in translation into other languages \u200b\u200b(if you plan to develop to the international market)?

You can check uniqueness on such services:

• https://www.znakoved.ru/baza_zaregistrirovannyh_tovarnyh_znakov/,
• https://poiskznakov.ru/ (paid service).

But for analysis on the remaining points, it is better to turn to friends, relatives, colleagues, that is, get a look from the outside.

Step 5. Compliance with the law

Before proceeding with the registration of the selected name, make sure that it does not contradict the requirements of the law.

You can find the full list of current restrictions in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, part 4, article 1473 (https://base.garant.ru/10164072/77/).

Key points to know:

• names of states and their derivatives cannot be included;
• the name must not violate religious, national rights, and also contain obscene or non-humane statements;
• cannot include names of well-known associations;
• should not be in tune with any popular brands.

7 naming techniques: how to come up with a name for a company

If the above steps for selecting a name did not give any result, use these methods.

Seven key naming techniques that will help you choose the "name" for the company:

The name of the company can be formed by the name of the founder.

In this way, famous brands used: "", "Gillette", "Shimano".

Alliteration.

It is based on repetitively typed words in order to form a specific rhythm and rhyme.

A good example is the producer of the Coca-Cola sweet drink.

Abbreviation.

Shorten a few words.

For example, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton.

Analogy method.


  The use of well-known terms and concepts in the name of the company.

For example, "Jaguar", "Puma".

Parts of words.

This method of word formation is similar to the abbreviation.

Only as an idea are not the first letters used, but parts of the word.

For example, Integral Electronics applied this method, which resulted in the formation of the world-famous Intel.

Imitation.

This includes words that mimic the sound made by animals or humans.

For example, for a dog food company, you can choose the name “Woof”, for a girl’s magazine, “Oops”.

Hidden meaning.

A good example is the global brand Nike, which holds the name of the ancient Greek goddess Nika, who was considered a symbol of victory.

A few more tips for those who choose the name for the company:

How to come up with a company name using an online service?

  The above techniques and methods did not bring the desired result, and the fantasy completely refuses to cooperate?

Perhaps it remains to turn to the online generators of names.

It is worth immediately indicating: do not seriously consider that any programs are able to generate and come up with a really cool and unique name for the company.

The sites below simply produce chaotic options.

But it is possible that you can really like one of them.

Or, at least, this method can push the brain to create new, unique ideas.

Online services for generating new ideas

This article has given you many ways how to come up with a company name.

Do not be upset if you used all the tricks (including visiting each resource for generating names), but didn’t choose “the name of your dream”.

Like any other creative business, choosing a name can be time consuming.

But in the end, a suitable one will certainly be found.

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The question of how to name an LLC is one of the decisive questions for the founders. Without a brand name, a company simply cannot be registered. The Civil Code imposes certain requirements on the name of a legal entity, but this, of course, is not enough for a successful choice. How to name your company so that it brings commercial success?

But before you name LLC, we’ll define the boundaries that the law has established, otherwise no luck will help - a limited liability company simply will not be registered. There are few of them and they are given in Article 1473 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The company name of a limited liability company shall not include:

• Concepts that do not meet the standards of humanity, morality and public interests;
• The official names of foreign states in full or in abbreviated form and derivatives from them;
• The official names of state authorities (federal, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government), as well as public associations;
• Foreign borrowings of terms and abbreviations reflecting the legal form of a legal entity (for example, Ltd).

In addition, some local laws and regulations may place restrictions on the inclusion in the name of an LLC of words denoting a region or city. In particular, the Moscow Government allows the use of the name of the capital only with the permission of the Heraldic Council.

The uniqueness of the company name

Or maybe you should not rack your brains on what to call an LLC, but take the name of a well-known and successful competitor as a sample? If you conduct a search in the register of legal entities using the FTS program, then, for example, companies with the name "Auto Service" will be typed more than a hundred. However, all these organizations are unique for the tax office, because they have different registration codes (, PSRN, KPP).

The tax inspectorate does not check the company's name for uniqueness when registering a business, but we do not recommend using it. Article 1474 of the Civil Code warns that the copyright holder whose company name is used has the right to go to court and oblige the namesake company if:

• Brand name of the plaintiff before;
• Organizations do one thing.

And if we talk about protecting the rights to a registered brand, i.e. a trademark or a service mark, the violator may be forced to pay losses incurred by the copyright holder.

How many names can an LLC have

By the way, the usual abbreviated name, for example, Liga LLC is only one of the possible names of a legal entity. In addition to the abbreviated, in the application for registration in the form P11001 indicate full brand name, in our case, Liga Limited Liability Company.

You can also add to the charter abbreviated and full name in English:

• LLC Liga
• Limited Liability Company Liga

Plus you can add lLC name in the language of the peoples of the Russian Federation, i.e. In total, six variants of the brand name will be obtained.

And you can also register a trademark, then there will be even more options for names by which the company will be recognized. For example, the Basis-Renaissance limited liability company, which produces furniture for children, has registered the KIDS Renaissance brand. Accordingly, it can be promoted in the market both under the brand name of Basis-Renaissance LLC and under the KIDS Renaissance brand.

What to consider when choosing a name

Marketers have a whole science of choosing the name of a brand, product or service, the so-called naming. Naming methods can be taken into account when searching for a name for a limited liability company.

For example, it could be:

• Association with the type of company;
• Adjustment to a standard or a successful competitor;
• Abbreviations for the reduction of numbers and words that matter to business owners;
• Neologisms, i.e. invented and fantasy concepts that mean nothing yet;
• Personal and associative advantages;
• Funny rhymes;
• Truncation of words and their combination.

Here is about naming for LLC in the Russian Federation:

If we talk about the semantic component of the brand name, then it is worth paying attention to the following points:

1. The name of the legal entity should cause a positive or at least neutral association. As a negative example, the name of the Children's regional human rights public organization operating in the territory of the Sverdlovsk region is “Snake”. On the one hand, this word does not violate either morality or humanity, but on the other, it has an ambiguous connotation, especially when it comes to children.
2. The types of activities of a commercial organization can be conditionally divided into more or less “solid” ones, and this should be reflected in the name. For example, banks, insurance, legal, consulting companies should inspire confidence and reliability among customers. And the lines of business related to leisure or tourism should be set for relaxation and pleasant associations with travel. There are, of course, interesting exceptions. So, in 2002 in Rostov-on-Don, the limited liability company Razdolbay Service was registered. An interesting play on words worked here: “gouging”, as an optional person, a loafer, sloven, and the form of the verb “gouging”, i.e. break, destroy, dismantle. This company has been engaged in the dismantling of various designs for 15 years, moreover, at a very high level, using advanced diamond technologies.
3. The scale of the business and the name of the company should not be in conflict. For example, a store by the house should not be called anything pompous, such as “Empire of Taste” or “Elite,” because it will cause a grin for shoppers. Conversely, if you are focused on large-scale activities, you should not use diminutive suffixes.
4. Consider the regional affiliation of your business. In some cases, the use of the names of small cities causes associations with small-town and lack of scope of business. But if, on the contrary, you produce a unique and high-quality product, then the name of the city can become a kind of chip and will help in promotion.
5. If you want to include the name or surname of the owner in the name of the company, then it is desirable that he personally took part in the business, and not just invested. For example, the traditional name for law firms includes the name of the practitioner and his partners. At the same time, the use of the name or initials of the founders may complicate the subsequent sale of the company.
6. Choose words that are well-read and easy to write without errors. Avoid bulky contractions like “StroyServicePromTech”. It is better to use a combination of two or three short and intelligible words than such a construction. By the way, the corporate name of a legal entity can consist of only one letter. This, of course, is funny, but not so original. At least in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities there are several LLC E, as well as Y. There is even a limited liability company “Ya-Yo”. It is hard to imagine how such a name is perceived by ear.
7. If you choose foreign language borrowings, then take into account the meaning of this word and what association it causes among Russian-speaking consumers. Recall, for example, Duru soap, which in Turkish means “clean”. Or shampoo “Wash & Go”, which for English-speaking consumers was perceived as the slogan “Wash and go,” and for Russians it was of disreputable significance. True, these are the names of trademarks, but similar mistakes are made when choosing a brand name.

Name Generators

Free word generators that can be easily found in any search engine can help you choose the right words. Such services will put all examples of names with the right words in a neat list.

Let's try using the generator to select the name of the LLC:

• By the word "house" - DomStroy, Eurodom, DomExpert, Superdom, Domshop, Rusdom, EcoDom, Bestdom, Interdom;
• By the word “right” - PravoLend, PravoMarket, RusPravo, PravoTime, PravoLife, MasterPravo;
• By the word "bargaining" - TorgOffice, TorgPlus, TorgKlub, SuperTorg, TorgOnline, TorgPartner, VIPTorg, TorgShop.

In principle, many of them can be immediately used as the brand name of a limited liability company.

A good video about “5 ways to come up with a company name”:

How the success of the company and its name are related

What does the phrase “wild berries” tell you? What can a company that has chosen such a name do? Production of dietary supplements or soft drinks, landscape design, freezing of fruit and berry products?

Meanwhile, this is the largest online store of clothing, shoes, accessories Wildberries. Its owner Tatyana Bakalchuk wanted Russian women to wear bright beautiful clothes, which against the background of the usual gray background looked as noticeable as wild berries in the forest.

Tatyana Bakalchuk’s company is called Wildberriz Limited Liability Company, and this word is hard to hear by a Russian-speaking buyer. In English spelling, Wildberries are also difficult to pronounce or enter into the search bar without errors.

However, neither the complex pronunciation and spelling, nor the lack of a direct semantic connection with the type of activity did not prevent the owner of Wildberry to be among the ten richest women in Russia.

But another Russian Internet hypermarket chose a really simple sonorous name - Ozon. This word is easy to remember, pronounce, write in Russian and English. In addition, for the Russian-speaking buyer there is an association with fresh air, and this is always well received. Although there is an opinion that the owners of Ozon did not think of such a thing, they simply reduced the name of the global giant Amazon.

By the way, if we talk about the name of the hypermarket "Amazon", then they say that first its owner Jeff Bezos chose the name "Cadabra". But then he listened to the opinion of employees, to whom this word resembled “cadaver”, i.e. "dead body". As a result, the name was given in honor of the longest river in the world - the Amazon.

And if you believe that there are variants of names that bring good luck, then you can turn to a numerologist or astrologer. It is possible that esoteric secret knowledge will help you choose the name of the company for a successful business start.