How to name a startup: a practical checklist

To name a startup, agree what the company stands for first, then build a long list across several naming routes, cut it with three tests (can people say it, can they spell it, can you own it), run trade mark and domain checks on the survivors, and test the last two or three with people who don’t know you. The name that wins is rarely the one everyone liked in the first meeting. It’s the one still standing after the checks.

How hard that is depends on three things: how crowded your category is, how many markets you plan to trade in, and how attached the founders already are to a name. A developer tool launching in one country has more room than a fintech launching in Australia and the US in the same year, because every extra market is another register to clear and another language to check.

1. What should you decide before you start naming?

A name is a compressed version of your positioning. If the team can’t say who the company is for and what it does differently, the naming session turns into a vote on taste, and taste votes favour whatever sounds like the last successful company anyone read about.

Before anyone writes a candidate down, write three sentences: who you’re for, what you do for them that others don’t, and how you want to sound. Then write down the practical limits.

• Which markets you expect to trade in over the next few years, since each one adds a trade mark register and a language check.
• Whether the name has to stretch to products you haven’t built yet, or can stay close to the first one.
• Whether the company and the product need to share a name.
• What the name must never be confused with: a competitor, a regulated term, or a word with a bad meaning in a market you care about.

This is the stage most teams skip, and it’s why so many naming exercises stall. At Refract we treat naming as part of brand and mission work rather than a standalone list of words, because a shortlist only makes sense against an agreed position.

2. What kinds of names are there?

Most names fall into a handful of routes. Generate candidates across all of them before you pick a favourite, because the route decides what the name can do for you and how hard it will be to protect.

• Descriptive names say what you do. They’re clear on day one, usually hard to register as a trade mark and hard to stand out with.
• Suggestive names hint at a quality or benefit without stating it. They’re often the best balance of meaning and ownability.
• Arbitrary names borrow a real word with no connection to the product, the way Apple has nothing to do with computers. They’re distinctive and protectable, but need a brand to give them meaning.
• Invented names are coined words. They’re the easiest to own and find a domain for, and the hardest to remember until people have heard them a few times.
• Compound names join two words or parts. They’re flexible, but the category is crowded because everyone else had the same idea.
• Founder and place names are personal and durable, though they say little about what you do and tie the brand to something that may change.

Why descriptive names trap technical companies

Engineers often want a name that explains the product. The trouble is that descriptive names are the weakest kind to protect, and in a technical category they tend to sound like a feature rather than a company. Trade mark examiners in Australia and the US are generally reluctant to give one business exclusive rights to words that simply describe the goods or services. If your name will need a sentence of explanation either way, choose the one you can own.

3. How do you cut a long list down to a shortlist?

A long list should be long, into the hundreds if you can get there. Cut it with three tests, in this order, and be strict about each.

Say it

Read each name aloud to someone and ask them to repeat it back. If they hesitate over the stress or the vowel, the name will be mispronounced on every sales call and podcast you ever do. Check it in the accents of the markets you’re entering, not only your own.

Spell it

This is the radio test. Say the name once, with nothing written down, and ask the listener to type it into a search bar. Every silent letter, doubled consonant or swapped vowel sends a share of your word of mouth to someone else’s website.

Own it

Search the name on its own, the name with your category, and the obvious misspellings. If the first page belongs to a company in an adjacent space, a famous product or a common phrase, you’ll spend years competing for your own name in search results. Then check whether the matching social handles are free or obtainable.

A name you can’t own is a name you’re renting from whoever got there first.

4. How do you check whether a startup name is available?

Availability has several layers, and a business name registration doesn’t cover the one that matters most. In Australia, registering a business or company name with ASIC lets you trade under it but gives you no exclusive rights to it. A registered trade mark can give you exclusive rights for the goods and services it covers. Registration and legal clearance are separate from finding an available business name.

Run a first trade mark search yourself

Use IP Australia’s trade mark search for Australia and the USPTO search for the United States. Look for similar wording, spelling and sounds as well as exact matches, and consider related goods and services. Do not treat a different class number or an empty exact-match search as clearance. A trade mark professional can help define the relevant scope.

A register search won’t catch everything. Unregistered businesses can hold rights through use, particularly in the US, so search the web and the app stores too. Once you have two or three finalists, pay a trade mark attorney for a clearance opinion before you spend anything on identity. It costs far less than renaming after launch. If you’re working with a studio, Refract included, ask for that clearance to happen before the design work starts.

Domains and handles

You don’t need the exact-match .com, but you need a domain you won’t be embarrassed to say out loud. A prefix or suffix such as get, try or hq is fine at the start; a name that only works with three extra words attached is not. Check the registry’s current eligibility rules for the domain extension you choose. If the domain you want is taken, check whether its owner is using it. A parked domain can often be bought. A domain used by an active business may be unavailable and can signal a naming conflict.

5. How should you test a name with real people?

Don’t run a poll. Asking people which name they like rewards the familiar and punishes anything distinctive, and every new name feels strange before it has a brand around it. Test for the jobs a name has to do instead.

• Recall: show three or four finalists, take them away, and ask the next day which ones people remember.
• Spelling: say each name once and ask people to write it down.
• Association: ask what kind of company each name suggests, and listen for anything you don’t want attached to you.
• Language: ask native speakers in each target market whether the name means anything, sounds like anything or is awkward to say.
• Fit: set each finalist in a real line from your homepage and a real email signature, and read them side by side.

Then decide, and stop testing. Every name has a detractor. The useful question is whether its weaknesses are the kind that a good identity and consistent use will wear down, or the kind that will follow you into every market.

6. How does Refract approach naming?

We name companies as part of brand and mission work, alongside identity, voice and narrative, because a name chosen in isolation tends to be undone by the first identity that can’t carry it. The starting point is usually a positioning sprint: a few focused sessions to agree who you’re for, what you stand for and how you sound.

It begins with listening to your team, a few customers and people who chose someone else, because the words customers use about you are better raw material than anything generated in a workshop. From there we agree the position, write a voice guide with examples, and plan what comes next, which is often the name and the identity built on it.

If your team can’t say what makes you different in one line, start there, before anyone opens a domain registrar. Projects start at A$15k and scale to A$100k+, depending on what you need, with the scope fixed and the price agreed before work starts. You own everything we make.

7. Questions

Should a startup name describe what the company does?

Usually not entirely. Descriptive names are clear on day one but are hard to register as trade marks and hard to stand out with, so a suggestive or invented name is often the better long-term choice.

Do I need the .com domain for my startup name?

No. Plenty of companies launch on a modified .com, a country domain or a newer extension and buy the exact match later. It matters more that the domain is easy to say and spell, and that nobody active in your space owns the obvious version.

Does registering a business name protect it in Australia?

No. Registering a business name or company name with ASIC lets you trade under it but gives you no exclusive rights to it. A registered trade mark can provide exclusive rights for specified goods and services. Check the proposed name with a qualified trade mark professional before committing.

When should I involve a trade mark attorney in naming?

Once you have two or three finalists and before you pay for identity design. A self-search on IP Australia or the USPTO rules names out, and an attorney’s clearance opinion helps you assess the legal risks before committing.

Can a startup change its name later?

Yes, but it gets more expensive the more customers, search history and contracts sit under the old name. Renaming before launch costs far less than renaming after it.

How many names should be on a final naming shortlist?

Two or three. Fewer leaves nothing to fall back on if a trade mark search fails, and more turns the final decision into a vote rather than a judgement.