Finding a Brand Name: Criteria and Checks

Criteria

• Easy to pronounce and spell
• Memorable and distinctive
• In keeping with the brand’s attitude, without limiting its future
• Unproblematic internationally, if relevant
• Available as a domain and in profiles
• No risk of confusion with existing brands

Process

1. Clarify positioning and target audience
2. Develop naming directions: descriptive, symbolic, invented
3. Selection and first tests (pronunciation, impression)
4. Checks: domain, trade mark register, commercial register, social networks
5. Legal clearance by a specialist and, if needed, a trade mark application

Naming directions compared

• Descriptive (for example “Stuttgarter Dachdeckerei”): Immediately understandable, but hard to protect and barely distinctive.
• Symbolic (a word with an image that conveys something): Memorable, but needs explaining through a logo or an added line.
• Invented (a new word): Highly distinctive and often easier to protect, but meaning has to be built up through communication.
• Family name: Credible and personal, but ties the brand to the person if the business is sold or passes to the next generation.

Common mistakes

• Chosen too narrowly: A name tied to a place or a single service becomes a brake as soon as the offering expands.
• Difficult spelling: If people have to spell the name out over the phone, you lose visitors who are searching for it.
• Domain thought of first, trade mark last: An available domain does not mean the name is free of third-party rights.
• Overlooking the meaning in another language: In markets outside Germany, a word can mean something unsuitable.
• Similar sound: Even names that merely sound similar can cause problems if they are used in the same industry.

Practical example: from a dozen to a favourite

Suppose the founder of a consultancy collects twelve names. First he strikes out three that are hard to pronounce and two that he would have to spell out over the phone. Of the remaining seven, two are taken as domains and one is already known as a brand in the same industry. That leaves four. He asks five people who don’t know him which name they would expect to belong to a consultancy, and strikes out one more. For the three that remain, he checks the legal position with expert help, and only then orders the domain and business cards. The order matters: checks first, then the money for printing and design.

Myth versus fact

Myth: If the .de domain is free, the name is free. Fact: Domain and trade mark are separate things. A free domain only means that nobody has registered it yet. Trade mark and name rights can exist independently of that. So check the domain, the trade mark register and the practice in your industry, and take legal advice if in doubt. The name later forms the basis for the colour palette and the logo.

Name test with strangers

The simplest test costs nothing: say the name aloud to five people and ask them to write it down. If the spelling often differs, you will have problems later with search and word-of-mouth recommendation. Then ask which industry they suppose it belongs to and what feeling the name evokes. This is no substitute for market research, but it reveals obvious misunderstandings before money flows into the logo, signage and print.

Added line and subtitle

A name does not have to do everything. An invented or symbolic name can be combined with a clear addition that names the service, for example “Name + tax advice”. That keeps the name distinctive, and visitors know straight away what it is about. This addition can be changed later if your offering shifts, while the name stays.

An availability check is not a substitute for legal advice. We help with ideas and preliminary checks; legal protection is a matter for a specialist lawyer. See Brand strategy.