How to choose a business name with your team

1. Write the brief before writing names

A useful naming brief fits in a few sentences. Say who the business helps, what it offers and how it should feel. Then agree on the requirements that would rule a name out. Separate those requirements from personal preferences.

For a fictional studio making lighting for small homes, the brief might be: ‘Warm, thoughtful lighting for compact spaces. The name should be easy to say in our customers’ languages and leave room for products beyond lamps.’ ‘Must include the word lamp’ would conflict with that last requirement.

• Audience: who will hear, say and search for this name?
• Meaning: what should the name suggest, and what should it avoid?
• Practical needs: languages, domain endings and places where it must work.
• Decision: who will make the final choice, and when will you review the shortlist?

2. Collect ideas before judging them

Give each person time to suggest names independently before the group discussion. Keep every candidate in one place, with a short explanation of the idea behind it. This gives quieter contributors a chance to be heard and prevents the first suggestion from defining the whole conversation.

Try a few directions: a direct description, a metaphor, a familiar word used in a new context, or an invented word. These are creative starting points, not rules. A name generator can supply prompts, but its output still needs the same checks as an idea from a person.

3. Make a small shortlist against the brief

Choose a manageable set to investigate—three to five finalists is a useful starting point. For each one, write why it fits the brief and its largest unresolved concern. Keep ‘I dislike it’ separate from ‘customers could mistake it for another business.’ Both deserve discussion, but they need different evidence.

Do not turn missing information into a failure. Use Not checked or Needs review when a check is unfinished. Equally, do not call a name available just because nobody has raised an objection.

4. Try the names in ordinary situations

Say each name in a short introduction: ‘Hello, I’m calling from …’ Ask someone to write it after hearing it, and ask what kind of business they expect. Try it in a plain email signature and a small page heading before investing in a logo.

Use the same questions for every candidate. Ask ‘What did you think we do?’ before explaining the intended meaning. Record the actual feedback, including misunderstandings. A small informal test helps uncover questions; it does not prove what an entire market will think.

• Can someone repeat and spell it after hearing it?
• Does it still fit when the business adds another product?
• Is its meaning appropriate in the languages your customers use?
• Do search results reveal a business people might confuse it with?

5. Keep domain, registry and trademark checks separate

A domain result answers a different question from a business-register or trademark search. Track each separately, with its source, date and unresolved questions. An available domain is not evidence that you can use or register the business name.

Use the official registry and intellectual-property resources relevant to the places where you plan to operate. For a finalist, get qualified advice where needed before committing to branding. Esmii checks domains automatically; registry, trademark and other custom answers are recorded by your team. It does not provide legal clearance or register a domain for you.

6. Compare the evidence, then decide

Consider the fictional lighting studio again. Candidate A is easy to spell but sounds limited to lamps. Candidate B fits future products, but two testers pronounce it differently. Candidate C gets the strongest team response, while a required check is still unfinished. These are illustrative candidates, not researched name recommendations.

The next action is not automatically ‘choose C.’ Assign someone to finish its check, test B’s pronunciation again and decide whether A’s narrow meaning really conflicts with the brief. Bring those answers to the next review. The useful output is a decision with reasons, or a short list of specific questions—not another unstructured brainstorm.

In Esmii, put the candidates in one project, configure the checks you need and invite your co-founders. Compare names in Board or List view and collect Yes, No or Not decided responses. Your team makes the final decision; Esmii does not declare an automatic winner.

Official trademark research

The WIPO Global Brand Database is one starting point for trademark research. WIPO also recommends checking relevant national or regional registers and consulting a trademark attorney where needed; its database does not cover every register.