Your startup's name is the first piece of brand most people encounter. It appears in pitch decks, on business cards, in app stores, on legal documents, in press coverage, and in every customer conversation.
A great name doesn't guarantee success. But a bad name creates friction at every turn — harder to remember, harder to spell, harder to find, harder to take seriously.
Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, is blunt about domain importance:
"If you have a US startup called X and you don't have x.com, you should probably change your name. The problem with not having the .com of your name is that it signals weakness."
— Paul Graham
The data supports this. According to Graham's analysis: 100% of the top 20 YC companies by valuation have their .com domain. 94% of the top 50.
Names stick. Graham warns:
"Whatever name you choose, be careful. Names stick. You need a way to refer to things, and whatever you call something rapidly becomes its name."— Paul Graham
Changing a name later is expensive — legally, operationally, and in accumulated brand equity. Better to get it right from the start.
This guide covers:
Let's find the right name.
Before generating options, understand what you're optimizing for.
Strong startup names share common characteristics:
1. Memorable
The name sticks after one exposure. People can recall it hours or days later without prompting.
Memorability comes from:
Test: Tell someone the name once. Ask them tomorrow. Do they remember?
2. Spellable
People can write the name correctly after hearing it. No ambiguous spellings, unusual letter combinations, or phonetic confusion.
Problem names: Lyft (Lift?), Kaggle (Cagle? Kagle?), Fiverr (Fiver? Fiverr?)
Clean names: Stripe, Notion, Linear, Figma, Slack
Test: Say the name aloud. Can someone type it correctly into a browser?
3. Pronounceable
People can say the name correctly after reading it. No ambiguous pronunciations, unfamiliar letter combinations, or linguistic traps.
Problem names: Huawei, Xiaomi, Nguyen (for non-native speakers)
Clean names: Apple, Google, Amazon, Stripe
Test: Show the name to someone who's never seen it. Do they pronounce it correctly?
4. Distinctive
The name stands out from competitors and category conventions. It doesn't blend into the sea of similar-sounding options.
If your category is full of names ending in "-ly" or "-ify," a different pattern differentiates. If everyone uses abstract tech words, a concrete word stands out.
Test: List the name alongside five competitors. Does it stand out or blend in?
5. Available
The name can actually be used:
Availability is non-negotiable. A perfect name you can't use is worthless.
Test: Check USPTO, domain registrars, and social platforms before falling in love.
6. Appropriate
The name fits your category, audience, and positioning. A playful consumer brand can use a playful name. An enterprise security company probably shouldn't.
Appropriateness isn't about being boring — it's about fit. Slack works for a workplace tool because it subverts expectations cleverly. "Slack" for a hospital management system would feel wrong.
Test: Does the name feel right for your positioning and audience?
7. Scalable
The name accommodates growth. It doesn't lock you into a specific product, market, or geography that you might outgrow.
Amazon started as a bookstore but chose a name that could encompass everything. Pets.com chose a name that trapped them in one category.
Test: If you expand to new products or markets, does the name still work?
Paul Graham offers a useful ranking:
"The best kind of names are the ones that are both cool words and refer to what the company does. The second grade of names are merely cool words. The next grade of names are ones that are mediocre but not actively repulsive."— Paul Graham
Aim for the first tier. Accept the second tier if necessary. Avoid the third.
Names fall into categories, each with strengths and weaknesses.
Names that describe what the company does.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Categories where clarity is paramount and differentiation comes from execution, not brand personality.
Made-up words that don't exist in any language.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Companies with brand-building resources who want maximum distinctiveness and long-term trademark strength.
Existing words used in new contexts.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Startups who can find an evocative word that suggests their positioning without describing it literally.
This is the most common approach for successful tech startups. Stripe suggests clean lines (like the stripes in payment rails). Notion suggests ideas and concepts. Slack subverts the word's negative connotation cleverly.
Names that use metaphor to suggest attributes.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Companies whose positioning has strong emotional or aspirational components that can be expressed through metaphor.
Names based on founders or other people.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Professional services, luxury brands, or companies where founder credibility is a primary differentiator. Less common in tech startups.
Names formed from initials or shortened phrases.
Examples:
Pros:
Cons:
Best for: Established companies evolving away from descriptive names. Rarely a good choice for startups — you don't have the brand equity to make random letters meaningful.
Many successful names combine types:
Compound and portmanteau names can capture the best of multiple approaches.
Naming isn't a brainstorm. It's a rigorous process that balances creativity with practical constraints.
Before generating names, define what you need:
Positioning inputs:
Practical constraints:
Tone/style direction:
Words/themes to explore:
Words/themes to avoid:
This brief guides all creative work and evaluation.
Cast a wide net. Quality comes from quantity — expect to generate 200-500 candidates before finding strong finalists.
Generation techniques:
Brainstorming: List words associated with your product, benefit, category, metaphors, emotions, audience.
Thesaurus exploration: For each promising word, explore synonyms, antonyms, and related terms.
Etymology research: Trace word origins. Latin, Greek, and other roots often yield interesting options.
Compound creation: Combine words, word parts, and morphemes in new ways.
Portmanteau construction: Blend two words (Instagram = instant + telegram).
Foreign language mining: Explore translations of key concepts. Spanish, Italian, Latin, Japanese often yield interesting options.
Name generators: Tools like Namelix, Squadhelp, or Wordoid can spark ideas.
Domain availability filtering: Generate based on available domains using tools like LeanDomainSearch or Domainr.
Don't evaluate during generation. Just capture. Evaluation comes next.
From your large list, apply quick filters:
Pass 1: Gut check
Remove obvious rejects. This isn't rigorous evaluation — just clearing obvious misses.
Pass 2: Criteria check
Remove names that fail basic criteria.
Pass 3: Quick availability check
Remove names with fatal availability issues.
Target: Reduce to 30-50 candidates for deeper evaluation.
For your short list, conduct thorough evaluation:
Linguistic screening:
Trademark search:
Domain deep dive:
Competitive context:
Cultural screening:
Target: Reduce to 5-10 finalists.
Don't decide in a conference room. Test with real people.
Internal testing:
External testing:
Stress testing:
With test feedback, make the call:
Decision criteria:
Decision process:
Commitment:
Before announcing, lock down the name:
Domain:
Trademark:
Social handles:
Corporate entity:
Domain is critical for startups. It affects discoverability, credibility, and operational efficiency.
Paul Graham's advice is clear:
"If you have a US startup called X and you don't have x.com, you should probably change your name. The problem with not having the .com of your name is that it signals weakness."— Paul Graham
The data backs this up. Nearly all successful YC companies have their .com. It signals legitimacy, resources, and long-term thinking.
That said, alternatives can work in specific contexts:
.io: Accepted in tech/developer communities. GitHub, Socket.io. Developer tools can use .io without credibility loss.
.co: Somewhat accepted as .com alternative. Twitter.co (for link shortening), Plasso.co. Some consumer acceptance.
.ai: Increasingly common for AI companies. Jasper.ai, Copy.ai. Category-appropriate.
Country codes: Work when market is country-specific. .de for Germany, .co.uk for UK. But limit global perception.
If your ideal .com is taken:
1. Check if it's for sale
2. Make an offer
3. Use a domain broker
4. Wait for expiration
5. Modify the name
6. Different name
Trademark protection is essential. Without it, you can't prevent others from using your name and may even be forced to rebrand.
What can be trademarked:
Trademark strength spectrum:
For startups, aim for fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive marks. Descriptive names are hard to protect.
1. Preliminary search
2. Comprehensive search
3. Professional search
US process (USPTO):
Timeline: 8-12 months typical
International protection:
Work with a trademark attorney. Filing mistakes can be costly and are easily avoided with professional help.
If your search reveals potential conflicts:
Evaluate the risk:
Options:
Don't ignore trademark risks. Cease-and-desist letters arrive at the worst possible times, and forced rebrands are expensive.
The story:
Stripe was originally called /dev/payments — a reference to the Unix directory structure (dev = device). Clever for developers, but problematic:
The Collison brothers chose "Stripe" because:
Lessons:
The story:
Slack stands for "Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge" — a backronym created after the name was chosen.
Stewart Butterfield chose "Slack" because:
The negative connotation was a feature, not a bug. It signaled that Slack understood workplace culture and had a sense of humor.
Lessons:
The story:
Figma comes from the Latin word "figmentum" (something made or imagined), from "fingere" (to shape).
The name works because:
Lessons:
The story:
Airbnb evolved from "AirBed & Breakfast" — the original concept (air mattresses in founders' apartment).
The name compressed as the company grew:
Lessons:
The story:
Mailchimp combined "mail" (the product) with "chimp" (playful, approachable).
The name succeeded because:
Lessons:
Naming agencies (specialist firms):
Budget: $30K-$150K+ for comprehensive naming projects.
Branding agencies with naming capability:
Budget: $15K-$50K as part of broader engagement.
Crowdsourcing platforms:
Budget: $200-$500 for contest; marketplace names vary.
Independent naming consultants:
Budget: $5K-$25K typical.
Research phase:
Generation phase:
Evaluation phase:
Deliverables:
The value isn't just creativity — it's avoiding expensive mistakes. Professional namers have seen thousands of naming projects and know what pitfalls to avoid.
Namelix — AI-powered generator. Enter keywords, get branded name suggestions with logos. Good for initial exploration.
Squadhelp — Crowdsourced naming contests plus curated marketplace of pre-vetted names.
Wordoid — Creates made-up words based on language patterns. Useful for invented names.
Panabee — Name search with domain availability checking. Shows related ideas.
LeanDomainSearch — Pairs your keyword with other words, shows only available .com domains.
Bust a Name — Combines words, checks domain availability.
Naminum — Word combiner with domain checking.
Domainr — Fast availability search across all TLDs. Clean interface.
Namecheap — Domain registration, competitive pricing.
GoDaddy Auctions — Marketplace for premium domains.
Sedo — Large domain marketplace, brokerage services.
Park.io — Backorder expiring domains.
Whois — Domain ownership lookup.
Wayback Machine — Check domain history.
USPTO TESS — US trademark search database. Free, essential.
EUIPO TMview — European trademark search.
WIPO Global Brand Database — International trademark search.
Trademarkia — Simplified search interface, filing services.
TrademarkNow — Professional trademark screening.
Etymonline — Etymology dictionary. Trace word origins.
Thesaurus.com — Synonym exploration.
OneLook — Reverse dictionary, pattern matching.
RhymeZone — Rhymes, near-rhymes, related words.
Google Translate — Check meanings in other languages (with caution).
Founders generate the "perfect" name, tell everyone, print business cards — then discover the trademark is taken or domain is $500K.
Fix: Check availability before emotional attachment. Preliminary screens first, deep evaluation before commitment.
"CloudSync Solutions" or "DataFlow Analytics" — descriptive names that are impossible to trademark and indistinguishable from competitors.
Fix: Aim for suggestive, arbitrary, or fanciful marks. Descriptive names are legally weak and competitively generic.
Puns, cultural references, or wordplay that work in English but confuse international audiences or have unfortunate meanings elsewhere.
Fix: Screen names in target market languages. Test pronunciation with non-native speakers. Avoid culture-specific references if you'll go global.
Names that are awkward in sentences, hard to verb, or don't work as file names, email domains, or app store entries.
Fix: Stress test names in realistic contexts. Put them in emails, URLs, conversation. Identify friction before committing.
Trying to find a name that satisfies all stakeholders produces bland compromise.
Fix: Gather input broadly, decide narrowly. Small group (2-3 people) makes final call. Stakeholder veto power kills good names.
Settling for a weak name because the .com is available, rather than finding a strong name and investing in the domain.
Fix: Budget for domain acquisition. A $10K-$50K domain for a strong name beats a free domain for a weak name.
Endless evaluation, never committing. Every name has flaws if you look hard enough.
Fix: Set a deadline. Define decision criteria. Accept that no name is perfect. Commitment makes names work.
Before finalizing your name, verify:
☐ Memorable. People recall it after one exposure.
☐ Spellable. People can type it correctly after hearing it.
☐ Pronounceable. People can say it correctly after reading it.
☐ Distinctive. It stands out from competitors.
☐ Appropriate. It fits your category and positioning.
☐ Scalable. It works as you grow to new products/markets.
☐ Domain available. .com is secured (or acceptable alternative).
☐ Trademark clearable. No blocking conflicts in relevant classes.
☐ Socially available. Key handles secured or plan in place.
☐ Linguistically safe. No problematic meanings in target languages.
☐ Stakeholder aligned. Decision-makers are committed.
☐ Legally protected. Trademark application filed.
Your startup's name will appear billions of times over the company's life — in conversations, on screens, in documents, in memories. It deserves serious attention.
The good news: naming has a process. Follow the steps, apply the criteria, check availability, test with real people, and commit. You'll find a name that works.
The names that seem inevitable today — Google, Amazon, Stripe, Slack, Airbnb — all felt like risky choices when they were made. They became "right" through committed use and brand building.
Your name will too.
If you're launching a startup, rebranding, or struggling to find a name that works — we can help.
Metabrand offers naming services for tech startups, from strategic brief through trademark filing. We combine creative exploration with rigorous screening to find names that are distinctive, available, and built to last.
Or continue with the guide:
Part of the Startup Branding Guide by Metabrand.
