What are brandable names? Indiebrands' guide to picking a name that's catchy

You've all heard of companies like "Adidas" and "Google". Those are names that you simply can't forget.

But what exactly is it to names like those that make them work so perfectly? Read all about it in Indiebrands guide to picking brandable names.

What are brandable names?

There are a few things to take into consideration when searching for a brandable name. We're going to take a look at those right away, but first, let's clear up some misconceptions.

While a brandable name can be a "dictionary word" it doesn't have to be. More and more companies start to ditch the dictionary and concentrate on finding a memorable name.

This brings me right to the second point. Brandable names don't have to represent their industry. Google doesn't include "search" in their name and neither does Uber include "taxi". Sure if you find a brandable name that also fits your industry that can be great as well. But you should be certain that you'll stay in the same industry otherwise it can be difficult to brand new products. But do yourself the favor and don't buy a domain name for upwards of 5.000 $ just because it has "dental" in the name & you want to start a dental business.

Now let's get to the aspects of brandable names that do matter:

• Character-count. This one is pretty simple, the shorter the better. If you want to play it safe stay below 10 characters. Also, besides character count, you should consider syllables. That is even more important than mere character count.

• Easy to read and say. That is especially important when building an international product. Keep the word choices simple by picking names that use catchy structures. It can be great to have the same letter twice, for example, Google, or to have a name that flows, such as Adidas.

• It should be memorable. How do I figure out what is memorable? Try this - make a list including five to ten of our names. Set an alert in one or two days. Which names do you remember? Pick one of those.

• Being vague. We've already cleared the misconception that a brandable name has to be related to the industry they're part of. But what is another advantage of being vague? You don't limit yourself in possibilities - If Google had "Search" in their brand name, it would have been a harder challenge to build products around that name. Being named Google they had the opportunity to brand their products Google Mail, Google Docs, Google Sheets...

You're trying to find a name for your own business?

Doesn't matter if you already have several options to pick from or can't even think of a simple name. There are a few things one should know, before making a rushed decision that can cost you a ton of time or, which would be even worse, an enormous amount of money.

We have two different articles written about the topic. One about different types of names, that can help you decide between 7 unique types of possible names. And another about the several approaches to quality-checks that are crucial to figuring out if a name will work.

Good luck on your business journey! 👌