Choosing a business name is one of the most important steps when starting a business. It takes a lot of brainstorming and considerations to ensure that the business name you eventually choose reflects the brand identity you intend to create and resonates with your target audience. In this article, we will share strategies that will help you generate a business name that you will be proud of.
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Things to Avoid When Choosing a Business Name
Although at your discretion, here are some things we suggest that you avoid when choosing a business name.
Do not include “….. and sons”
Ogi Emma, this is 2025. Unless you really want to, there’s no need adding “and sons” to your business name e.g Oga Emma and Sons.
Apart from the fact that your sons might not be interested in continuing the business, you might get stuck if you decide to sell the business in the future as the buyers may need to rebrand.
This style is outdated.
Avoid using common or generic names
It might seem tempting to choose a name that broadly describes your industry (like Fast delivery, Best collections LTD, Tech Solutions etc). These kinds of names have obviously been overused by so many other businesses.
Generic names fail to differentiate your business from the competition, making it nearly impossible for customers to find you online or remember your brand. You’ll be lost in a web of hundreds of similar businesses, struggling to establish a unique identity.
Instead, aim for a name that is distinctive, memorable, and reflects the specific value your business offers. A unique name helps you stand out, attracts attention, and builds a strong brand presence.
Avoid acronyms (Optional)
While acronyms might seem clever or concise, acronyms often create confusion or does not do justice to what your business is all about. Customers will struggle to decipher its meaning, making it difficult for them to recall your business name or recommend it to others. Businesses with an acronym may need to spend more money on branding before the name sticks with customers.
Furthermore, acronyms may lack the clarity that a full business name can convey. In most cases, spelling out your business name is clearer, more memorable, and effective in building brand recognition.
If you are registering an acronym as your business name, we suggest that you also trademark the full word to prevent a competitor from registering the name in the future.
Don’t choose a name that’s hard to spell or pronounce
Do not make it hard for people to pronounce your business name, they will easily forget it. If you are a Nigerian, run away from names like Worcestershire Real Estate LTD or Sesquipedalian resources.
Keep it simple.
Do not imitate another brand
So you saw two businesses in the fashion niche, House of Zerubabel and House of Tasha, they are successful and you love the name, then you name yours House of Deborah. Simply copying a naming style because it’s currently popular in your industry shows a lack of originality and fails to capture the unique essence of the brand you are about to create.
Customers are drawn to authenticity and distinctiveness. By mimicking existing names, you’ll blend in with the crowd and struggle to create a memorable impression.
Instead of following trends, focus on crafting a name that reflects your brand’s goals or core values.
4 Ways to generate a business name for your new business
Before you start brainstorming for a name, take a piece of paper and write down what your business is all about. If you are a logistics business, you could write something like “We specialize in moving goods seamlessly from point A to point B, ensuring timely and cost-effective delivery”
Leave a space and write down what makes your business different from others. A logistics business could write something in this line;
- We provide shipment tracking for all goods shipped through us.
- We ship within 5 working days anywhere in Nigeria and two weeks to other countries.
- We offer door to door shipments.
- Competitive pricing.
- We ship to all African countries.
After you have completed this task, use any of the methods listed below to generate a business name.
1. Combine words creatively
Now read the business description and characteristics you wrote down in your note. Check for words that stand out.
Here is an example;
Description: We specialize in moving goods seamlessly from point A to point B, ensuring timely and cost-effective delivery.
Words that stand out: Fast, Affordable, Logistics
Characteristics:
- We provide shipment tracking for all goods shipped through us (Tracking, Reliable)
- We ship within 5 days to anywhere in Nigeria and two weeks to other African countries. (Fast, Speed, Africa).
- We offer door to door shipments (door to door, last mile delivery).
- Competitive pricing (Affordable, cheap).
- We ship to all African countries (Africa).
Using the words that stand out from the example example above, we can creatively form business names like;
- Fastavo Logistics (Fast/Speed)
- Reliance Africa Logistics (Reliable, Africa)
- SwiftTrack Logistics (Fast/Speed, Tracking)
- Eagle speed logistics (Fast/Speed)
- D2D Express (Door to Door)
If you are unable to come up with a name at this point, read the next paragraph.
2. Use AI to generate a business name
We are in the age of Artificial intelligence and the capabilities of AI keep increasing. AI can help you ease the burden of generating a business name.
Here’s how to do it, open your favourite AI tool, we recommend Gemini or Chatgpt.
Type what your business is about and how your business is different from your competitors. If you performed the tasks above, just paste it into the AI tool.
Then write a prompt telling Gemini or Chatgpt to suggest business names based on the description and characteristics you gave.
Here’s a template we used for the logistics business above;
I'm trying to come up with a business name for a logistics company. We specialize in moving goods seamlessly from point A to point B, ensuring timely and cost-effective delivery.
We are different from our competitors because;
We provide shipment tracking for all goods shipped through us.
We ship within 5 working days anywhere in Nigeria and two weeks to other countries.
We offer door to door shipments.
Competitive pricing.
We ship to all African countries.
Looking at this description and characteristics, suggest a business name”
Once you submit, a list of business name ideas will appear. If you do not like the names, you can tweak the description or characteristics and repeat the process.
3. Try business name generator tools
Business name generator tools are web tools that can help you generate a business name by entering a keyword and a description of your business. Some tools will require you to select the industry your business operates in.
There are so many business name generator tools online. Here are some that we recommend;
For this example, we will use Namelix. Visit the Namelix business name generator tool, enter three keywords about your business.
For the logistics business example we gave earlier, we will enter the keywords as “Fast Reliable Logistics”, click on generate.
Select the naming style you prefer. We chose Brandable names, you can choose any style you want. Click on next to proceed.
Select the generation randomness, for this we will choose medium.
The next stage is where you need to enter your business description. Paste the description you wrote earlier in the appropriate box and click on generate.
Namelix will display a list of names that you can use for your business. This list is based on the inputs you entered. You can restart the process and change your inputs if you do not like the result.
4. Use your Name
If you fancy using your name as your business name, you can either use it as it is or modify it to make it more unique.
Below is a list of popular businesses named after their founders;
- Dangote Group
- Ford (Henry Ford)
- Coscharis Motors (a modification of Cosmas and his wife Charity)
- Disney (Walt Disney)
- Gucci (Guccio Gucci)
- Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren)
- Tommy Hilfiger (Tommy Hilfiger)
- Dell (Michael Dell)
- Toyota (Kiichiro Toyoda, slightly modified).
- Innosun (Innocent Chukwuma, slightly modified)
We hope that you have been able to generate a business name using any of the methods above.
After generating a business name, the next step is to search if the name has not been used by another business. You can read our article on how to search a business name on CAC.
If you are certain that no other business bears the same name, you can proceed with registering your business with CAC.
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