Falling for a name is easy. It sounds right in your head, it looks good in the mockup, and by the end of the evening you have pictured the launch. The tests below take an afternoon, cost almost nothing and tell you whether the name will still feel right after a thousand customer calls.
1. The phone test
Call a friend, say the name once and ask them to type it into a browser. This is the closest you can get to how most people will meet your brand, through someone else saying it. If they ask how it is spelled, note what confused them. Silent letters, doubled letters and letters that sound alike, such as c and k, are the usual suspects.
2. The reading test
Now do the reverse. Show three people the written name for two seconds, take it away and ask them to say it. If they pronounce it three different ways, decide which version you want and make sure the spelling supports it. On our name pages we split every name into syllables, like fo·zur or dil·re, for exactly this reason.
3. The small-size test
Type the name in the font you plan to use and shrink it to the size of a browser tab icon, then blow it up to the size of a shop sign. Letters like i, l and r can blur together when small. Names with a clear rhythm of tall and short letters stay readable at any size.
4. The language check
Before you commit, find out what the name means in the languages of your customers. Online dictionaries cover the obvious cases, and a native speaker will catch slang that no dictionary lists.
A hidden meaning is often a gift. velst.com opens the Danish and Norwegian word for prosperity, itoru.com holds ito, the Japanese word for thread, and stigu.com comes from the Latvian and Swedish words for a path. You simply want to know what your name says before your customers tell you.
5. The trademark search
Search the free public databases for your main markets. TMview covers the European Union and many national offices, the USPTO search covers the United States, and the Global Brand Database from WIPO covers much of the world. Look for identical or similar names in the same class of goods and services as yours.
For a name you plan to build a company on, an hour with a trademark attorney is money well spent.
6. The stretch test
Write down the product you hope to sell in five years, not just the one you are launching. Does the name still fit? Names built from a feature, such as a word for invoices or photos, can feel tight once the company grows. Brandable names have no such ceiling, which is why so many software companies end up with one.
7. The search test
Type the exact name into a search engine and see what comes up. A name with few results gives you a clean field to rank in. A name that shares its results with a big brand in another industry can still work, though you will be competing for attention from the first day.
When a name passes
If a name passes most of these tests, buy the .com before someone else does. Every name in the DOMYR.COM catalog was picked with these checks in mind, and each name page shows the meanings we found in other languages, how it sounds and three sample logos, so a good part of the work is already done.