Take a quick scan of the oldest brands still operating in the United States, and you’ll learn something about the naming trends of the 18th and 19th centuries: slap your last name on the product, and you’re good to go. From Colgate to Jim Beam, America’s most enduring brands are named for their founders.
Fast forward to 2024, and this approach doesn’t cut it. A record-breaking 5.5 million new business applications were made in 2023, so for new brands and startups it’s never been more important to come up with a name that makes you stand out. That’s no easy task. Summing up your brand in a few characters is hard enough, but finding a unique name that sticks in customers’ minds is even harder. In today’s competitive markets, you have to be creative and playful. The dictionary is only the starting point, and you may invent a new word altogether.
But there are rules in language. Rather than hampering your creativity, however, these rules form guidelines that can direct your naming process. They help you understand why certain character combinations snap, crackle, and pop, and why other names are a damp squib (an expression in England that means something is disappointing because it’s not as exciting as expected).
So let’s take a closer look at the linguistic strategies employed by the biggest brands and fastest-growing startups to create a name you — and your customers — remember.
7 Technical Tricks for a Powerful Brand Name
Your brand name must connect to your mission and values, and consumer research should ground your shortlist. When it’s time to get creative, however, leveraging linguistic tricks will help create a creative and memorable brand name that your customers love.
1. Morphological Innovation
Morphology is the study of how words are formed. Coming up with a creative name requires some innovation on the morphology of existing words, and there are some established patterns in how brands do this. These often form the basis of enduring naming trends, such as the -ify addition to Spotify or Shopify, or the -ly addition exemplified by brands like Oatly and Grammarly.
Customer familiarity with naming trends helps brands acquire instant recognition, but some are more memorable than others. Our own research found that consumers are almost twice as likely to consider -ify names memorable than -ly names.
2. Orthographic Playfulness
Orthography controls the way a language is written, including verb conjugation and phonetic rules. Every English speaker has an inherent understanding of the orthography of the English language — this knowledge, often unconscious, can be played upon by brands to invent creative names that customers will instantly recognize. This could include:
- Phonetic Spelling: Altering the spelling of a common word to reflect its phonetic pronunciation can make a name stand out while still being familiar, such as Lyft instead of Lift. Research from AtomRadar found that a creative misspelling is consumers’ favorite naming trend, considered interesting by 54% of respondents and memorable by 44%.
- Letter Substitution: Replacing one letter with another or introducing digraphs can give a name a modern edge. Flickr and Tumblr created unique yet memorable names with this trick.
- Letter Removal: Removing a letter to create a double meaning within the name, such as virtual reality mental health app oVRcome.
3. Consonant Vowel Consonant Structures
A CVC word is a word that is made up of three letters following the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant. They form simple and highly memorable structures that are cognitively easy to process and pronounce, which is why they are often the first words children learn to read. Cat, dog, dad, sit, hot, and mat are all examples of CVC words.
This structure often creates names that are balanced and rhythmic. CVC patterns can also be used to create powerful brand names. Gap, for example, uses this pattern to create a highly memorable name (the power of which is demonstrated in their minimalist G – A – P logo.
Because CVC words are extremely short, they can pose problems for trademarking and domain acquisition, so the CVC trick is often used in combination with another word to create a punchy yet unique name, such as TikTok and Hubspot.
4. Consonant Clusters and Sibilance
For brand recognition, the sound of your name could be as important as its meaning. Sound is primal and can encourage customers to form a subconscious connection with your brand.
Consonant clusters, pairs, or groups of consonants in close proximity, create a punchy or sophisticated feel. For example, Stripe uses the punchy /str/ consonant to imply stability and strength.
Sibilance refers to the repetition of the /s/ sound which creates a sense of fluidity within a name, making it memorable through a distinct auditory signature. This trick has been particularly popular in tech, where Salesforce, Squarespace, and Cisco form examples.
5. Phonaesthetics
Sound doesn’t have to stop at the syllable. Phonoaesthetics enables brands to emphasize elements of brand positioning through the audible associations of your name.
Euphonic (pleasant-sounding names) as well as cacophonic (harsh-sounding names) can be used to create sound patterns that stick strongly in a customer’s mind and contribute to how customers perceive you. Zynga uses the harsh /z/ and /g/ sounds to convey a strong, edgy brand while Chanel implies luxury through the soft /ch/.
Additionally, names can evoke multisensory experiences, invoking flavor, movement, and color to create synesthesia. BuzzFeed, for example, creates a vivid mental image through the suggestion of sound and movement.
6. Prosodic Features
Prosody refers to the rhythm of speech: the stress patterns and rhyme and meter contained in a word or combination of words. The placement of stress in a name can affect its memorability and impact: Tesla is a stronger brand name than Ford, for example, thanks to the primary stress on the first syllable which gives it a strong initial impact.
Additionally, names that follow a natural rhythm or meter are easier to remember and often feel more ‘complete’ to customers, making them satisfying to say and hear. ‘Alibaba’ follows a trochaic meter, where the stress is placed on the first syllable to create a clear, punchy name.
On the other hand, words like canoe and éclair follow an iambic meter, where the stress is placed on the second syllable. They may lack an immediate impact, but come across as calm and measured.
7. Graphotactics and Visual Impact
Humans are highly visual creatures and, surrounded by screens, we’re presented with more visual imagery than ever before. The visual impact of your name can lead to synergy with your visual branding elements such as logos, as well as help your name stand out on the page or screen and stick in peoples’ minds.
Consider letter shape and symmetry, which contribute to a name’s visual appeal. Brand names that pivot around a symmetrical letter, such as Volvo and Revolut, are visually appealing, while anagram names like Sonos or Aviva can be used to create highly impactful brand design.
So What’s in a Name?
In 2024, brands should leverage every trick in the book to find a name that rolls off the tongue — and into the minds of your customers’ friends, family, and peers. Technical strategies leveraging linguistics and psychology are an important part of this strategy.
So how important are these linguistic tricks? Well, brands like Kodak, Xerox, and Häagen-Dazs have all demonstrated that a name needn’t mean anything at all: these brands made up entirely new words and founded globally successful brands based on the inherent qualities of these creative combinations of letters. You could say that shows character.
Final thought
If you’re selling worldwide, be sure to consider the impact of your brand name will have when viewed in different languages and by different cultures. You don’t want to offend, but you still want your brand name to stand out.
You’ll find more blogs concerning ways to build brand awareness in this list.
