Naming a business

[tim0409]

Hi,

I've been working on starting a business for some time but I'm really struggling to come up with a name that can be trademarked and that has a decent domain available, and would really value some feedback from what I suspect will be a target demographic. My idea is to manufacture and sell a very limited range of high quality clothing (luxury essentials), so branding is an important consideration. Having gone round in circles I struggle to imagine various names sounding "right", although I suspect this happens over time when the brand becomes known.

My initial idea was to call it after myself, as my name is short and I have the uk domain - www.timday.co.uk or www.timday.co but I struggle with this.

A more off the wall idea was to call it Tim + Fred - I spend a lot of time walking (and thinking) when out with my Vizsla (Fred), and whilst it sounds faintly ridiculous, it's probably no more so than most brand names...

Any thoughts/ideas/inspiration would be really helpful.

Thanks

Tim

[Louis Balfour]

tim0409 said:

Hi,

I've been working on starting a business for some time but I'm really struggling to come up with a name that can be trademarked and that has a decent domain available, and would really value some feedback from what I suspect will be a target demographic. My idea is to manufacture and sell a very limited range of high quality clothing (luxury essentials), so branding is an important consideration. Having gone round in circles I struggle to imagine various names sounding "right", although I suspect this happens over time when the brand becomes known.

My initial idea was to call it after myself, as my name is short and I have the uk domain - www.timday.co.uk or www.timday.co but I struggle with this.

A more off the wall idea was to call it Tim + Fred - I spend a lot of time walking (and thinking) when out with my Vizsla (Fred), and whilst it sounds faintly ridiculous, it's probably no more so than most brand names...

Any thoughts/ideas/inspiration would be really helpful.

Thanks

Tim

It doesn't matter very much. The name isn't what will make your business successful.

You aren't the only one in clothing to struggle for a name: https://find-and-update.company-information.servic...

[tim0409]

Louis Balfour said:

It doesn't matter very much. The name isn't what will make your business successful.

You aren't the only one in clothing to struggle for a name: https://find-and-update.company-information.servic...

That's a really good point, and I'm probably overthinking this!

[Desiderata]

A "posh" sounding name is good for selling "posh" things. How about Frederick Timothy esq.?

[InitialDave]

Maybe use the long form of your first name, assuming it's Timothy.

"I ordered some new shirts from Timothy Day" sounds like perfectly sensible sentence to me.

[Louis Balfour]

Desiderata said:

A "posh" sounding name is good for selling "posh" things. How about Frederick Timothy esq.?

That will help him sell more clothes if we are all transported back to the early 1970s.

[anonymous-user]

InitialDave said:

Maybe use the long form of your first name, assuming it's Timothy.

"I ordered some new shirts from Timothy Day" sounds like perfectly sensible sentence to me.

Desiderata said:

A "posh" sounding name is good for selling "posh" things. How about Frederick Timothy esq.?

Yes and Yes.

Use Timothy instead of Tim. I like the Frederick Timothy, or Timothy Frederick.

I'm not a branding expert (although I have named a business, built it up and sold it) but I can't help but feel that it helps to have a posh sounding name if you are selling posh things.

An example of luxury/posh clothing since that is what we are talking about: Holland-Cooper is a 'posh' line of clothing started 10 years ago by Jade Holland-Cooper, and she clearly realised that she could capitalise on her posh sounding surname and used it for the brand name and logo. It seems to have worked out extremely well for her.

[Mandat]

This reminds of the Sniff Petrol advert:

[tim0409]

Many thanks for all the helpful replies; it really does help receiving feedback.

The point regarding a premium name is well made; the only slight issue I have is the use of Timothy as I changed it to Tim at the first opportunity as I really didn't like it; in fact the only person who calls me Timothy is my Mum. I suppose things could be worse; my mum's second choice for my name was Mungo.....

Unconnected from naming, whilst I'm really passionate about creating a great product, the other idea that drives me is donating a percentage from each sale towards a dementia charity focussed on finding a cure. My mum suffers from dementia and it has deeply affected me, and having a business that could contribute in some small way to fighting this terrible disease really makes me want to succeed.

[anonymous-user]

tim0409 said:

Many thanks for all the helpful replies; it really does help receiving feedback.

The point regarding a premium name is well made; the only slight issue I have is the use of Timothy as I changed it to Tim at the first opportunity as I really didn't like it; in fact the only person who calls me Timothy is my Mum. I suppose things could be worse; my mum's second choice for my name was Mungo.....

Unconnected from naming, whilst I'm really passionate about creating a great product, the other idea that drives me is donating a percentage from each sale towards a dementia charity focussed on finding a cure. My mum suffers from dementia and it has deeply affected me, and having a business that could contribute in some small way to fighting this terrible disease really makes me want to succeed.

I'm guessing you didn't actually go as far as to legally change your name from Timothy to Tim? I've called Tim by everyone for as long as I can remember (or Timmy by some) but my name on paper is Timothy. I guess it doesn't matter either way, as you can use whatever name you like for your company. Doesn't have to be your own.

I've never been referred to as anything other than Tim, but as I'm now in my 40's, I wouldn't actually mind people calling me Timothy. Might make some people think I'm more classy than I am

[sociopath]

Tim and Fred too close to Florence and Fred, and I'm sure you don't want to be confused with a supermarket brand

[crofty1984]

If it's for luxury goods, Timothy Day or Fredericks sound pretty good to my ear.

[Mr Pointy]

Just remember if you do use your name for this company there are circumstances where you could lose the rights to your own name & the web domain. Personally I'd think about something that wasn't quite so tightly associated with your name.

[Om]

tim0409 said:

...I suppose things could be worse; my mum's second choice for my name was Mungo.....

And there you have your business name!

[khushy]

Double barrelled always sounds posh

[Aunty Pasty]

What about your initials with your middle name (if you have one)? How would it roll off the tongue? T + ? + D like TVR. Not asking for your full name here in case there are some nutters out there who like doxing people.

[Doofus]

Fancypants

[anonymous-user]

On a practical note I tend to look at companies House, available URLs and relevant trademarks when looking at company names. Also similar things in different verticals and if a made up name, whether it means something awful in another language. Also look at name length for advertising- platforms like Google Ads have character limits on display URLs and headlines, for example.

[67Dino]

Naming is a lot less subjective than people think. The trick is to start with the 3-5 qualities (‘equities’ as brand people call them) that you most want to evoke, not the name. Decide these first and then test your naming ideas against them.

You can survey people you know to do this eg. if the quality you want to evoke is ‘Rural’ then you present them a list of names and get them to score which names most (10) and least (1) sounds ‘Rural’. End result is you get a brand that has the effect you want.

That said, I think name counts for a lot less than people think. After all, Hush Puppies and Moss Bros did OK, and those are awful names.

[mybrainhurts]

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