What’s in a name? A lot apparently, as entrepreneurs, artists, and makers of all kinds spend enormous amounts of energy searching for the right name for their business, project, organization, or creation. Below, you’ll find the stories of how various successful brands, creators and entrepreneurs came up with their names.

Kevin Aydelott

I came up with the name The Cultivated Pig as more of a reflection of myself more than anything. I’ve been a Chef and have worked in the F&B industry for over 15 years now and have been classically trained in various cooking styles. So my cooking and food are very refined but if you were to see me on the street I don’t necessarily look refined. So, The Cultivated Pig is kind of a play on words for how I am. We are a live fire restaurant and although our food is simple, the technique s and ingredients we use are very refined or cultivated if you will. Read more>>

Ingrid Chapman

My company, First Lady Publishing LLC was started in 2013. At the time Michelle Obama was our first African-American First Lady. There is so much I admire about her such as her career, her role as a mother of two daughters, as am I, and handling her role as First Lady with such grace. I wanted the name of my company to represent quality and class and I think the name of my company does just that. Read more>>

Ranasha Chapman

The idea to start a business came from my daughter, Damiya. She asked if we could start a business but gave me a list of things we could not sell. I started researching business ideas and began selling clothes, and purses, and making whipped shea butter. The idea of whipped shea butter was my own after researching the uses and origin of Shea Butter. Read more>>

Megan Carpenter

I have always been a bit of a Renaissance woman. I like to explore and do many things. However, two things have remained constant. I have always been an athlete, and I have always made jam. I have been in the gym 6-7 days a week since I was a teen, and started making jam with my family when I was 3-years-old. Read more>>

Kym Nixon

Changing Destinies Ministry is an anti-human trafficking nonprofit that endeavors to help sex-trafficked women heal and reintegrate. Read more>>

Philinese Kirkwood

Lottie is inspired by my grandmother, the matriarch and heart of our family. Affectiously called “litttle lottie” as a child, I have inherited her most valuable characteristics and applied them to the core values of Lottie Productions– strength, nurtoure, responsibility, organization, creativity, and willing to be firm but always fair. Don’t start no stuff, won’t be no stuff. Read more>>

Charlene Williams

Yes a Name speak volumes regarding a person. When God gave me the vision to open up my 1st salon back in 1997. I knew I wanted the name to represent me and what I believed in. One day while praying and reading… The word INTEGRITY just stood out to me. It 100 percent represent what I desired to have as a business owner. So Integrity Day Salon was the name I chose for my 1st business. Then every subsequently business since then has Integrity in it. Read more>>

Winnie Wong

I founded Reclamation Street, a marketplace that celebrates the Asian-American experience, after participating in an accelerator program for marginalized and underrepresented entrepreneurs in CT. Read more>>

Brianna Terry

I’ve undergone a whole lot of surgeries, which have left a whole lot of scars. For most of my life, I was ashamed of them, doing everything in my power to keep them covered. Read more>>

Whitnee Lewis

Oh goodness! Figuring out a name that you love is so hard. Yet it’s something that I knew I had to do first. I needed to be able to call it something before I could move on to the next thing. I started with candles and was spinning off of words like flame, pyro, and ignite. And so many more. I went down a huge rabbit hole. When looking for inspiration its hard to not compare to people that have the most clever names! Read more>>

Audrey Burks

Empowered Aspirations was birthed from God revealing this particular gift to serve through my own personal career journey. I wore a few hats in my career path to my present destination. I was a retail manager for quite a few years, a recruiter, a Workforce Employment Consultant, helping job seekers connect with local businesses and a Learning and Development Consultant. Read more>>

Nautishay Cain

It took weeks for me to decide on a name for my brand. Initially I was using my personal brand name, Zerlane, but I figured I’ll separate my skincare line from it. Unfortunately, every name I thought of prior to were taken. There’s beauty in a brand whose name comes from originality. Read more>>

Shemicka Buckles

The Elevated Experience was named such because I knew I didn’t want to just plan events, I wanted to elevate lives through experiences. The name suggests a commitment to providing elevated, exceptional experiences for clients, and I believe I have lived up to the name. With the events I curate and/or host, I always try to include educational aspects as well as charitable donation opportunities. Read more>>

Courtney McClure

I really love the name of my business–Wanderlust Designs Jewelry. Years ago, when my kids were little, we did quite a bit of traveling in our camper. Each new area we visited, I would always find inspiration for my work, whether it was new colorways, textures, or patterns I wanted to try out. I love the word “wanderlust.” It evokes happiness and curiosity for me. So it seemed a natural fit for my business name. The name continues to work for me and helps inspire me forward to my goals of traveling the country to participate in art festivals. Read more>>

Jessica Harris

FOUNDhabitats, How I define FOUNDhabitats and what this means to me and anyone I have the opportunity to collaborate and work with! Read more>>

Kelsey Leal

The story behind Kelsium Beauty is actually pretty unique! The word “Kelsium” is a combination between my name Kelsey and the element Calcium. Read more>>

Ken Byers

Confidant started in 2016 with a single question: “Why don’t people trust ad agencies?” It was as provocative a question to tackle then as it is today. At the time of our inception, AdAge proclaimed, “NO ONE TRUSTS ADVERTISING…”, with studies claiming “only 4% of Americans think the marketing industry behaves with integrity…” (AdAge, April 24, 2015) Grim findings, to say the least. Read more>>

Danni Gyrl

The story behind my brand has always been based in making my mother proud. I’ve always followed my mother’s (Arneata) model with working with the music industry, but as youngster I wasn’t so cooperative. Back in the late 90s, my mother started a company named Divine Communications where she (still) covers a wide spectrum of services for artists and musicians. Read more>>

Wendy Jeffries

When I made the decision to establish my own consulting practice, I recognized the pivotal role that my business name would play. It needed to encapsulate my identity, values, offered services, and set me apart from the rest. Additionally, I aimed for it to reflect a touch of my personality. Definitely a challenge to capture this all in a name! I knew I didn’t want to use my name or a typical variation, a common practice among consultants. Read more>>

Brandy & Chris Diamond

The idea was to shape the show as two friends sitting down and discussing a true crime case. Of course when two people are talking over a nice meal, they might be sharing a bottle of wine. That’s how Texas Wine & True Crime was born, Read more>>

Damira Collins

Well I actually get asked that question a lot. When i first began trying to name my business I said to myself if this is going to be my future I need something that would be different but also keep me encouraged so I wouldn’t give up on it. Then, one day I was in my truck and I kind of began having a moment because I was feeling overwhelmed and nervous about the whole entrepreneurship thing. Read more>>

Grace LeFlore

Embodhi turned out to be very much intentional, even if that wasn’t necessarily the plan! Hahaha. After quitting my corporate career in property management and beginning yoga full-time, I had decided on “Yogabygracie, LLC.” At the possibility of opening a studio months later, I began to play around with yoga names, researching spiritual names, and “embody” popped up. It stuck with me, I begin to play around with ways I could spell it, and came up with “Embodhi.” Read more>>