One of the most creative parts of starting something new is finding a name and it’s also one of the most challenging. Below, you’ll find the stories of how various successful brands, creators and entrepreneurs came up with their names.

sandrine kamhi

When I founded State of Yoga, my vision was to create a friendly place for the whole community to practice yoga and share its depth in a caring and nourishing environment where we feel home. Yoga has been highly westernized in recent years, and a majority of the result of this westernization and modernization is the heightened profile of the physical aspect yoga has to offer. Read more>>

Baylor Barbee

The name of my company, Shark Theory, arose from the misconception we have about “sharks” in the workspace. Too often, we refer to the shark in our offices as the hyper-aggressive go-getter that chases every deal to get results. We label them sharks because we believe that sharks operate the same way. However, if you study sharks, you’ll see how untrue this belief is. Sharks aren’t in a hurry to do anything, yet their gills require forward movement through the water to oxygenate their blood. Therefore, progress is vital, but they’re patient at the same time. Sharks don’t’ just chase anything in their path, but rather save their energy for pursuing the prey they truly want. Read more>>

Randy Nolan

What a great question. When I went through the choices of questions, I was struck with this one as it is so personal to me. I have a daughter who went to Hollywood at the tender age of 18. Dropped her off and told her good luck. So, the goal back 18 years ago was to one day see her on the Red Carpet.
When I came up with the idea to do teeth whitening I wanted to tie in the idea of how hard it is to get on the Red Carpet and how good you must strive to look. So, what better than a red carpet-worthy smile? Read more>>

Chris Gronkowski

Naming your company is a time consuming tough decision to make. I thought about it a lot, and thought of some unique names but after listening to a podcast It helped me make my decision a lot easier. The podcast featured the CEO of 5 hour energy. He was talking about how he create the name of the company and it all just made sense. He wanted to name it something that people could read and quickly know exactly what the product is and does. You have a very short period of time to catch a customers attention and you don’t want to lose the opportunity by naming your product or company a name that is confusing. Read more>>

Elias Not Afraid

I use full name for my business and brand (Elias Jade Not Afraid). I use to have a banner With my name that I used as a backdrop but stopped using it because they ask the same question I always get asked “is that reaaaaaly your last name? Did you change your name to make it look and sound cool? Can I take a photo of you next to you banner so I can take a pic and send to my daughter, she will get a kick out of your last name?” Not Afraid is my family’s last name. Everyone on My dad side of the family use the last name Not Afraid and it goes back generations all the way back to the original owner of the name “old man not afraid” who would be my greatx9 grandpa. Read more>>

Melissa Muerte

Coming up with the name of my business was actually quite simple. Wicked Hair Witch came to life simply because I am a witch that loves to do hair. Being wicked is just a bonus. Mixing color is like mixing potions & maintenance appointments for me feel like hair rituals. Everyone needs a little hair magic in their life, and I feel like the name of my business lets you know that’s exactly what you’re going to get. Read more>>

Shay Sandifer

Elevation Beauty has so many meanings for me personally, professionally and spiritually. Elevating someone’s self esteem, confidence and self love through their hair style is my passion behind the chair. A hair transformation start to finish is what I love and what makes my heart so full. Elevation, in my love for conquering mountains through Hikes, Climbing and mountain biking is my hobby, when I’m not in my salon that is where you will find me. Read more>>

Laurie Canfield

I often get asked how Sunshine Sunflower Studio got it’s name since it’s unusual and a bit of a tongue twister. The studio is named after my youngest daughter, Chloe. When I was expecting her in 2014, her older brother, Nathan, who was 6, wanted to name her Baby Sunshine Sunflower because he said, “Mommy, those are your two favorite things!” I was afraid it might be a little strange for her having to put Sunshine Sunflower Canfield on job applications in the future…I mean, I’m a bit of a hippie, but not quite that much. We ended up naming her after my grandmother instead. Read more>>

Laura Patterson

We decided to be ridiculously creative…the H is for Heather and the L is for Laura. The line in our logo represents our tagline, “Blurring the line between communication and creativity.” Read more>>

Curt Bear

LoCo Think Tank is short for Local Community Think Tank, and there’s a fun story behind the name. In early 2014, I was minutes away from creating the DBA name “NoCo Think Tank”, as a distinct enterprise of the consultancy I had formed upon leaving my banking career, Bear Capital Advisors, LLC. Just before submitting though, I had a thought/fear – would the enterprise be geographically constrained by the name!? Read more>>

Buster Brown

Natalie (co-founder) and I wanted to elicit change in consumer habits, beginning on a local scale and growing to a nationwide movement. We understood the imminent danger of climate change, and we saw an opportunity to reduce carbon footprint by incorporating reusable packaging, locally-sourced ingredients, and environmentally-friendly practices. Counter culture is not just a catchy phrase or memorable business name. It’s a lifestyle of change and sustainability that can inspire others to do more and dispose less for the survival of our planet and all of its species. Of course, the fact that we make a cultured beverage makes the name even more meaningful to us. Read more>>

TREA FEIST

Dank originally to me was a word I used for top shelf cannabis back in my younger years and as I got older the terminology became more versatile to use in every day situations. Back in the day I would call good cannabis “The Dank” and as time has evolved I started to use “Dank” for every day events almost like we use “cool” & “sweet” as slang today. Needless to say, Dank has always been a word I use for premium products, fun times or something I thought was really cool. Read more>>

Greg McCoy

I sold my former facility in January of 2018. I promised myself a 1 year break until I would return to Gym Ownership. After a decade in business I wanted 1 year with no long term leases or loans and 1 year with no employees. 11 months into this time an opportunity to purchase a distressed facility in Allen, Tx, just 5 miles from my previous location in Plano, presented itself. I made many visits to the location as I considered the purchase. My wife and I went several times, and I took friends and advisors by as well. The area the facility was located was very good however the visibility within the shopping center was very poor. Read more>>

Tanner Mattson James Sargent

The origin of the Old Town Review Guys’ name is quite simple. When we decided to start our brand, we wanted to pay homage to not only where we lived, but also where most of our posts and reviews would be taking place. Old Town Scottsdale seemed like a no-brainer. There are so many fantastic restaurants and eateries to check out in the area, so because of this, the Old Town Review Guys was born. We wanted a name that would be easy to remember and also tell our audience what we are all about. Heck, if you want to shorten it too, you get OTRG. We love it and hope you do too! Read more>>

Janell Beacham

I came up with the name of my company because I was brainstorming ideas on what’s important that I want to convey to my women community, and the first thing I thought of was I want women to feel confidently who they are in their skin no matter what they are doing and that’s what Real Athletic Womens wear stands for (RAWW), feeling empowered, bold, worthy and RAWW through athletic wear. Read more>>

Misha Granado, MPH, MS

As a Behavioral Health scientist who studies human behavior I am intrigued by relationships. Life is about relationships and the relationship you have with self, determines and influences all of the relationships in your life. Therefore, to improve the quality of our relationships, we must cultivate and nurture a healthy loving relationship with self. Read more>>

Nathan Morgan

DevilPanda is a gamer tag I have had for almost 20 years. I am an avid gamer along with everything else. I wanted a name that stood out and it has definitely done that. My oldest child drew the logo picture for me. I have received many positive comments on both the name and logo. Read more>>

Santi Gabino Jr.

When I began in 2019, I originally named the company Estancia Pantry as a spin-off of the previous career with my family’s farmstead, Estancia Culinaria. However when Spring of 2020 rolled around, like most individuals at the time, I found myself giving my business and well, everything, a great deal of thought. I think we can all agree that the beginning of the pandemic was all about change. During that time, I cooked, baked, boiled, broiled, and fried almost every food in every way you can imagine. I painted, redecorated, repurposed, and refinished every piece and room in our home. Read more>>

Marsha Rowe

My husband was in the military, and we were stationed in Texas. He was actually doing a tour in Korea, and I was home with 2 young boys. One morning I was brushing my teeth, and I heard the name Heavenly Beads. I had no idea what it meant, I always loved fashion, but I never had any interest in making jewelry. As a matter of fact, my degree is in Political Science, and I was thinking of going to law school, so making and designing jewelry, was not on my list. To my surprise, God had other plans, and I’m so glad He did. After hearing the business name, I started doing research on jewelry design, and decided to give it a try. Read more>>

Carlie Adair

My name is Carlie and growing up, my friends always called me nicknames and would come up with jokes surrounding my name. When I would be crafty, my friends would call me “Crafty Carl”, and other name puns would circle like “Carlito” etc. When I started my photography business, I was working a lot of festivals and the “Where’s Carl” festival joke was circling (this group of festival-goers lost their friend and were wandering around yelling “Where’s Carl?!” and “Carl??!!” for days). So after a long time of deliberation, I landed on “Shots By Carl” for the name of my LLC. It stuck & has since created a brand for itself! I also love that its an androgynous name- as I am a female in a male dominated side of the industry! Its been fun to watch it grow. Read more>>

Susan Pincus

I spent a lot of time thinking about the name of my product and company. I wanted my product’s name to reflect my home state and yet be short and easy to remember and pronounce. I took the first two letters of “south” and the first and last letters of “Louisiana” and thought that name would represent the culture of the product. The result was: SoLa with the ‘S” capitalized and the “L’ capitalized to reflect the two words. I researched the internet to make sure there was no similar product with the same name, because I wanted to Trademark the name and logo. Read more>>

Mari Rubio

I think the story behind Casa Gioia’s name is pretty awesome. When I lived in Italy back in 2010, I worked back of the house at this boutique hotel located in the Southern part of the country. We were a small team of 7, and only 2 of us were females. Since most of us lived at the hotel, we would all share breakfast, lunch and dinner together before service. One day, a new middle-aged man named Nando (short for Fernando) started working front of the house and he quickly integrated the group. Read more>>