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.

Amy Brooks

I started Paradise Custom Glass when my kids were babies, and honestly, I wasn’t sure it was going to work. To avoid adding to our household expenses, I set up shop in the only available space we had—an interior room in our basement with no windows, a low ceiling, the heater humming behind me, and just enough room to shuffle around. It was hardly glamorous, but despite the dismal surroundings, I was committed to making beautiful things. I wanted my clients to feel like I was helping them craft their own version of paradise, and the name Paradise Custom Glass felt like the perfect reflection of that idea. Read more>>

Jessica Woods

Wild rind cheeses (sometimes called natural rinds) emerge from what nature provides. Whatever is in the environment grows on the cheese. Sounding rather laissez-faire, wild rinds are anything but and these wheels need special attention to ensure that their rind matures properly. Read more>>

MICHAEL GRANVILLE

In 2015, I needed a new vehicle because my 1969 Mercedes 220 D just wasn’t reliable. So, I upgraded to a 2007 Honda Fit!
The model of this new black hatchback aligned perfectly with my profession. I was the lead instructor for local fitness company.

I was this fitness company’s first full-time fitness instructor. My daily routine would start at 6 am with 3 outdoor bootcamps at Stanford, to corporate sites like Facebook and Google, then ending with private training at homes around the San Francisco basin. Read more>>

Leslie Becker

I love naming things! And as a writer I like creating new words when I can’t find one that properly says what I want it to.

My company is called Unstoppably Creative. To me the word “unstoppably” means that “no person, event, or comment can stop you from using your creative gifts.” No matter what’s going on in the world, you always have the choice to use your creativity to survive no matter what is thrown your way. So my business name/brand is really more like my philosophy. The name also allows me the freedom to do anything with my business. Since I am a multi-creative, the name can go with just about anything I do so everything lives underneath that brand. Read more>>

Nicole Montoya

Wiggle Zone Doggy Daycare was inspired by the joyful chaos of my own home—specifically, the daily whirlwind of energy created by my four dogs, including two brand-new puppies we welcomed shortly before acquiring the business. Our house was buzzing with movement, play, and—yes—nonstop wiggles. It felt like there was always a tail in motion or a puppy zipping by, and that energy became the spark behind the name. Read more>>

Shatora Adrell

For me, it was deeply personal from the start. My brand began as “Adrell”, which is actually my middle name. It felt elegant, bold, and powerful — everything I wanted my work to represent. But over time, I noticed a lot of people confusing it with “Ardell,” the lash brand, and I knew I needed to make a shift that would truly reflect *me*. Read more>>

Beaunca Wade

I named the brand after my grandmother, Emma. She raised me in a public housing community in Birmingham, Alabama, where her love manifested through gardens—vegetables in the backyard, roses in the front. Even when resources were limited, she cultivated beauty, nurtured our family, and upheld dignity in a world that didn’t always offer it. Naming the brand Emma Rose was my way of honoring that: the contrast of soil and softness, strength and scent, survival and grace, but more than just a tribute, the name represents a standard. Read more>>

Amanda Birnie

As an entrepreneur, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for names and branding. They matter. So when I began working with unique, one-of-a-kind vintage rugs, I found myself thinking a lot about history, heritage, and heirlooms. That naturally led me to think about my own family—especially my Grandma Claudia. Read more>>

Reagan Suitt

When one business fails, another gets a new name. That’s how we have Olive and Oath as it is known today.

I first started wedding photography back in 2019 under the name Reagan Suitt Photos. My style was lively, warm in editing, and mostly catering to a non-traditional elopement or intimate wedding. I was passionate for the DIY bride since I was one myself only a year prior. It was out of this love for the scrappy, frugal couple that I started a second business with a new industry friend, and business partner, called Olive and Oath. We spent a few months planning, building-up, and investing money into a wedding planning education company that was meant to equip the DIY bride with tools to plan a luxe wedding on a budget. We weren’t wedding planners, but we were a wedding tool to give practical organization, community with other couples, and professional advice from photographers who had been a part of over 100 weddings combined. Read more>>

Samirah Sutton

The name Miss. MaeYams is more than just a brand—it’s a legacy served with love.

“Mae” is my middle name, passed down like a treasured recipe through generations of women in my family, starting with my great-grandmother. Choosing it was my way of paying homage to the women whose hands shaped both me and the meals that made me who I am. Read more>>

Brock Chapman

Our name may seem pretty straightforward to most, but we haven’t always had that name. Your business name MEANS something to the public. It speaks of your vision, your customer or audience, your trade, the very way you make a living. In the beginning, my wife and I sat down to talk about the dream I had of starting my own business doing carpentry after a year of apprenticeship with another local company. I felt at that point that I’d learned all that I needed to get started on my own, so we set out on a journey to launch our own business from the ground up, while my wife was on unpaid maternity leave, nonetheless! Read more>>

Mandi Pickering

I can vividly remember the afternoon, it was sunny and I had just gotten off work. At this time I was still working for a massive corporate veterinary medicine industry company and I was on my way home to our farm. I had just missed a phone call from my now late grandfather, my best friend. I had recently decided that our farm needed a good name and he was brainstorming for me. I will say, some of the recommendations were an immediate no, in the kindest way if you know what I mean. Read more>>

Arielle Hoffman And Nicole Pelini

Before we started our brand, we were two friends making eco-friendly crafts together and dreaming up how we could include more people. A friend introduced us to the concept of “Perpetual Stew” which neither one of us had heard of before. Perpetual Stew, which is speculated to have been heavily common in the medieval ages, is a soup pot that is forever cooking in the center of town. Members of the community bring the scraps they’ve collected to add to the pot in exchange for some stew for themselves. The pot stays cooking, food gets added back, nothing is wasted and it becomes, essentially, self sustaining. Read more>>

Glynnis Swan

Oh, the agony of naming a business! For five years, I intentionally avoided it, feeling the weight of finding a name that truly embodied my approach and the transformative results my clients experienced. It wasn’t until a pivotal moment last year while contributing to the anthology Triumph in the Trenches 2 with a chapter on toxic leadership that the name finally revealed itself. Read more>>

Sarah Birch

My grandpa, Larry Birch, started a company while my dad was growing up where he built custom boats.
My grandpa wanted to use our family last name “Birch” in the title of his business, but didn’t want to just call it “Birch Boats”. It was with my grandmas help where they named his company “Birch Craft Boats”. My grandpa passed away when I was 14 from a sudden heart attack. Read more>>

Jacqueline Carrillo

I wanted a name that exuded urgency and tapped into an edgy, counterculture ethos. I grew up really into ’90s dystopian films—The Fifth Element, Blade Runner, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Total Recall—all of which shaped my own personal aesthetics and how I imagine the future. I daydream about what society will look like in the next 100 or 1000 years – will there be strict borders or will society see itself as a one global population? Read more>>

Debbie Williams

Experienced as an administrative manager of a fortune 500 company, supervising 35 associates in three Northeast Ohio area offices, as well as providing human resources support for the region and hosting groups at out-of-state corporate hubs, I (Deborah McVay-Williams, previously McVay-McKinney) founded my company Time To Spare in 1995. The name originates from a goal to support everyone with a busy schedule by providing more time to enjoy life. Read more>>

Shelly Fledderjohann

It was really fairly easy. 25+ years ago, we got our 1st computer and we needed to come up with an email address. Dogs were one of our passions and Toys-R-Us was very popular so we just thought we’d put a “spin” on it and had our email be Dogsrus. A few years after that, we decided to open up our own grooming salon. We were not going to service cats so we wanted to try and make it clear that we would be dogs only. So we decided to use our email address and just add Styling Boutique after it. That is how dogs-R-us Styling Boutique was created! Read more>>

Hannah Cunningham

Surprisingly, the names of both of my businesses came naturally. Mother Sauce is a nod to the five classic mother sauces in French cuisine—Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Tomato, and Hollandaise—all of which serve as the foundation for countless western sauces. But the name also reflects my femininity & womanhood, which I strive to preserve in my brands, marketing, and products. The alias has truly taken hold—to many, I’m “Mother Sauce” rather than “Hannah”, and that brings me joy. Read more>>

Joanne Davis-Woods

A Life With Tools and Materials Before metalsmithing, I had a career in the film industry-painting movie sets. Reproducing grime & rust, wood & stone, moss & age. If I did my work well it would not be noticed as artificial. Read more>>

Erica Hay

The name of business came from my parents first initials plus mine my parents are a big part of why I love doing what I do. Read more>>

Anne Bunn

Naming a business is no small task—it has to capture who you are, what you stand for, and what you hope to bring into the world. We had a lot of fun brainstorming (one of our husbands actually threw Urban Pharm into the mix!), and the name ultimately emerged from the intersection of place, purpose, and philosophy. Read more>>