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.
Arely Briseño
The name of my jewelry brand is Dose of Home jewelry. The name of my brand has evolved since it started, when I opened my business in the summer of 2020 without really knowing where it would go. We were in the middle of the pandemic and I started my jewelry business buying jewelry from my childhood friend from Mexico. To honor her work I used named my business after my friend, who was my first ever jewelry supplier, the initial name of my brand was DH Jewelry. However, as my business grew over time and I learned more about artisanal jewelry made throughout Mexico, I decided to rebrand my business in the summer of 2022. Read more>>
Maddie Waseka
My company holds a very simple name name, but yet a rich history. In 1966 my grandparents moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota and opened a Country Kitchen franchised restaurant. They worked this business with their 4 kids for many years later selling it to them. When they went away from the franchise they renamed it Copper Lantern in 1980. 42 years later my Dad sold the business to me and I renamed it the Copper Kitchen as a combination and an ode to the generations of Waseka’s who have owned this business over the last 60 years. I wanted to honor my families hard work and efforts of being a third generation restaurant in the same place for the last 6 decades. Read more>>
Matt Mueller
The name ‘The Mindful Innovator’ actually emerged from a profound moment of clarity I experienced on the streets of Manhattan. I was having one of those really tough days that every innovator faces – multiple project failures, feeling completely demoralized about my innovation work. As I was walking down the street, consumed by frustration and frantically typing emails on my phone, a Buddhist monk stopped me. Out of all the people on that busy sidewalk, he chose to stop me and offered me a mala bracelet with the Sanskrit word ‘ripka’ – which means ‘unconfused knowledge.’ Read more>>
Lauren Shippy
I knew that I wanted to help people figure out who they truly were and where they were headed. Throughout our careers and lives, that can look very different as we enter into new seasons. When I started thinking about the name, I thought about my love for drawing stories, themes and puzzle pieces out of people through a process, and putting them to work – and that’s how StoryWork came to be. It was and still is a company that is meant to highlight people’s stories, and put them to work through the business, movement or nonprofits they create. Read more>>
Kelsey Olson
Not many know, but we originally had a different name in mind. We went as far as creating a LLC, working with a graphic designer to create a logo, and I had come up with an aesthetic for the shop. After learning of another entity popping up about 45 minutes away with a similar name, we had to pivot. As much as we loved everything we had come up with to that point, we needed to have a name different than the rest! Read more>>
Melinda Norman
Caramel is, in the simplest terms, just burnt sugar. My career as a pastry chef nurtured a love for all things sweet, but I found myself developing a specific love and fascination with caramel. The process of taking simple white sugar and heating it beyond the melting point and turning it into something complex and layered is mesmerizing. It echoes aspects of life that on the surface seem straightforward, but turn up the heat a little bit and you’ll find complication and nuance. Read more>>
Maya Mendoza
The name of my brand is a spin off of my name. My business is called My Joy Cookie Co. My name is Maya Joy. My mother gave me the nickname My Joy, because she loved the Anita Baker song, “You bring me joy”. Cookies definitely bring me joy so that’s how I came up with my brand name. Read more>>
Rachel DesJardins
Naming anything is definitely tough, but once I landed on the idea for The Hive House, it felt obvious. I had considered naming it after myself, the street it was on, or the city it was in, but none of those captured the vision I had for the space. I wanted the studio to be a hub for local photographers — a place where we could gather, collaborate, and build community, much like a hive. As soon as the concept of a beehive came to mind, it clicked instantly, especially because I was opening the business inside a house. The Hive House was the perfect fit. Read more>>
Rachel Green-Williams Lawrence Williams
Naming Grapes & Rye definitely took some thought! It actually started quite organically in our home. We loved hosting gatherings, creating cocktails, and building this little community with our friends and family. Before we knew it, our friends were inviting their friends, and our home events became quite lively! Read more>>
Nkonye M.
Choosing my business name was surprisingly straightforward. I wanted to reflect the essence of my brand: ‘New’ represents the elevated braiding experience, ‘Village’ embodies the community aspect, and ‘Braid’ honors the timeless art form. The name also resonates with my African heritage and the nostalgic significance of returning to one’s village, making it a meaningful and fitting choice. Read more>>
Aisha Daraja
As a kid, I had a thing for decoding acronyms and, in all honesty remixing lyrics based on whatever I thought I heard. I was known for twisting words, sometimes to hilarious effect. That’s exactly how Through My Rare View came to be. Read more>>
Jason Dulac
My name is Dr. Jason Dulac. I own and operate Dulac Dental of Springfield in Springfield, Virginia. I thought that Dulac Dental sounded alliterative and had a nice ring to it, and my professional initials, D.D.S., stand for Doctor of Dental Surgery. As it was located in Springfield, D.D.S. would serve as both the initials of the business and my professional designation, which I thought was cool. Additionally, if I were to open another office in a different location, it would lend itself to “Dulac Dental of” some other town or city. Read more>>
Shante Threatt
When coming up with a business name I played with many options. Ultimately landing on “Scented Treatts”
which is a play off my actual name which is Shante Threatt.
I took the first initial of my name and removed the letter “h” from my last name. Although Scented Treatts started out as a Candle company, I wanted to avoid adding the word “candle” to the business name for many reasons. With one of the main reasons being that I always knew that I would expand and grow adding other items to the brand. Read more>>
Chris O’Brien
I don’t remember exactly how long this phase was, but I want to say for at least 5-6 months, I was convinced this business would be called “Retired Authors” or “Retirement Authors.” My theory: A lot of people have always wanted to write a book, but, well, that pesky 9 to 5 job got in the way. And regular, every day life got in the way. But now, with all that newfound time on their hands (although my parents say retirement is no cakewalk. Sometimes you need a vacation from vacation!), they would have time to work on that novel, or memoir, or children’s book, whatever the book might be. Read more>>
Micole Williams
In 2017, Eclectically You Experience was born. But the name stemmed from an earlier venture of mine that helped me find my footing in the entrepreneurship world. When I was in college at Prairie View A&M University, I was a Mass Communications major who was fortunate enough to keep my part-time job at Foley’s and Macy’s throughout college, but also wanted to bring my own entrepreneurial ideas to life. I loved working in the jewelry section at that department store, but as soon as I had a moment to myself, I created a jewelry line that focused on me remixing and making accessories. I named it Eclectically U Accessories. Read more>>
Michael & Aimee Fisher
We came up with the name WindSong Farm while we were in the process of planning & dreaming of our venue. We spent several hours walking our fields trying to find the perfect spot for the barn to be built. There are so many beautiful trees on property and we knew we wanted the barn nestled among them, almost as if the barn had been here for 100 years and the trees grew up around it. After spending time in the fields you can’t help but stop and listen to the trees blowing in the wind, and then you start to hear all the different “Songs” the “Wind” is playing through the leaves, and that is how we came up with our name WindSong Farm. Read more>>
RA Cook
I wanted a name that would not limit me and allow me to work in all the areas that are important to me. Cookie Productions was formed to include all my areas of focus; consulting and coaching, writing and my books, my podcast Well Done You and community involvement. Knowing me there will be other avenues I will want to explore in the future that I have not thought of yet. Cookie is a longtime family nickname for my last name Cook. My cousins and I refer to each other as Cookie and our parents did that too. Read more>>
Dylan Alarcon
The story of how my business got its name goes back to some time in 2020. I was reading this particular portion of Exodus in the Bible and came across the name Bezalel. Basically, it says that he is someone that God gifted the knowledge and ability to create artistic designs and engage in all kinds of crafts. I really liked this, as it intersected my faith with my interests as an art student who was studying design at the time. Read more>>
Diane Steverson
When trying to decide what to name my bookstore I began by Googling every literary or reading type name that I could think of. One that I almost used, were it not for the copyright of the great Mr. Ray Bradbury, was “Stuff Your Eyes” in reference to a passage in Fahrenheit 451, “Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world.” Read more>>
Rene Kauder
Naming a business is not for the faint of heart! For me, it was about finding a name that captured where I was starting from and the kind of support I knew I could offer other women entrepreneurs. Read more>>
Danielle Regitz
The Beginning Wedding Co. refers to the beginning chapters of the Bible, in which God created mankind and called them into union with each other, saying “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Read more>>
Donna Layal
My middle name is Layal. It’s a Lebanese name and it means “night” in Arabic. That’s how I came up with Layal Beauty. I’ve always loved it growing up & I wanted to name my business something different and unique, so I decided to use my middle name. Read more>>