Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? So, we asked some very sharp folks to tell us the stories of how they came up with the names of their brands.
Dominic Genduso
I started making cheesecakes for family and friends in 2008 as a side hustle. In October 2017, our son Dominic “Nico” Genduso passed away from a motorcycle accident. Shortly after, my wife Amanda and I felt we needed a change and moved to Waco, Tx. I started Driving a Commercial Truck hauling fuel to local gas stations. In October 2020, I had to have Rotator Cuff surgery and I was out for 6 months. Read more>>
Lani McMahan and Ciera Baker
When it came to our business name, we wanted something that made sense for what we were selling and something that was personal to us both. We are both firm believers in names having meanings so we were excited to nail down our business name as Heavenly Bakes! Not only does this name describe our delectable treats, but it’s a part of our names in a mixture that just makes sense to us! The owners of Heavenly Bakes are Lani McMahan and Ciera Baker; Lani meaning Heavenly in Hawaiian and Ciera’s last name being Baker, it was a perfect pairing! Read more>>
Laurie Miller
Nani Pua means beautiful flower in Hawaiian. Read more>>
Ashley Bolden
After struggling for days I decided to seek the help of my facebook friends to assist with coming up with a name. Within an hour one of my high school classmates who is extremely creative sent me “A Bold Affair”. Just saying it out loud felt amazing, and I knew that was a direct reflection of me. Especially since my name is incorporated in it. Read more>>
Pamela Grant
I’ve always been one to share tips and tricks that I know, especially in the social media realm. When thinking of an official name for my business, I thought about what I offer to others. What am I passionate about? And honestly…I love giving others the blueprint to elevate their social media presence. That could be done with a strategy plan, helping with graphics, creative direction, video editing, and more. Hence the name socialPRNT; I offer the blueprint to all things social media. Read more>>
Paulos Raja
The hatch of “SLIDE EGG.” Read more>>
Christina West
My goal was for the business name to be a mind set! Spruced Up is a feeling suited for all ages for male and females. This expression was used by my grandmother Read more>>
Lisa Hughes
When I started my business, I worked for a dept store that offered alterations. We (alterationists) were only allowed to work on clothing purchased at that store. Oftentimes customers asked about items that they had purchased elsewhere. So I started meeting with them at their homes or offices in my spare time. My clientele grew so that I was able to leave the dept store and start my business. I continue to meet my clients in homes or offices as many of my clients are not in my town of residence. Sew on the Go was born! Read more>>
GB two Good
Like most companies the name came from a few people together, just having fun and being creative with time. We all got to talking one day and my buddy was like we should start a group up with this or something? After a few horrible names we stumbled on something Dmac had said along time ago called Get Ya S$#T and it stuck with us. Read more>>
Joshua Kerwood
I came up with Väter Photo mostly due to my German heritage, but also for my personal love of being a father. I have been a parent since I was only 20 years old. Fatherhood is the only thing that I have ever done in my life that I’ve stuck with for longer than 10 years, second only to practicing the art of Photography. Read more>>
Malik Haleem Swinton, MBA
I currently own 3 social media businesses; MahatonPlace.com, OnlyAthletes1.com, and OnlyUniforms2.com Read more>>
Noel Deeb
It took a year at least, of writing ideas and brainstorming with others. It wasn’t until I was with my mom in Santa Cruz, CA sitting by the ocean at lunch, she simply says- “what about El Bread?” It felt right immediately. Read more>>
Sylvia Faircloth
I came up with the name of my Ministry through my dark moments When I was not even thinking about starting a Ministry the name came to me way before I was ready to create this Ministry.Basketcase is normally looked at as someone who had lost it.I also referenced it to Moses in the Bible.He was put in a basket and drifted on down the river.He became very powerful.This name may not be popular, but it has great significance to me. Read more>>
Taryn O’Dell
My entire childhood, my parents encouraged my sister and I over and over to work a job that we would enjoy because you spend such a large part of your life working. This stuck with me through the years, influencing my decision to switch college majors, and instilling a near panic to decide what to do for a living. I was never the person who knew exactly what I wanted to do. After years of various customer service jobs, my husband and I reached a point where I could quit and start a business doing what I had spent a long time doing for fun on the side–event and travel planning. Read more>>
Taylor Ard
I wanted the name of my company to reflect one of the motivating values that inspire our brand. We seek to be connected to our community by employing local women who are seeking to rebuild or recover from certain obstacles by providing a flexible avenue to reenter the workforce. Read more>>
Tyler K. Carter
Itsfrostrated has a funny story. It all started when I had the desire to tell my journey with natural hair. I had my mind set on this being a outlet for the mess-ups, failed attempts on styles and comb-breaking that I wasn’t alone on. All of these ideas and… no name. I wrote at least 30+ names and nothing stuck out to me. I called one of my friends/mentees and said, “I’m so frustrated with thi…..OMG I GOT IT.” And, here we are! Read more>>
Monique Franklin
The name of my company is a true representation of me. One day I was sitting in the car waiting on my husband to come out of the store when I begin to brainstorm about my business. I had two other businesses in the past and I wanted the name of this business to be something different from the other two since this business would be something that I created all by myself. Read more>>
Jennifer Hicks
The name Olijé (pronounced O-La-Jay) pays homage to my parents, Otis and Lillie Sykes, deceased. Read more>>
Michelle & Darren Gutwein
While most guess the play on words is a reference to “us” as makers, it actually goes a bit deeper than that. Begonia is to honor our Mom/Mother-in-Law who sparked at a young age, the joy of creating by hand and the love for nature’s beauty. Her favorite flower was the Begonia and you could always find her caring for and feeding her bountiful begonia plants. Read more>>
Xavier Caffee
I get asked this question a lot. When I first started reselling shoes I went under the name Elite Sneaks. At this time I was working for shoe store. No shoe stores allow their employees to resell because it is against company policy. One of my co-mangers at the time reported me for reselling and I had to lay low. Eventually this led me to rebrand and come up with the name Soles Anonymous because I had to continue reselling but stay anonymous until it was time for me to reveal my identity. Read more>>
Tanesha Halstead
In March of 2019 I founded Virtually Centered Solutions (VCS). At the time, I knew I did not want to have the company be under my name, Tanesha Halstead. I wanted it to have it’s only identity. When I put that in perspective, what came to mind was 3 things: Read more>>
Sharnell James
The name ‘Dear Self Care’ came from my favorite show at the time ‘Dear White People’. I was binging the show as I was preparing to launch the blog, but I still did not have a name that would grab people’s attention. I continued watching the show and enjoyed how it was created to discuss the injustices and microaggressions brought on by our white counterparts while keeping it entertaining. Read more>>
Leah & Brandon Williams
The name of our company actually came from our YouTube channel. We make fun family vlogs and videos and we took our actual names to create our YouTube name. Leah and Brandon Williams aka LAB. We are are all about family and having a strong loving relationship so we call ourselves the The Love L.A.B on YouTube and that eventually spilt over over to our business name which is In The L.A.B Media where we provide media services such as photography and videography. Read more>>
Jazmin Curney
When I originally started my event planning business back in 2019, the name of my company was Cree-ative Events. The reason Cree-ative is spelled this way is because my middle name is Cree. Read more>>
Annie Schmidt
The name of my business is SOS- Schmidt Organizational Systems. It encompasses my last name and what we do, but it also conveys that help is needed right away – and we are here to help design organizational systems to help you live in peace! Read more>>
Ann Thomas
I want to say that I spent a great deal of time coming up with the name CherryRock Creations, or that my creative juices were really “flowing”, but that would be a lie. I guess the actual story is kind of funny. Read more>>
Kelly Airhart
If you are not from Louisiana, or are not a chef, you may have never heard of a “roux,” so let’s start there. A roux, pronounced [ r OO ], is a flour base used in many dishes, but it is especially important in one of my favorite dishes, Gumbo! Gumbo is the official state cuisine of Louisiana and is a very special dish to many people here. Read more>>
Angela Gross
When I started toying with having a legitimate business in 2010, I mostly knew of photographers whose businesses were simply their name, or their and their partners’ name. My sweet husband excited suggested we do the same: “Gross Photography”. Read more>>
Andréa Johnson
My company is named after my daughter! Karmalita is her nickname. I’ve dreamed of owning my own bake shop since childhood, but I never really believed it would be possible until my daughter asked me one day: “Mommy, when are we gonna open our bakery?” The fact that she picked up on my desire to do so, and believed I could, when I didn’t, really gave me the confidence to try. She’s my inspiration in many ways, so it was a no brainier to name my business after her. Read more>>
Rebecca Auzenne
The owners grew up with tabletop games, board games, and video games and we wanted to bring the love of games into a space that would welcome those activities, while serving drinks and food. We have a space that can be rented out for events, parties, and even host murder mystery dinners, scavenger hunts, and escape rooms. We incorporate themes from Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Elder Scrolls, and a ton of other well-loved stories, games, books, movies, and TV shows. When we decided to open, we wanted a name that would remind people of the gaming industry, and our name, Dungeons & Daiquiris, also includes our favorite drinks that we serve. Read more>>
Kinyatta E. Gray
I love this question because it drives home the point that I enjoy emphasizing to others – and that is, your real life will inspire the next best thing. Read more>>
Kev Williams
Trü Scrypture (pronounced True Scripture) was a name that I came up with when I used to rap. I would say Trü Scrypture as a substitute to the phrase “Real Talk”. I wanted my pieces to become conversation starters and one of the most frequent questions about Trü Scrypture was the name and logo. I knew that the name was different and would evoke different emotions in people from all walks of life. Read more>>
Rashad Robinson
I started running track and field when I was in the 8th grade and continued to run until I graduated from college. At that time I loved calling pictures “flicks” and I asked my friend Marvin Autry “What should my photographer name be” and he responded “Speedyflicks” due to me being a sprinter in track and me calling pictures flicks. That’s how Speedyflicks came to be Read more>>
Chris Gormley
I’m very passionate about networking with others. Also, if you break down the word network, you get “net” and “work”. I’m also very passionate about working hard and netting profits out of life. Example: if you work hard and neglect your family, what are you really “netting” out of life? Read more>>
Laura Oden
Finding the right name for our business started with a classic founders brainstorm session. Our business idea was to make shoes with an expandable upper to accommodate foot swelling and hard to fit foot shapes. We knew that there were three places in most shoes that caused swollen feet grief! The toebox, the midfoot and the heel. Read more>>
Alanna Knobben
Carry You With Me came from a phrase that I would write over and over again in my journal after losing my son Marshall at two weeks old. In the first year after losing Marshall, I began writing in a journal a friend had gifted me. It became a new way of communicating with my son and with myself. Looking back at the entries over that first year, they all seemed to have the phrase “I will carry you with me” or some version of it within the text. Read more>>