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.

WAFA AOUCHICHE

A lot of people ask how I came up with the name “Burgundy Roots”. Burgundy is the colour of rebirth and its roots are universal. The term “Roots” in Jamaican culture refers to conscious Roots Reggae music, a lifestyle of resistance and freedom. “Roots” embodies the importance of knowing yourself, your history and direction in life. It’s about spiritual consciousness and awakening. Read more>>

Yoyo Li

Funny story. I joked about naming my first child Poppy when I got married years ago. Until when I first started my small business, the name Poppi with an “I” came to my mind immediately because I want my art to spread joy and fun just like how Poppi sounds. Read more>>

Justice Long

I always looked at the beauty industry as something that shapes everyone around the world. From putting make-up on Barbie at a young age to picking out the blush you want to wear at your wedding, the beauty industry is in every stage of our lives. However, one thing that has gotten lost in my opinion with the beauty industry is that we forgot the main purpose of makeup which was to have fun and feel beautiful while doing it. Read more>>

Dezy Jackson Hughes

I’ve always wanted to be different from others in my industry! But I also wanted to have a business name that represented me and my mother! Classy is what my mother was and taught me to be “ be a lady and classy at all times” is what she would say! And I try to exude “Classy” everything with in my business so you will understand what “Classy face by Dezy” is all about. Read more>>

Tatiana Pace

I knew my company name had to be meaningful. I wanted something that both my clients and I would find powerful. After going through several possibilities, I chose Journey Skin Co. It is meant to be a constant reminder that everyone’s journey is unique and it’s okay. My journey as a business owner will look different than any other business. It’s a reminder that it’s okay to be different. Read more>>

Jennifer Rosario

I came up with the name Selective Entertainment to specializes in worldwide international management and event planning. We represent a few clients to focus on their careers in talent bookings in the United States and International market. In addition to that we also help artist/talent getting maximum exposure on their upcoming projects in magazines, radio and online websites. Read more>>

Brianne Daul

Born and raised in Northern New Jersey, we are famous for many things- especially the hit series “The Sopranos”! Many of the scenes were filmed around where I grew up and I’m so proud to be from New Jersey. The show featured a strip club called “The Bada Bing” and it was filmed at a real strip club by the name of “Satin Dolls”. Since my last name is Daul, I thought it would be a great nod to my Jersey roots and Satin Dauls Boudoir was born! Read more>>

Jeannie Howard

My Company name is Jeannie Jeannetics LLC. A friend of mine would always say that to me after I’d make something he thought was impossible possibly. When I was able to persuade a person with my charm to say yes after they already told him several times no. Or I was able to fix something or a situation he would always call out “Jeannie Jeannetics!” Meaning I have something special in my genetics that always lets me succeed. I liked that and chose to make it my brand and business name. Read more>>

Judith Welsh

The Box Ladies all started with  two ladies — Amy Cannon, a North Carolina native, and Judith Welsh, a newcomer to the area — who couldn’t be any more opposite: a short brunette and a tall blonde. One claiming to be the more operational and business type and the other more the creative type. And yet, neither at all crafty!!! Who knew “opposites attract” could actually turn into a great opportunity to create joy during a pandemic?! Read more>>

JaiNishia Njie Savage

I was on vacation flying to Hawaii for the very first time to celebrate and was thinking about how I could create the business name. I just close my eyes before we got off the plane and Love and Happiness sanctuary popped up and the rest was history. Read more>>

Cha’Nice Gunn

My first name is Cha’Nice & my custom designs are meant to be unique because they are one of a kind. As my slogan would say, “Only you’ll have it.” When you put my first name “Cha’Nice” together with “Unique,” you get ChaNique Boutique! Read more>>

Monique Hareis

Journey waist beads was born out of my pain. I knew nothing of this craft, nothing about beads, strings, beading patterns, or anything. 2018 going into 2019 was one of the roughest times in my life personally which lead me to go inward spiritually. Read more>>

Mark Madden

I think the name of your company is one of the most important decisions you will make as a business owner. That said, I really took time to think about what I would tell people when they asked me the meaning of my brand’s name. The answer is fairly simple. I brainstormed various ways to convey the main purpose behind me starting a clothing company. Read more>>

Chrissy Santos

I started my business over 10 years ago as a hobby. It was called Chrissy’s Custom Creations. I realized over time that businesses that use a first name seem more: hobbyist and less likely to be taken seriously. I wanted to establish a brand that meant something and encompassed all of the products we produce. During covid quarantine, I decided to quit my corporate job and do a complete rebranding after a decade in order to run my business full time. Read more>>

Nargis Shah

Why Studio Nerg? It took a while to land on a name that felt right. I wanted my new business to feel personal, unique and fun. I decided to use ‘Nerg’, my nickname, to make it feel friendly and approachable. As if your best friend was lending you some new amazing jewellery find. ‘Studio’ reflects my creativity and the way in which I work. It’s open, social and forever growing with lots of ideas bouncing around – never a stationary or solitary place. Read more>>

Payton Reed

VERGE is the perfect name for my women’s clothing store because every item is intended to be on the verge of casual and classy. It is my goal to provide easy, wearable outfits that can elevate my customers’ everyday outfits. Read more>>

Kathryn Davis

Funny story on coming up with the name for Our Farm Fresh. We had the vision and started the process of growing fresh vegetables with the intension of delivering them directly to the consumers in a weekly share of the crop grown. As well as an add on of beautiful freshly cut cottage garden flowers to brighten their day. Read more>>

Brittany Samsil

That is kind of a funny story. When I was selling paintings as a teenager I just signed my name and called it a Brittany Samsil painting. Fast forward to when I turned 26. I hadn’t painted in 10+ years and just on a whim painted several WW2 paintings. Needing somewhere to take them and to be displayed, I walked into Bokeh Lounge in Evansville, IN with them. Read more>>

Ryan Anderson

well, my middle name is james, after my grandpa, on my dad’s side. he passed away a number of years ago, but he would tinker with making frames, especially barn wood ones. so, frames by ryan james made total sense. and it rhymes. Read more>>

Morgan Gardner

I got into fitness during a lonely & difficult time of my life. I was told by a doctor that I was obese, prediabetic and if I didn’t start taking care of myself, I would have to be on medication for the rest of my life. I started taking dance fitness classes & started to reconnect my mind & body while losing weight. Read more>>

Bri Asarie

The name of my business, Asarie Artistry, comes from my middle name, Asarie, which is very unique, and me being an artist since I was very young (drawing, painting, makeup etc). So I put the two together because I feel like my middle name sets me apart and Artistry defines who I am as a creative. Read more>>

Heather Jefferson

After closing and ending a chapter with my previous insurance agency after 7 1/2 years, I decided to start a new and uncharted chapter in starting a newly formed independent insurance agency. Names in my life have great meanings and carry a lot of significance! At that time, I started thinking of names that carried significant meaning in my life. Read more>>

Tracey Johnson

Naming anything is hard. I think the name actually came from conversations, travel and a need from something that would last. Nothing trendy. Pop-Up Raleigh started as Pop-Up Sunday, but the markets moved to Saturdays at Trophy and needed a little rebranding. Currently, lots of markets use similar wording, but we try to stay consistent with our “dottie R” logo and “art & vintage market” tagline. Read more>>

Daniel Mikels

Our dream is to one day see the Aurora Borealis in person. We created a business selling shaved ice and coffee around the image to remind us of a life goal that we hope to achieve. Read more>>

Ara Nazarian

Verispellis is a play on words or Latin Versipellis, meaning werewolf or shapeshifter, given the nature of our skis and snowboards on how they change their behavior on command. Read more>>

APRIL FOSTER

I wanted my company’s name to reflect and represent me. I decided to use my middle name “Lynn”. instead of my first name. Because I had several things in mind that I wanted to create; I formed Lynn’s Creations. Read more>>

Amy Lam

It took me a while to think of a name. I didn’t want to be another “Beauty by Amy” page, I wanted something that had meaning. One day my little sister was wearing a shirt that says Amour on it and it clicked! Eyemour! It was perfect for my business. I wanted to start with eyelashes, but later add on to it. Read more>>

Wichita Mensah

My company’s name comes from my West African background. Noudoudou literally means “Food” in both my Maternal and Paternal patois. My mom is from Benin and my Dad is from Togo, I wanted my company’s name to be a reflexion of both cultures and fortunately the same word stands for food. Read more>>

Sandy Golias

I was 50 years old when I decided to change careers. I was a music teacher for 15+ years and instructed all age groups; from Kindergarteners to seniors in high school. I directed major musical productions and absolutely loved my job. I began to feel restless, however, and more so, I wanted to bring music to everyone; not just those who signed up for my classes. Read more>>

Stazhia Pleasant

My favorite color is blue, so there’s that. lol I love Humming birds, I think they are such a beautiful and interesting bird. I use to resonate with them as a kid because they were small and hard to catch. Being small in frame and sometimes completely off everyone’s radar was very much like me. I also use to walk really fast, I’d zoom through the halls at school to get where I was going (but also to avoid bullies unfortunately) Humming birds moves so fast they hover! Read more>>

Brianna Lewis

I have to take you back to 2014, when, like most teenagers my age, I was completely enamored with Instagram, in order to tell you the full story of the creation of the Imperfect-tag to all my projects.. Being heavyset, I had never really felt accepted by my peers, and at this time, I was still battling with a deep-seated insecurity issue. Due to my perception of being visually unattractive, I was never a “camera person” (from my bucked-teeth, to being plus-sized). But by this time, I had braces and was comfortable taking pictures. I actually grown to enjoy taking selfies. Read more>>

Pat Louis

When I was growing up my father liked to cook and he was a good cook. Whenever he cooked something that was really good he would say “C’est Bon” which in French means “ it’s good” and it met get to the kitchen quickly, if you want to eat. When I started my company I wanted to honor both of my parents and so C’est Bon Seasoning was born. Read more>>

Robert Losey

When I was retired from the military my family and I moved to DC, which was kind of a culture shock. While there people would always call me “country” and I would always have to teach the lesson between country and southern. From that “Southern Official” was born. I am him, he is me Mr. Southern Official. Read more>>

Kodie Ketchbaw

Oh, this is fun because I have a few! My Airbnb is known as The Hen House – partly because of our flock of chickens in the backyard and partly because of all the girls we have gossiping around here! My boutique is called Ketch – part of my last name and it was my Dad’s nickname so I thought it would be nice to give a little nod to him because he was always pretty fearless when it came to starting new businesses. It’s located inside Painted Tree Boutiques in Northglenn. Read more>>

Nicole Williams

The name of my company comes from my appearance and personality. The 3’s make my name unique because it stands for my services. Makeup, little girl styles, and crochet hairstyles for women. To me when most people think Makeup Artist, they envision this super glammed professional..you know, hair laid, makeup done, luxury living individual. I dont come with any of that lol. I walk in covered in tattoos, natural faced, and this bubbly personality ready to enhance your beauty and i think it brings the originality to my business and its name. Read more>>

Priscilla Owusu-Siaw

Ahoufe Events was created in May 2020. Ahoufe means beautiful in the Ghanaian language in West Africa called Twi. Society tends to define beautiful as being a certain type or kind but i want to change that perception and let the world know that is doesn’t matter who you are or what you have . There’s beauty all around us and wanted to continue to spread this positive message in the wedding/floral industry. Read more>>

Amber Leffew

My company is called Honey Brie Charcuterie. There were three elements that came together which helped me fall in love with my business name. First, I wanted to maintain a southern charm with the name, and “honey” has always had a sweet, and inviting ring to it. It worked out beautifully that in the world of cheese the most exquisite pairing for Brie cheese is honey! The second element I wanted to include was something that could always be used as a pun in my marketing plan. Read more>>

George Ndege

Tamu Grill and Catering is a Kenyan fusion restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We opened our doors in November 2021 during the pandemic as Kilimanjaro Grill and Catering. However, apart from the name causing confusion with other restaurants and businesses that shared “Kilimanjaro,” such as Kilimanjaro Restaurant and Kilimanjaro Cafe, the name was somewhat generic and lengthy. Read more>>

LaKedra Rhodes

K2’S Dream house was originated by my daughters first initial. Keyloni’ and Ka’Leyah! Dream house came in meaning the house were my princesses can fulfill all their dreams. Read more>>

Ailo Blanco

It was like 2014, I was 16, and my pops was tryna open up a shoe store. When we were coming up with the potential names, one of em’ that stood out on the list was ”clout”. Then I figured ah shit, Clout Records got a nice lil ring to it. Then that word became the grossest shit ever, like pumpkin spicee…just f*ckin nasty (laughing), I still rock with it tho cuz f*ck it. Read more>>

Shawna Lathan

I came up with the name “Culture Clash,” because we have finally came to the inalienable understanding that their are many different cultures that make up America. Yes, we may Clash; but when there’s a crisis, an epidemic, a pandemic or a tragedy, nothing matters but life. Read more>>

WILLIAM REEVES

I worked in higher end professional kitchens for quite a while. Family Meal is the love child of my passion for food and cooking, combined with my lifelong affection for skateboarding. The unofficial definition for a “family meal” in a professional restaurant is a meal provided by the restaurant for the entire staff, typically prior to the start of service. The meal is normally made by a member of the kitchen staff with products that may not make it on the restaurants menu which helps utilize food, and prevent food waste. Read more>>

Mario Andres Orjuela Quiroz

My company started the first idea of ​​the company that I have today is the business is electronic commerce, we are the digital age. My parents said they wanted to place them. I told them I want a website or an online store. my parents gave me a capital of 1000usd send create the web a design company The other thing, having a place is not a business, it is a lot of expense depending on what profession for mine I am in technology. Read more>>