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.

LaVondra Shinholster

Typical BlaQueen is the name of my personal brand. I came up with the name because Black Women are often times viewed as these super strong beings who do well under pressure and are held to this high standard of making things work even in a not so giving environment. This is what is “typical” of a black woman. Being extraordinary is our ordinary so being the Typical Black Queen that I am, the brand name is fitting. Read more>>

Stéphanie Kremer Larrandabure

When I started baking, for my family first, I started dreaming about going to the next step and having my own business about bread and croissants.
I heard about Cottage Food Operation and started to follow the business creation steps. Being proud of where I am from, I wanted to have a name that shares my French heritage, roots, culture, but also that was easy to pronounce in English. As my bakery is a small business, it came to me to call it “Ma Petite Boulangerie” that means “My Little Bakery” in French. However, as the French word for Bakery is difficult to pronounce in English, I mixed both languages and made it to “Ma Petite Bakery”. Read more>>

Karissa Widder

My favorite part about social media is the community – and the ability to connect with kindred spirits. That’s where the inspiration for my business name came from. Our goal at Kindred is to connect like-minded people and brands and cultivate community through powerful graphics, storytelling and images. Read more>>

Tyler Anne Lowe

In late 2020, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my now business partner, Daniel. It was one of those funky kind of places with seriously strong coffee, eclectic food options, tiny uneven tables and squashed, mismatched chairs, and every single piece of wall covered by art-for-sale or vintage prints. Read more>>

Neeki Ostad

Is it just me or does nobody talk about how hard it is to come up with a name for your business?! This was not something I had anticipated and thought it wold be fairly easy. Originally I came up with a name that every person I initially shared it with agreed that it wasn’t fitting for my place. This took me back to square one, all in the midst of establishing my business paperwork. Read more>>

Kimmy Sauer

While I am proud to be a mom and a wife, I am also a proud entrepreneur. My business combines all of the facets of my life in a way that it doesn’t feel like “work.” I love designing products that my own children enjoy, and then sharing those products with other families. I also like inspiring my own children, particularly my daughters, by being a successful female entrepreneur. Read more>>

 Alexis Backus

The name AK Boudoir comes from the combination of mine and Kailey’s initials. We wanted a way to showcase the collaboration on our boudoir business, and something that was easy to remember. Our individual businesses, AC Backus Photo and Kailey Howell Photography, include our names so it seemed like a good route to go to keep things consistent. Read more>>

Melissa Houser

While the name doesn’t scream cheesecake, it speaks to the story, my story. I grew up among farmers, and baking grandmothers, yet always cherished the experiences and opportunities of the city. I found value in the moments so unique to the countryside, yet also felt so richly connected to city life. Eventually, I realized how special it is to walk freely between both worlds. The Urban Farmhouse is me-a little bit city and a little bit country. It honors the richness and legacy of all things homemade, while simultaneously embracing the beauty of diversity and opportunity. Read more>>

Carey Balogh

Brand Groupies came about organically. Throughout my PR career, I was always passionate and obsessive about the brands I was representing – a true “cheerleader” in a sense. When I was thinking of a name for my new agency, I tried to think of a term to showcase that passion I felt behind the scenes. Also, I’m a concert junkie and play guitar in a band (and met my husband while he was touring on the road!), so the play on “band” groupies seemed like a natural fit! Read more>>

Kazoua Lor

When I think about the word “Rise”, I think about the confidence that people have when they are rising on up. I want to give all of my clients, new or old, the chance to boost their confidence with their hair. One day, I will open up my own salon with my dream team. Hence, why I called my business Rise Hair & Co. Read more>>

Kristin Riddick

I wanted a name that had meaning and significance but was different and unique. I decided to create my own word by combining the first letter sound of my daughters’ name. L and B created the word Ellebee! Read more>>

FOH Films

It all started with Sayso Filmz shooting music video and short films and then they moved over to bigger films which needed a production. The guys already had established our brand (FOH BRAND) from our podcast FOH PODCAST so they just continued with the name and now y’all have FOH FILMS PRODUCTION. Read more>>

Mike Jones

The story behind how VIOLET became the name derives from a couple of different places. Purple is the color of dreams, which plays a huge part in my life because ever since i was young I used to have the most vivid dreams and every time there would be message for me in them. The sky would be a vibrant shade of lavender with clouds and the ground would be water. Read more>>

Kajal Kadia

So My Company’s Name is Noir studio. Its and Interior design firm. Noir Means Black in French. I feel Noir is a great choice for a company name. The color black can indeed convey sophistication, elegance and power, which are all desirable qualities as industries. I feel its great that i came up with a name that not only represents me design style but also resonates my personality. Read more>>

Iyshia Sims

The name of my company, ‘Amir’acle Body Butters & More is named after my son Amir. I began my passion of making all natural products when I was pregnant with Amir. Like most soon-to-be moms, having this little human growing inside of me made me want to be a better mom. Not only did I become conscious of the things I put in my body but on my body as well. Read more>>

Marisa Garza

With the different name ideas that I was brainstorming, Simply Pawsitive got the message across easily as we encourage everyone to try and stay positive everyday. We believe that our pups/cats easily brighten our days, so to give back we create natural- healthy treats, care products, and fun accessories to spoil your Fur-baby. Our name came from the kind of business we pride ourselves to be – A Pet Brand that uses very limited ‘Simple’ but high quality ingredients and products that will leave a ‘PAWsitive’ impact on all furbabies! Read more>>

Tiffany NGU

Prior to doing online business, I was actually a financial planner. What motivated me to start my online journey was that I saw the trend of doing business is going towards the digital way. As much as I love doing business, I realised I lacked of something very important, that is, the skill sets of doing business online. After much thinking, I decided to step out in faith to venture into the online world. All these happened in 2013. Read more>>

Mara Smith

Inspiro is the Spanish word for “inspired.” I named the company two women who inspire me, my grandmother and my mother. From a young age they gave me the confidence to believe I could do anything. I never questioned whether I could make it even in industries where there are not a lot of women, Read more>>

Ashley Montejo

Coming up with a business name isn’t always easy. You want something that you”ll love forever and something that in a couple years doesn’t flow with the direction that you are moving in. It took me a while to realize that what I love most and something I would never want to change are my children so I named my bakery after them. Read more>>

Astarie Dennis

You would think the answer to this is pretty obvious. My name is Astarie and my business is Astarie Apothecay, but it’s not that simple. Astarie Apothecay was originally TasteFull Creations. I was baking as well as making a few products back then. Eventually I moved on to Only Skincare and decided to go with my childhood nickname from my dad: Ladybug Suds. But in 2017 after Late Husband had a stroke, hearing him say my name dug up something inside me. Read more>>

Jenna Zabrosky

Space for Possibility is the name of my leadership coaching and spiritual wellness business. In order to invite in intuition, innovative ideas, vision and creativity, we must first create the space for it. This can show up in many ways, whether it’s moving your body on your yoga mat, sitting in stillness for meditation, engaging in a breath work session, doing a self reiki practice, going on a retreat, releasing inherited legacies, journaling or sharing vulnerably in groups. These all create the container for possibility. We get to be in choice in our lives and the ways that we show up moment to moment. Read more>>

Shunta Williams

The name of my company is Karrington’s Kreations. It’s named after my daughter Karrington. My daughter is a firehouse. She’s very determined and driven.. no is not an answer for her. Read more>>

Dasara Strange

My company is Strangemade and it’s named after me and my family. My last name is Strange and most of my life I don’t use it. I’m school I would just write Dasara Corrin and that’s it! Corrin is my middle name but I used it as a last name because I hated Strange. I would hear so many annoying jokes and have to explain that I want just saying my last name was weird lol. I went through that phase for awhile but now I’m proud of my name. It’s apart of who I am, it’s my family’s legacy. Read more>>

Chauncy Santiago

It spent a lot of time trying to find the right name, something that would encapsulate the reason why I wanted to create this company and after a long time with the help of some family I realized the answer was in front of me all along. In the Hawaiian culture children are often bestowed a Hawaiian name by a loved one, often times it tells a story or is a way to express a hope for the child. My personal Hawaiian name was given to me by a close family friend and has a special meaning attached to its translation but it starts with the word Lei’ohu. Read more>>

Sirobè Carstafhnur

As the founder of SIROBÈ, the natural skincare line, I am often asked how I came up with the name for my company. SIROBÈ represents personal growth and self-love, which are at the core of our brand values. Growing up in Mississippi, I always felt different because of my name, also Sirobѐ. I wanted to blend in and avoid drawing attention to myself. Even today, when I visit Starbucks, I use the name Lisa to avoid having to repeat and spell Sirobѐ several times. Read more>>

Natasha Fussell

My real estate business name is Selling Swan City. Lakeland, Florida has been referred to as Swan City for quite some time. Lakeland has had a longtime love affair with swans and in 1957 the city was gifted a pair from the Queen of England. Over the last decade the name Swan City has grown in popularity with more and more businesses paying homage to the swans by incorporating Swan City into their name. With my business being based in Lakeland I could not think of a better name, I am literally selling Swan City every time I facilitate the transaction for homes, land or businesses. Read more>>

Jackie Sunga

Jackie Sunga

I have never actually provided business to my family! My first client came to me through social media marketing. My business opened at the height of the pandemic in 2020, so there wasn’t a lot of in-person networking events. I posted a lot on Instagram, and the client loved my content so much that she reached out about my email marketing services. Read more>>

Chizoba Udeh-Martin

My first client was literally me shooting my shot. My friend was getting married then, and I had the crazy idea of asking her if I could make her wedding dress, and she said yes! She was so happy I asked; I took the job very seriously, from fabric sourcing to paying attention to what she wanted in a wedding gown. She trusted me to execute and deliver. She was impressed with her wedding dress, my first-ever wedding dress, a proud moment, and the confidence boost I needed to propel. Read more>>

Juliann Johnson

My first clients, that weren’t friends or family, came from street fairs. Early on, whenever possible, we would go sign up for and set up at any and all vendor street fairs we could find. It was so great to be able to show off our clothing first hand and talk with potential clients about what they liked or would like to see. Setting up that canopy and hanging hundreds of shirts up each weekend was an incredible experience. I’m eternally grateful for any and all who stopped by to chat or purchase. Read more>>

John “Mac” MacIlroy

I am going to take some liberty with this question, gently re-positioned as: “How did you come up with the titles to your books?” My fiction book, “Whatever Happens, Probably Will: Stories” is considered an “eclectic” collection, the eighteen individual stories in it not “linked” by common or recurring characters, or place, or time. (A couple great contemporary linked story collections are “Florida,” by Lauren Guof and “Lost in the City” by Edward P. Jones, the authors in each case linking the stories together through place.) Read more>>

Alyssa Rose

When my partner and I began selling candles we wanted to create a business that would allow us to be our authentic selves. Candle-making had become a much needed outlet for us after our suffocating and often unsupportive day jobs and we wanted our brand to represent the freedom that starting the business was affording us! Calling ourselves Queer Candle Company puts it all out there up front. We are able to reach our target demographic with just a name and there is a ton of power in that. Read more>>