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.

Jake Schmiedicke

Ten years ago, when I first branded myself as a freelance videographer/photographer, I decided to continue using the company name I had randomly chosen for myself during my backyard film-making days in high-school: Ice Pictures Productions. For a while it worked just fine, since at the end of the day my clients were hiring me for the skills I brought to the table, not because I had a slick name (pun intended) for my company. But a few years into my business as my client base grew and I started receiving a lot of good word-of-mouth referrals, I started feeling a little embarrassed when people would ask me what the name of my company was and what it meant. Good question. What DID it mean?? I had just picked it randomly as a teenager because I thought it sounded cool (pun intended.) Did it mean I was an ice-climbing adventure photographer? Was I taking pictures of ice? Perhaps I produced ice sculptures for local winter festivals? In short, the name signified nothing about me, my business, or the spirit of my work. Read more>>

Simon Barrie

Colwell is my middle name and the maiden name of my grandmother on my father’s side. She was a wonderful artist who painted watercolors and pastels throughout her life. I remember going on painting trips with my father, my brother and her and looking over her shoulder at the canvas to see if I could see what she was seeing. It instilled a creative side in me from an early age and taught me to have a discerning eye for form and a patience for the process. Read more>>

Akshay Ravi

When I was growing up, my next door neighbor and I would play outside almost every day. We’d partake in all sorts of random, imaginative adventures – from simple basketball games, to acting like we had a world-famous baseball stadium on the side of his house, to trying to be medieval archers. The connective thread in all our imagination was an empty lot across the street – the first real sandbox I experienced to act like the world was a place of creativity and storytelling, where I would imagine new worlds and new adventures, and have fun just being imaginative. As a filmmaker now, that’s my favorite part of the process – just being creative and imaginative with people I love working with, and that’s where Empty Lot Productions comes from. Read more>>

Heather Gordon

Your Story by GIRL was created shortly after my own wedding. As a designer I have a desire to curate every detail when planning or creating moments and my wedding was no exception. I found it difficult to find options to customize all the various details of my day in a way that spoke to my personality and love story with my partner. I wanted my wedding to showcase our story and not just present as another beautiful wedding. This led me to start my own company to help future brides have more control over their aesthetics and let the details of their wedding to tell their love story – which is what “Your Story” represents. Read more>>

Kelsey Myers

The idea behind Tortis is to bring people together. At its core, it reflects the belief that we’re stronger and more beautiful when we’re connected. I wanted the concept of “braided” to be part of the name without being too literal. Initially, I called the brand flätad—the Swedish word for “braided.” I loved how it looked in print and appreciated its nod to my mom’s Swedish heritage. Most of my friends hated it though. It was difficult to pronounce, required repeated explanations, and sounded less appealing with my American accent. One friend thought it sounded like “flatulence”. Read more>>

Mark Corey

YoHaTdawg was originally “You On a Hat.” I went for my first session to meet my new mentor, Mr. Zimmerman, from SCORE. I walked into his office, proud of what I had created. I laid out my branded hats on the table, eager to show him my work. He was silent as he examined them. Then, suddenly, without warning, he asked, “What’s the name of your brand?” I told him, “You On a Hat.” He looked at me for a moment and said, “There’s nothing special about the name, or the hats. Young man, you need to go back to the drawing board. Create something unique, something outside the box—something that no one else has. Because this? This isn’t it.” Read more>>

Alycia Rainaud

Absolutely, naming is one of the hardest parts of creating something new. It’s like finding a title that encapsulates your entire vision and identity and that alone is just so stressful. Honestly, though, the story behind Maalavidaa started as a bit of a joke. I had to come up with a name for my Instagram account, and I wasn’t taking it too seriously at the time—it was just a space to share whatever I felt like creating. The name Malavida came to mind, partly because I was going through a rough patch as I always do and it resonated with my mood back then. The joke derived from the French phrase “mal à la vie,” which translates to “my life hurts” to semi-Spanish “mal a la vida” to “malavida” which means “bad life”, and it felt ironically fitting for the chaos I was experiencing. Read more>>

Ethel Weaver

At Camellia Lux Scents, every product we create tells a story—one of elegance, timeless beauty, and the luxury of nature. The name Camellia holds deep meaning and reflects the essence of our brand. The Camellia flower is renowned for its exquisite beauty and symbolism. Native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern and southern Asia, from the majestic Himalayas to the serene landscapes of Japan and Indonesia, it has been celebrated for centuries as a symbol of admiration, perfection, and refined elegance. In many cultures, the Camellia represents love, devotion, and purity, values that resonate deeply with the products we create. Read more>>

Germán Medina

Fortunately the name came very easy while I was still in college. The Gamut is the full spectrum of colors available in a device or display. The term was originally used in music to decribe all the notes in a musical scale. Now Gamut is synonym of spectrum, Gamut meaning the full spectrum/range within a given field. When I thought about the wedding videos I wanted to create, I knew I wanted to showcase everything: the joy, the tears, the laughs, the hugs, the whole Gamut of a wedding. I was surprised no one had used the name before! Read more>>

Ang Richard

At a work event a few years ago, I was wearing a sleeveless shirt with a pair of blue slacks and boots that made me a bit taller. Feeling confident, I was networking with colleagues, introducing myself to peers I hadn’t met before, and working with students to enhance their career development journeys. During that event, a colleague commented on my tattoos that wrap around my upper arms.  In a conversation with a founder who wanted me to support her social media content, I was told I looked like I was 14. Read more>>

Suzette Bologna

The name “Rockin This Kitchen” came to me while baking in my own kitchen. I love to sing and play instruments. It was the year 2020, during the height of the pandemic, when I decided to bake a batch of Italian “S” cookies to spread joy, smiles and bring comfort to people who were feeling down and my workplace at the time. My kitchen became my escape, canvas and my stage. I’d crank up my favorite music—Prince, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison—and completely lose myself in the rhythm while baking. Sometimes, I’d pick up my guitar or sit at the piano, or paint between batches, singing and jamming while waiting for the timer to go off. It wasn’t just baking; it was a whole experience of creativity, love, and energy. Read more>>

Luisa Jimenez

I came up with Executive Lulu about 3 and a half years ago when I was sitting thinking that I needed a name that fit me and what I did. I felt that coming up with a solid name was important, one that fit the brand of my business and I played around with a few and I just loved how Executive Lulu sounded. Executive shows my professional side while Lulu fits my fun and sweet side. Read more>>

Anisha Jain

Growing up in India, I witnessed how often women put their dreams on hold for their families. My mother was one of them. A talented entrepreneur, she launched her own fashion line at 18, displaying her creativity and ambition. However, she gave it all up after marriage to support our family, burying her aspirations in the name of duty. Watching her sacrifice everything for us filled me with admiration and heartbreak. Her strength was undeniable, but it also left me questioning why women were expected to give so much of themselves. I wanted something different—not just for her, but for every woman with untapped potential and dreams waiting to be realized. Read more>>

Courtney Hicks

The name Naturally Hicks came naturally, no pun intended. My goal has been to embrace a more natural lifestyle. Through my platforms, my goal is to share and educate others about how I live with the intention of living a more organic way of life through homesteading, gardening, essential oils and so forth. I feel the name aligns perfectly with my intentions. Read more>>

Kevin Sullivan

When you need reliable staff its natural to want to involve someone you’ve known your entire life. The people you’ve known the longest tend to be family. I worked with my family before I opened my own place and once I open Kitchen Laurel, they were the first calls I made to begin staffing the restaurant. I’m sure you’re wondering what that has to do with the name of my company. Well I had been talking to my cousin, reminiscing about growing up together in the home my grandmother purchased with the expressed thought that it was for raising kids and giving the family a strong base. My cousin is 10 years my elder but we both remember good times at 857 Laurel in Orange Mound, Memphis.  Read more>>

Brenna Malmberg

In the world of communications, handwritten letters sealed up in an envelope take time to arrive. It’s not instant. It’s not two-day delivery. It’s days and days, and even weeks depending on how far your letter has to travel. Because of that, it’s fondly known as “snail mail” because it arrives at a snail’s pace. In the fast-paced world we live in, I love the slow charm of snail mail. That’s why I named my company Snail Mailed It. I also wanted to go with a phrase that could be used as a verb. I look forward to people telling their friends, “Oh, I Snail Mailed It to you!” To complete the name, my company has a snail and envelope logo. Read more>>

Diana Diaz Madera

The name Corazón Norte carries deep meaning and reflects the heart of our mission. In Spanish, Corazón means “heart” and Norte means “north.” This name was inspired by the journey of immigrants who carry their hearts to the North (the U.S.), bringing with them dreams, hopes for a brighter future, talent, and kindness. It also speaks to a universal truth—immigrant or not, we are all, in some way, searching for our true north. Read more>>

Miguel Cairo

The name “Unique Web Designer” was born out of my frustration with the lack of originality in the web design industry. As I started working with clients and exploring competitors, I noticed a recurring trend: cookie-cutter designs. Many companies relied heavily on templates, churning out websites that felt uninspired and lacked personality. Businesses were getting online, sure, but their websites weren’t truly theirs. Read more>>