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.

Teresa Weber

At the beginning of 2023, I was deep in an existential crisis about my next chapter. I knew it was time to leave the school where I was working, and honestly, I was feeling like it was time to leave nonprofit fundraising altogether.

We had just passed another holiday season where colleagues and friends had oohed and aahed over my annual gift boxes of cookies, encouraging me to start a cookie company. Traditionally, I resisted their encouragement, saying the recipes weren’t mine and that it was too much work to do regularly. It was truly a labor of love – once a year. Read more>>

HeatherJo Doucette

Creativity has always been my gift—a lens through which I see the world in vivid detail. When I first launched Unique Frame Photography, it was because I saw beauty in the unexpected, in the candid, and in the real. My camera became my voice, my perspective, and my way of capturing what matters most: authentic moments. Read more>>

Terrika Love

The year after I graduated college it was hard finding a job in my career field (media management) that I loved. The jobs available were either underpaid or were just immorally out of my league. I started asking myself what I really want to do based off who I am. Even though that was a soul searching time in my life, it was when I began to learn who I am as an adult. From a teen on up, I’d always have people telling me how they love my style and it’s creative. I minored in Fashion Merchandising so this gave me the business aspect of fashion. There I was in my early 20s with education in marketing and merchandising. I was a born fashionista. I came up with the name for my blog turned Business after my first photo shoot. My love for fashion, skin care, makeup and accessories hit me… Stylish Stylist! Til this day my customers love the name and say it’s catchy. My company’s name truly speaks for the brand. Read more>>

Eliza Daniek

When I was 11, my parents sent me to a summer horseback riding camp. I was terrified. I spent the entire two weeks trying to avoid getting on a horse. These animals felt huge and intimidating, and I was just a shy little girl trying not to be noticed. But life has a funny way of turning things around. Just two years later, I not only got over my fear, I owned a horse. His name was Tactic. He wasn’t the most well-bred horse at the stables, but he was mine. And together, we started competing in show jumping. We trained hard, learned together, and we brought home trophies. Eventually, I even became a horseback riding instructor and taught for a year. The world of horseback riding is competitive and resource-heavy. Read more>>

Anna Santiago

I started thinking about business names 8 years ago, and came up with the name Rimer & Company. Rimer being my maiden name, I wanted to pay homage to my father who had all girls and would most likely not pass his last name to future generations. When I was in culinary school, everyone called me by my last name and it seemed fitting at the time. As time passed, I eventually got married and changed my last name and reflected on much of the changes in me since thinking about my business name. I then decided to name the business after my current last name since it represents where I am currently in life. That’s when Santiago & Company Catering was born! Read more>>

Kari Bosen

As cheesy as it sounds, I was listening to a One Tree Hill rewatch podcast hosted by the main 3 women of the show. In one of their early episodes, they were talking about their hair and how they had to fight to get it to be accurate for the scene/storyline. That got me thinking about how important hair really is to an individual and how we feel like imposters if our hair isn’t how we like it. In 2020 I decided to color my hair pink. I’d never done fashion colors before, but it seemed like a fun idea. While it looked good, I did not feel like myself. A couple years later, I got my hair done. I wanted some highlights, low lights, and subtle pops of purple. What I got was something reminiscent of a witch wig you get at a Halloween store. Every day when I saw myself in the mirror, I started crying because it was not what I wanted and it did not look good. I don’t think people realize how much our hair truly is part of our personal identity. Read more>>

Natassia Wilde

Naming a business is important. It should reflect what you do and who you are, but also be memorable and easy for people to latch onto. Even if it’s a word that means nothing at first, it should feel like yours. Something that fits. Something that sticks. Something that speaks for you when you’re not in the room. Read more>>

Markela Sullivan

The name of my business is BeYOUtiful Salon Suites. I chose to spell “BeYOUtiful” this way because, to me, true beauty comes from being yourself. My vision is for everyone who walks through the doors of BeYOUtiful to feel empowered to be their most authentic self. Read more>>

Kelly Roll

When naming our business it was initially named after our working ranch where we offered horse boarding, we were known as the Rock’n R Ranch. When we started offering dog training, and then dog boarding from our home our friends and family would say their dog needed a Ranch-cation. When we built out our facility to have a kennel building we wanted a name that people identified with their dogs but still had the fun vacation vibe. At the time my dogs were very into disc play and we thought it would be adorable to turn the “o” in vacation into a disc to keep the fun vibe. Read more>>