Naming: How to Find a Business Name That Sticks

Finding a business name that lasts is one of the most important and most underestimated decisions you will make when starting a company. Your name is the first thing people hear about your brand — and the last thing they forget. Or do not.

This article walks you through the complete naming process: from the first idea through the creative phase to the legal checks specific to the Swiss context. No theory seminar. A toolbox you can open today.

Why the Name Is So Hard to Choose

Not because nothing comes to mind. But because too much comes to mind — and because the decision feels like a tattoo. Permanent. And what if it is the wrong name?

The good news: there is no perfect name. There are good names and bad names. And the criteria between them are clearer than you think.

The bad news: most founders either spend too little time on naming (five minutes of brainstorming, done) or too much (three months of deliberation, still no name). Both lead to mediocre results.

According to the Swiss commercial register data, thousands of new companies are registered every year. In the canton of Zurich alone, there were over 10,000 new entries in 2023. That means it is getting tighter. The good names are getting scarcer. And yet they exist — if you search systematically.

The 5 Name Types: Which One Fits You?

Before you brainstorm, you need to know which direction you are thinking in. Not every name type suits every business model.

1. Descriptive Names

Examples: Swiss Insurance, Zurich Digital Marketing, Basel Web Design.

Advantage: Immediately clear what you do. Disadvantage: Interchangeable, hard to protect, barely emotional.

Works for: Industries where clarity matters more than differentiation. Local trades, technical service providers.

2. Personal Names

Examples: Mueller Treuhand, Meier Architects, Alchemy Zurich.

Advantage: Personal, unique, often straightforward in the commercial register. Disadvantage: Harder to scale, the name stays even if the person leaves.

Works for: Consulting, creative industries, services with a strong personal connection.

3. Invented Names (Neologisms)

Examples: Spotify, Zalando, Xing.

Advantage: Maximally unique, easy to protect, domain usually available. Disadvantage: Requires more marketing effort to build meaning.

Works for: Tech startups, products with international potential.

4. Metaphorical Names

Examples: Apple, Amazon, Patagonia.

Advantage: Emotional, memorable, tells a story. Disadvantage: The connection to the offering is not immediately obvious.

Works for: Brands with a strong identity and clear value system.

5. Acronyms

Examples: UBS, ABB, SBB.

Advantage: Compact, professional. Disadvantage: Soulless, only charged with meaning after years.

Works for: Large companies, corporations. For startups and SMEs: almost never the right choice.

The Naming Process: 4 Phases

Phase 1: Lay the Foundation

Before you write down a single name, you need clarity on three things:

• Your positioning. Who do you help? What problem do you solve? What makes you different?
• Your brand personality. Are you serious or playful? Traditional or modern? Local or international?
• Your context. What industry are you in? What are the competitors called? What is the standard — and how can you stand apart from it?

This phase takes half a day. But it saves you weeks in the creative phase because you know what you are looking for.

Phase 2: Brainstorm Broadly

Now it gets creative. And “broadly” means truly broadly: 50 to 100 ideas. Not 5.

Methods that work:

• Word fields. Write down every term related to your offering. Then every term related to the feeling you want to create. Then every term related to your target audience. Combine.
• Foreign languages. Latin, Greek, Japanese — words from other languages often sound fresh and are available as domains.
• Compound words. Two words, newly combined. Alchemy + Zurich = Alchemy Zurich. Simple but effective.
• Sound patterns. How does the name feel in the mouth? Hard consonants (K, T, P) feel energetic. Soft sounds (M, L, N) feel gentle.

Important: Do not evaluate during this phase. Collect. Evaluation comes later.

Phase 3: Filter Systematically

You have 50 to 100 ideas. Now you cut. According to clear criteria:

Criterion 1: Pronounceability. Say the name out loud. On the phone. To someone who has never heard it. Do they need to ask again? Then it is out. In multilingual Switzerland, this is particularly important: does the name work in German, French, and English?

Criterion 2: Memorability. Can you write the name down after hearing it once? If not, your clients will have the same problem — and google the competition instead.

Criterion 3: Uniqueness. Does it sound like an existing company name? Could it be confused with a competitor? Google the name. Check LinkedIn. Search the commercial register.

Criterion 4: Scalability. Does the name still work if you grow? “Zurich Web Design” becomes a problem if you expand to Bern or start offering branding.

Criterion 5: Visual potential. Write the name in different typefaces. How does it look as a logo? Too long? Too many special characters? Too similar to another logo?

At the end of this phase, you have 3 to 5 finalists. No more.

Phase 4: Check and Secure

The least romantic but most important phase. This is where you find out whether your preferred name is even possible.

Commercial register (Zefix). At zefix.ch you can check for free whether the name is already registered. Note: for sole proprietorships, the family name must be included (e.g. “Beck Consulting,” not just “Consulting”). For GmbH and AG, different rules apply — the name must clearly differ from existing entries.

Domain availability. Check the .ch domain and the .com domain. If both are taken, that is a warning sign. According to Statista, over 2.4 million .ch domains were registered by the end of 2023 — the market is tight.

Trademark search (IGE/WIPO). At the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE), you check whether the name is protected as a trademark. On the WIPO database (Global Brand Database), you check internationally. A professional trademark search costs CHF 300 to 800 — an investment that protects you from expensive legal disputes.

Social media handles. Is the name available on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok? Not a deal-breaker — but a factor.

Cultural Pitfalls in Switzerland

Switzerland has four language regions. What sounds good in German can be absurd in French. And what is charming in Swiss German means nothing in Geneva.

Check every name finalist in all languages relevant to your business. This is not perfectionism — it is pragmatism. A consultant in Bern who also wants to reach Romand clients needs a name that works in both language regions.

And: Swiss umlauts (ae, oe, ue) in company names are charming but technically problematic. In URLs, email addresses, and international correspondence, they become obstacles. Consider whether the name works without umlauts too.

A name is not a slogan. It does not have to explain everything. It has to stick. Most founders try to pack too much into the name — and end up with something that says everything and communicates nothing. The best name is one that leaves room. Room for your story, for the meaning you give it. — Miriam Beck

The Most Common Naming Mistakes

Mistake 1: Committing too early. You have an idea after 10 minutes and you are in love. But infatuation is not a criterion. Go through the entire process. The first idea is rarely the best.

Mistake 2: Democracy. Everyone on the team votes. The result: the most boring name wins because it offends nobody. Naming is not a democracy. It is a strategic decision.

Mistake 3: Following trends. -ly, -ify, -io — these endings were innovative in 2015. Today they are generic. Your name should still work in 10 years, not just 10 months.

Mistake 4: Skipping the legal check. You build a website, print business cards, register social media channels — and then the lawyer’s letter arrives. Check first. Invest afterwards.

From Name to Brand: What Comes Next

A name on its own is just a word. What turns it into a brand is everything that surrounds it: the positioning it rests on, the visual identity that gives it form, the values it embodies, and the consistency with which it shows up across every touchpoint.

If you have followed our series from defining your target audience through developing brand values to this point, you now have the strategic building blocks. The name is the bridge between strategy and the visible brand. Everything that comes after — logo, colours, typography, website — translates the name into experience.

Name It and Move On

You now have a process. From positioning through brainstorming to legal verification. That is more than most founders have when they choose their name.

Sometimes the right answer is your own name. Simon Tanner, founder of Tanner Schadstoffsanierung, faced exactly this question: personal name or invented term? In the construction and remediation sector, a family name often carries more meaning than any neologism. “Tanner” communicates directly, without explanation, who you are dealing with. Today the name appears on vehicles, workwear, and building site signs across the region. And it works. Not because of the name alone. But because everything behind it is right.

Take a day. A full day. Not an hour between two meetings. Naming deserves focus.

If you find yourself going in circles (because every name sounds “sort of fine” but none feels right), you need an outside perspective. In our Brand from Scratch series you will find the broader context. And in our Minimum package from CHF 6,500 you get a structured naming process as part of the full brand development, together with positioning, logo, and brand guidelines.