Stand out in 2025: Best practices for picking the perfect brand name

The creator economy, consisting of independent brands built by enterprising individuals, generates some $250 billion in activity — and it continues to grow. That’s a lot of people jockeying for attention, and you have to be strategic to stand out.

Because if you can’t make your brand visible, your venture isn’t going to get very far. The fact is that more than one in five businesses fail in their first year, and almost half fail in their first five years. And the top reason is that they lack the market fit to be viable, and can’t meaningfully distinguish themselves from the competitors who offer something similar.
Knowing how to stake your claim involves knowing how to choose a brand name, because this is the first point of contact that potential customers have with you. That’s what makes brand names and meanings so vital. With that in mind, here are some best practices for naming and branding your business, and selecting adaptable brand names that let you maintain a consistent presence across all channels.

Align your name with your brand identity

The brand naming process can only begin once you define what makes you different. You know what you do and how you do it — but be specific about who you’re doing it for, and the “why” factor that motivated you to launch your solopreneur venture in the first place. The vision, values, and promise that drive you can help you delineate what your brand should be called.

Uniqueness is also crucial. There are different approaches you can incorporate into your brand naming strategy:

• Include your own name or initials
• Create a catchy portmanteau combining two relevant words
• Use a familiar word or phrase but find a clever way to alter it
• Describe literally or metaphorically what your business does
• Choose something totally unexpected, or invent a new word 

What you want, above all, is to have a name that bears as little resemblance as possible to your competitors, and that other brands won’t be able to mimic. And of course, you want to have an available domain name and social media handles.

If your top pick isn’t available, best practices for choosing a domain name can include specifying your region or sector with a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) extension such as .uk, or a generic top-level domain (gTLD) extension like .biz. But bear in mind that there are restrictions on some ccTLDs, and be careful of having a domain name that’s too similar to another organization’s, because it can confuse customers and lead to legal trouble. A more unique option would be to select a custom TLD that describes the service you provide, such as .app or .fitness.

Another noteworthy strategy for how to secure a name for a business website involves directly incorporating the TLD into your name, in a practice known as “domain hacking”. For instance, the .ing TLD has been registered by many top brands like Adobe Acrobat, who scored edit.ing and sign.ing. Canva also snagged draw.ing, and ING claimed banking.

Build a memorable visual identity

Adaptable brand names don’t just lend themselves to web domains and social media handles. They also make for impactful, versatile logos that get their message across to their intended audiences and look great on any platform and medium — from websites to business cards. Here are three naming and branding tips to remember:

1. Your logo needs to reflect the uniqueness of your brand name, capturing your brand personality and reinforcing brand recognition.
2. A consistent palette should be used across your brand collateral, with a few choice colors that display well with black and white text.
3. The design of the logo should influence your selection of fonts, with on-brand typography helping to further set your brand apart.

Finally, as you develop your visual identity through both images and text, prioritize optimizing for multiple platforms (like social media and email), and ensure your digital files are responsive and mobile-friendly. And since video is the dominant content form on social platforms, this medium should be top of mind when designing your brand’s overall look and feel.

Avoid common brand naming mistakes

Imagine choosing a name for your brand and designing a logo, only to discover that you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and can’t claim the appropriate domain names or social media handles.

This isn’t uncommon. Solopreneurs are focused on launching businesses, and they may have an unrealistic perception of a brand’s originality, or may not have fully investigated the competitive landscape.

To avoid this, think about these four factors in your brand naming strategy:

1. Before you get too far in the brand naming process, make sure that the name you want can be secured for all your relevant online channels.
2. Choose an adaptable brand name that can accommodate future opportunities, growth, and diversification.
3. Consider global and cultural connotations. Words and colors hold different associations across demographics, so research your target audience and market.
4. As you conduct your market research, make certain that your brand name doesn’t infringe on any current trademarks or intellectual property.

Research and test your brand name

According to one recent study, 81.5% of creators have devoted time to building their personal brands over the past year, with 38.3% deeming this to be extremely crucial.

That means paying attention to the details:

• Do your due diligence to ensure your naming and branding is original and legally protected, using tools like the USPTO database and domain registrars.
• Research competitor names to ensure your brand will be distinct in the marketplace, and you won’t accidentally confuse your prospective customers.
• Test the reception of your brand name and visual identity with members of your target audience to validate its appeal.

Tell a compelling brand story

You’ve put a lot of work into understanding how to choose a brand name. So show the work. Tell your audience what your name means, why you chose it, and how it connects to the promises your brand will keep and the problems your business can solve.

Nothing humanizes your brand like a powerful story. Keep the narrative simple and relatable, and customize how you share it based on your audience segment and marketing channel mix.

For instance, thought leadership on LinkedIn will play well for a cohort of professional business peers, while a series of TikTok videos about brand inclusivity or sustainability could generate online buzz among socially conscious Gen Z viewers.

Stay agile with branding trends in 2025

It’s not just Gen Z who care about conscientious consumerism; today, 62% of consumers heavily base their buying decisions and preferences on a brand’s values.

These are the types of trends that solopreneurs need to be aware of. It’s essential to stay true to who you are, while evolving to accommodate changing demands and expectations. Regularly revisit and reevaluate your brand strategy to ensure it aligns with existing and emerging market needs.

Solopreneurs like you are the fuel powering the modern economy and driving it forward. Of all the businesses in the US, 99.9% are small businesses, and 89% of them have fewer than 20 employees. It’s a competitive market, but it’s also an endlessly exciting one — and with a partner like Name.com, you have the resources you need to scale your side hustle and expand the reach and reputation of your personal brand.