By Mehdi HassanWhat are the different types of brand names?
Brand names fall into a handful of types, depending on how much they say about the product. At one end, descriptive names state what you do. At the other, invented names are new words with no meaning at all. In between sit suggestive names, arbitrary names, compound names, founder names and acronyms.
Most naming guides list these types with famous examples and stop there. That's not much help when you're choosing. The more useful question is what each type will cost you later, because a name that explains less on day one needs more brand-building to mean something. That's the lens this guide uses. It's also the second step in our process for how to name a startup: choose the type before you brainstorm.
One idea runs through every section: there's a trade-off between clarity now and distinctiveness later. Trademark law reflects the same trade-off. Names that describe a product get weak protection, and names that have nothing to do with it get strong protection.
What is a descriptive brand name?
A descriptive brand name says plainly what the company does or sells, such as The Weather Channel or General Electric. It needs almost no explanation, which makes early marketing easier. The cost comes later: descriptive names are hard to trademark, hard to stand out with, and they box you in when the product changes.
Descriptive names suit businesses where the product is stable and buyers search for exactly what you offer, like local services or a single-purpose tool. They work less well for startups expecting to expand, because a name that describes your first product precisely becomes inaccurate as you add more.
Brand-building budget later: low to start, high to stand out. You'll spend little teaching people what you do, but a lot on design, voice and marketing to be remembered as different from the many similar names in your category. A strong visual identity and brand guidelines carry more of the weight.
What are suggestive and metaphor brand names?
Suggestive brand names hint at a quality, benefit or feeling without describing the product directly. Metaphor names are a common kind: they borrow an image from another world. Examples include Slack, which suggests ease, and Stripe, which suggests something clean and simple. They give people a feeling to hold on to while staying distinctive.
This is the middle ground many software startups choose, and for good reason. A suggestive name gives your marketing a story to tell (why the name, what it stands for) and is generally easier to protect than a descriptive one. The risk is that the best metaphors in a category get used up quickly, so your fresh idea may already belong to three competitors.
Brand-building budget later: moderate. The name does some of the explaining, and the identity and messaging do the rest. Metaphor names also give designers natural visual material, which helps the logo and illustration style feel connected to the name.
What are arbitrary brand names?
An arbitrary brand name is a real, everyday word used for a product it has nothing to do with. Apple for computers is the classic example; Shell for fuel is another. The word is familiar and easy to spell, but in your category it means nothing until you give it meaning.
Arbitrary names combine two advantages: people already know how to say and spell them, and they're strongly distinctive in their category, which makes them strong trademarks. The downside is availability. Short, common English words are heavily used as brand names and domains, so finding an available one in your class takes work.
Brand-building budget later: high. You have to build all the meaning yourself. The upside is that once you do, the name is genuinely yours, and nothing in the language competes with it in your category.
What are invented brand names?
Invented brand names, also called coined or fanciful names, are new words created for the brand, such as Kodak, Xerox or Häagen-Dazs. They have no prior meaning, which makes them the easiest type to trademark and the easiest to own in search results. They're also the hardest to make memorable at first.
Invented names give you complete freedom over sound and length, and domains and handles are more often available. The craft is in making a word that feels natural to say, spells the way it sounds and carries the right tone. Badly built invented names sound like random syllables or a drug brand. Good ones sound like they always existed.
Brand-building budget later: the highest. You're teaching people a new word and what it stands for. That's why invented names suit companies that plan to market heavily or build a category, and why they pair well with a clear, descriptive tagline and website headline.
What about compound, founder and acronym names?
Compound, founder and acronym names are the other common types. Each has a narrower set of situations where it works well, so it's worth knowing their specific trade-offs before you shortlist one.
- Compound names join two words or word parts, like Microsoft, YouTube or Snapchat. They can combine meaning with distinctiveness, but they get long, and many obvious combinations are taken.
- Founder names use a person's name, like Ford or Dell. They suit professional services and personal brands, but common surnames are hard to protect and they tie the company to one person. For technical founders building in public, our guide to the developer brand covers when a personal name helps.
- Acronyms and initialisms, like IBM or HP, are usually shortened versions of long names that became famous first. For a new company, an acronym means nothing and is easily confused with others.
- Place names, like Patagonia, borrow the associations of a real location. They can be evocative but are often descriptive in a legal sense if you actually operate there.
How much brand-building does each type of brand name need?
The less a name explains, the more brand-building it needs, and the more distinctive and protectable it tends to be. Use this table to match a name type to your budget and plans. The effort ratings are relative to each other, not fixed amounts.
Name type | Clarity on day one | Trademark strength | Brand-building needed later |
|---|---|---|---|
Descriptive | High | Weak | Low to explain, high to stand out |
Suggestive or metaphor | Medium | Moderate to strong | Moderate |
Arbitrary | Low in category | Strong | High |
Invented | None | Strongest | Highest |
Compound | Medium | Moderate | Moderate |
Founder | Low | Often weak | High, tied to one person |
Acronym | None for new brands | Weak to moderate | High, easily confused |
How trademark law ranks these name types
In US trademark law and many other systems, names sit on a spectrum of distinctiveness. Generic terms (the common name of the product) can't be protected at all. Descriptive names usually can't be registered until they've gained recognition through long use.
Suggestive, arbitrary and fanciful (invented) names are treated as inherently distinctive, so they're easier to register and defend. That's why the clarity you gain from a descriptive name is paid for in legal strength. Before you commit, run the free searches in our guide on how to check if a business name is trademarked, then get a lawyer's opinion.
Which type of brand name should a startup choose?
Most startups should choose a suggestive or metaphor name, or an invented name if they have the budget and ambition to build a category. Descriptive names are best for focused businesses with stable products, and acronyms are best avoided. Your answer depends on two questions: how much will you spend on marketing, and how much will your product change?
Once you've picked a type, generate names within it and screen each one with our startup name checklist. If you're naming features and plans rather than the company, the same types apply but the rules change, which we cover in product naming.
