What is your name?
“A good name is to be chosen rather…” – Proverbs 22:1
Names trigger emotions, they evoke memories and they inspire actions. Out of the billions of people on earth, everyone has a name.
In West Africa, names are so important to the extent that names they give to children always have a meaning associated with it. It’s the meanings that define the names and consequently impact the lives of the bearers.
Examples from Ghana; a third-born male child of the Akan Tribe has the name ‘Mensah’. ‘Enyonam, from the Ewes means ‘God has been good to me’.
Names make people feel special. Names help in easy identification and differentiation purposes.
It’s in the same way brand names impact the market and its users.
The significance of names cannot be overemphasized; names have played vital roles since the first being occupied the surface of the earth.
History books have been filled with a significant number of names that cannot be forgotten by virtue of the various roles they played. It is by those names that we can refer to their deeds; good or bad.
How then do you choose a name that can resonate with your personality, product, service, and market?
I have identified three ways brand names can be crafted to help make it memorable, impactful, and identifiable.
Before we delve into that, here are some ideas to guide you to pick a brand name, then you can decide to fit it into any of these three ways.
- Pick a name that describes what you do. An example would be Salad Masters (Into Salads).
- Pick a name that doesn’t relate to what you do; it could be something you create. An example is Google (Has nothing to do with their products and services, the name was made up)
- Pick any of your names or all of your names. An example Tyler Perry Studios
- Pick a name that triggers emotion and connections. An example Cravings Cafe. (This may want you to crave for food)
- Pick a name that defines your niche. An example is ToddlerCare
- Pick a name and play with the spellings and enunciation. An example is SQIN Care, that’s Skin Care.
- Pick a name in another language or a translation in another language. An example is Tonaton(In Ghana it’s a Twi phrase that means, buy and sell.
The ideas are endless, don’t be stack, permit yourself to daydream and craft your unique brand name.
Now, how to choose your Brand names, using my rule of three (3)
Firstly, go for one name:
Going for one name will imply either you have a unique name or you are willing to sacrifice to put in more work to make the brand name stand out and relevant.
‘One name brand name’ doesn’t come cheap.
Here are some global examples of ‘one name brand name’ starring from musicians, authors, thought leaders, religious leaders, products, and services.
Example: Oprah, Ronaldo, Otabil, Messi, Sarkodie, Shattawale, Obrafour, Stonebwoy, Manifest, Sinach, Oyadepo, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Jesus, Mohammed, Pele, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Toyota, Honda. Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Quartz, Zoom, etc
Secondly, you go for two names. A two-name brand name also demands a level of commitment and hard work to make the name count. In using two-names, the names can be rhymed easily, they can complement each other or they can be simply unrelated. Any option you choose will be fine. The caveat is not to make its pronunciation a mouth full. 🙂
Let’s look at some global examples from all sorts of products, services, and individuals.
Example: Michael Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Seth Godin, Peter Drucker, Harry Porter, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Tom Cruise, Tony Robbins, Fred Hammond, Joe Mettle, Cece Twum, Billy Graham, Bob Marley, Amakye Dede, Cindy Thompson, Kwame Eugene, Black Secret, Victoria Secret, Eastwood Anaba, Counselor Lutherodt, etc
Thirdly, you go for three names or initials or mixed. Anything more than three(3) should be kept as initials at best. The truth is that people wouldn’t want to mention long brand names, it’s either they create a short version of it, which may affect the brand or they resort to initials or acronyms.
It’s best to keep your brand name as simple as possible.
Sometimes the middle or first names can be made initials, then the other name or names follows.
Here are some examples of three names and initial-brand names that you can pick cues from.
Three names or initials: T.D. Jakes, J.J. Rawlings, BMW, John C. Maxwell, KOD, KKD, KSM, BKC, MOG, IPMC, ICGC, KICC, PIWC, World Trade Center, Dag Heard Mills, Bernard Kelvin Clive, etc
Lastly, remember that the internet and social media also plays a critical role in creating your brand names. Ensure that your selected name would be available across the major social media platforms and that a domain name can be acquired without conflicts. Check all that out and additionally register the name as a company or trademark your brand where necessary.
In the end, it’s what you invest in the name that makes the brand relevant. So choose your brand name carefully and work on the things that will make the name stick and tick.
Do you have questions or need help with your personal brand or business, just contact me via [email protected]
Bernard Kelvin Clive is an Author, Speaker and Corporate Trainer. Ghana’s foremost authority on Personal Branding and Digital Book Publishing. An Amazon bestselling author of over 40 published books. As a speaker & trainer, he has been known to simplify complex ideas about branding and life and present them to audiences in clear, actionable steps. He has over a decade of experience in digital publishing and has globally consulted for entrepreneurs, pastors, and people like you to write books and build brands. He hosts the number one ranked Career & Business Podcast in Ghana. Bernard is a brand strategist at BKC consulting and runs the monthly Branding & Publishing Masterclass. visit https://BKC.name
