Naming a business or product: shortlist, pronunciation and checks

Fibvo editorial · 1 August 2026 · 5 min read

The name list usually starts in a WhatsApp group: forty options, a few favourites and a partner who wants the family surname. A week later the favourite turns out to be a registered trade mark in your class, the .com is parked for sale and your distributor in Madurai cannot say it. A name is cheap to choose and expensive to change, so the order of the work matters more than the brainstorm.

Write a naming brief before anyone suggests a name

Most naming arguments are really about what the name is for. Settle that on one page and judge every candidate against it, not against taste.

• Scope: one product, a range, or a company that may enter neighbouring categories later.
• Speakers: retail buyers, drivers, call-centre staff, export customers and voice assistants.
• Surfaces: shop signboards, uniforms, browser tabs and printed cartons.
• Limits: nothing that sounds like a competitor, ties you to one city or ingredient, or claims something like 'organic' that you cannot certify.
• Markets: the states and countries that matter now and next.

Descriptive names such as 'Best Spices' or 'Fast Cargo' feel safe because they explain the business. They are also the hardest to protect, because trade mark registries are reluctant to give one company ordinary words that other traders need. Names that hint at a quality without describing it are easier to register and to own in search.

Shortlist in rounds, not by vote

A group vote on forty names tends to produce the least objectionable option. Rounds work better, because each one removes names for a stated reason.

• Round one, brief fit: cut anything that fails a must-have in the brief. Aim for about a dozen survivors.
• Round two, quick availability: a few minutes per name on the trade mark register, a domain lookup and a web search. Cut obvious conflicts before anyone grows attached.
• Round three, the spoken test described in the next section.
• Round four, context: put the last three or four names on a mock label, an invoice header and a website homepage, and see which still reads well next to a price.

Note why each name was dropped. When someone revives a rejected favourite, the reason is already written down.

Say it aloud in every language you sell in

In India a name is spoken in several languages before it is typed. A customer hears it from a shopkeeper, repeats it to a relative, then searches by voice in a mix of English and a regional language. Each step can change its shape.

• The phone test: say the name once on a call to someone who has not seen it written, and ask them to spell it back.
• Sound clusters: 'z', 'v' and 'w', 'th' and silent letters are pronounced differently across Indian languages and in export markets. A name that depends on them will be said, and typed, several ways.
• The script test: ask native speakers to write the name in Devanagari, Tamil, Bengali or whichever scripts matter to you. Awkward results will appear on every regional signboard.
• The meaning check: ask speakers of each target language whether the word, or something that sounds like it, is rude, unlucky or comic. Online translators miss slang.

If a customer cannot spell your name after hearing it once, they cannot search for it.

Record each tester saying the name and listen back. A pause before the first syllable is a warning sign, even when they get it right.

Check domains and handles without settling for a clumsy version

An exact .com is useful but not essential for a business selling mainly in India. A matching .in is often enough for domestic customers, while exporters benefit from the .com that overseas buyers expect. What matters more is that the domain can be spelt correctly from hearing it.

• Avoid hyphens, numbers and doubled letters where two words join, because people mishear and mistype them.
• If a domain has had a previous owner, look at its history in an archive such as the Wayback Machine. A domain once used for spam can start life with a poor reputation among email providers.
• Check handles on the social platforms and marketplaces your customers use.
• Buy the obvious misspellings and the other main extension if they are inexpensive, and redirect them to your site.

Clear the trade mark and company name before you commit

Incorporating a company or buying a domain does not give you rights over a name as a brand. Trade mark rights come from registration and use, within specific classes of goods and services. A name the company registry accepts can still infringe someone else's trade mark.

• Search the public trade mark search on the IP India website in the classes covering your goods and services, and in related classes. Use both the wordmark and phonetic options, so similar-sounding marks show up.
• If you sell abroad, repeat the search in WIPO's Global Brand Database and the national registers of your main export markets.
• Check the company name through the name reservation service on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal, which can reject names too similar to existing companies or registered trade marks.
• Ask a trade mark attorney for a clearance opinion on the final one or two names before you print anything. It costs far less than a forced rename after launch.
• File your application early. The TM symbol can be used with an unregistered mark, but the ® symbol only once the mark is registered. Using it earlier is an offence under the Trade Marks Act 1999.

---

Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.