How to name a tech company: Your guide to technology company naming

Are you searching for “good name for tech company” online? You’re not alone.

Figuring out how to name a tech company can be one of the biggest challenges you face as a budding entrepreneur. The technology industry is growing at an incredible rate, with new startups constantly emerging.

This means finding a unique, impactful title is more challenging than ever. However, the right name can make or break your business. 

Just look at some of the biggest technology brands of all time. Would Google have been as successful as it is today if it had kept the original moniker idea of Backrub? “Just Backrub it” doesn’t have the same ring.

What if Amazon had been called Cadabra? Or Steve Jobs never chose the name “Apple” for his innovative business?

Technology company naming is complicated for several reasons.

Not only is there already a lot of competition on the market, but you’re also in the challenging position of trying to convert a complex idea into a simple title your audience can remember. Your name needs to be interesting, exciting, unique, and capable of growing and evolving with your brand.

So, where do you get started? Here’s your guide to tech company naming.

An introduction to naming a tech company

The first step in learning to name a tech company is understanding the challenges you’re likely to face along the way.

Technology company naming, as mentioned above, is particularly complex. There are already so many fantastic tech brands out there that it’s difficult to ensure you stand out from the crowd. 

The best tech names need to differentiate you from the competition while capturing your target audience’s interest and emotional engagement. They should be simple but engaging and capable of conveying your unique brand personality.

As a good example, “Google” sounds fun and playful while referencing the mathematical world. When coming up with a name for a technology company, it’s crucial to ensure it can stand the test of time.

Tech startups evolve quickly, unlocking new features and capabilities for customers. You don’t want to refresh or rebrand your identity every year.

With this in mind, make sure you focus on IT brand names that:

Tell a story

Good technology company names are evocative. They give your audience an insight into your organization and what it can do. Try to find terms with emotional resonance or those which help to highlight essential visions and values for the brand.

Remain flexible

A good tech name needs to evolve with your brand. When naming IT companies, it’s often a good idea to avoid highly descriptive words that revolve around your specific initial service offering. 

Stand out

More than anything else, it’s crucial to ensure your name is unique to your brand. Avoid anything that sounds too similar to other monikers which already exist. This could end up confusing your audience and cannibalizing your identity. 

How to brainstorm a name for a technology company

While it’s possible to skip the headaches of naming your company entirely by hiring a naming firm, if you decide not to take this route, most of your work will revolve around brainstorming and coming up with unique ideas.

It’s helpful to have a lot of different ideas to choose from, to begin with, so make sure you get as many team members involved as possible.

Once you have a wide selection of people to offer different perspectives on the naming process, you can begin brainstorming by:

Determining your company’s USP

Great names are excellent at highlighting what your company does best. Whether you choose an invented name, or a descriptive title, it should offer an insight into who you are and what you stand for.

With that in mind, take some time to determine what the defining factors of your business are. Do you want to focus on highlighting innovation? Are you committed to sustainable technology?

Examine the competition

As mentioned above, ensuring your name is unique and specific to your company is vital.

Looking at other technology brands in your industry can be an excellent way to see how other organizations are naming IT companies. You can get some inspiration on where to look for your own tech names this way and ensure you keep your brand distinctive.

Make a list of relevant words

Finally, with a good idea of the competition and your company’s USP, start making a list of words you might include in your technology company naming process.

The beginning of this task aims to have as many words as possible, so don’t worry too much about narrowing anything down. You’ll be able to refine your options later.

How do I name my technology company?

Name options

Before or after the brainstorming process, it’s worth thinking about the different types of technology company names you might want to consider. Names come in many unique forms, from portmanteau brand names, to founder-based names.

While you’re free to choose virtually any style of name for your tech company, some options work better than most:

Metaphor brand names

The challenge with tech company naming is trying to convey complicated ideas in a way your audience can understand. Metaphors can be extremely helpful with this. Look at Apple; its name conveys ideas of freshness and growth.

Oracle makes us think of all-knowing and all-seeing entities, while Snowflake draws attention to the idea of cloud innovation.

Using your list of relevant words connected to your business and your knowledge of your USP, ask yourself how you can simplify the concept of your business with a metaphor.

Invented names

Since technology companies are all about introducing new ideas to the industry, invented names can be advantageous. They’re a great way to disrupt the market and tell your audience you’re delivering something unique.

To use the search engine company again, Google, is an entirely invented word, making it flexible enough to use in a sentence. Google came from the mathematical term “Gogol.” It’s an entirely invented word, which also makes it flexible enough to use in a sentence.

Key attribute names

An excellent way to refine your tech names is to focus on the key attributes you want to convey to your target audience. Notably, with attribute-based naming, you don’t simply describe a specific product or service. Instead, you look at the core value of your business.

“Quicken” is a name that makes us immediately think about speed and efficiency. “Intel” is an excellent name for referencing data and innovation.

Evocative names

Another alternative to the standard “descriptive” brand name, evocative names get your audience thinking. They’re designed to make customers think or feel a certain way about a company.

Let’s look at the name “Salesforce” as an example. The two words combined together make us think of power and selling – two aspects key to the company’s identity.

Good IT company names should be brimming with meaning and depth. If you can get your audience to stop and think about your moniker, they’re more likely to be engaged by your brand.

Portmanteau names

Portmanteau names are excellent if you need help choosing a single word to describe your business. They combine multiple words into one to create a more straightforward moniker.

Think of companies like Snapchat or Netflix. They help highlight the brand’s core focus without using a single, overly-descriptive word.

Using your list of relevant words connected to your brand, consider linking a few together to see how they look. You can always remove letters and change the spelling slightly too.

Tech company naming tips for beginners

Finding a good tech company name

When figuring out how to name a tech company, remember that you’ll need to dedicate significant time and effort to research, innovation and development.

Don’t just leave it to the last minute and try to implement a name as an afterthought. It would be best if you worked on finding that all-important name from the moment you have your business plan.

Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when you’re building your brand.

Work with multiple ideas

Try to avoid getting too attached to any specific name or idea straight away.

It’s a good idea to give yourself multiple options to test which works best with the broadest audience. Allow multiple team members to share their thoughts, and consider working with a naming agency if you need more inspiration.

Think global

Technology companies usually operate on an international basis.

Even if you don’t plan to take over the world immediately, it’s worth ensuring your name can translate across different communities and geographies. Remember to also double-check to guarantee any name you choose doesn’t have any different meanings in other parts of the world.

Keep it simple

Technology brands can be complex, but your name doesn’t have to be. When naming a tech company, remember more straightforward names will often be easier to remember. Look for something short, sweet, and easy to spell.

Avoid any tongue-twister titles or complicated spellings, as they’ll make it harder for people to find your brand.

Try for a single word

Look at some of the most popular technology company names in the world today, and you’ll notice they’re all one-word titles. This is because a single word is catchy, easy to remember, and more convenient for most consumers.

If you’re struggling to narrow down your name to a single word, you could consider combining two words into one.

Check the branding

If you have a handful of names you love, consider creating logos and branding assets related to the name. This will give you an idea of how your brand identity will look before you start investing in anything.

If you’re designing an app or something requiring a small logo, it also means you can check everything fits.

Convey your brand essence

A good name for a tech company should always convey the distinct essence of the brand. Using your USP and the research you’ve done into your brand identity, ask yourself how you can make the soul of your business really stand out.

For example, Codal is a company name that highlights expertise in code and a knowledge of “web portals.” 

How to vet a good tech company name

One of the most critical steps in figuring out how to name a tech company is ensuring you do your due diligence correctly. There is a complex legal side to finding the right name, as you’ll need to ensure you’re not using a name too similar to any other brand.

Before you fall head-over-heels for a specific moniker, take the time to do your research.

You’ll need to start with a trademark screening process. This means looking online to check that a different brand hasn’t already taken your name. Since there are already millions of tech companies out there, you could likely end up losing your idea at this point. 

If you’re based in the US, you can check the USPTO database for insights into existing names or run a TESS search.

If you want to prepare your tech company naming process for a more global brand, consider looking at WIPO. Even if an existing name isn’t exactly the same as yours, it’s best to stay away from anything too similar to avoid legal problems. 

Even if an existing name is different from yours but has some semblance, it’s best to stay away from anything too similar to avoid legal problems.

Once you’ve checked your trademark, make sure you:

Look for domain availability

Even if a name hasn’t been trademarked, it could already be used for another website. You’ll need to ensure you can get the .com domain for the name of your choice. Otherwise, your customers won’t be able to find you easily.

It is also a good idea to look for availability with other URL extensions, such as .tech and .io.

Check social media

Aside from having a strong domain name, you’ll also need a strong presence on social media to help you connect with your audience. Look through Instagram, Facebook, and other channels to see if other companies have already snagged your name. If they have, consider a different title.

Double-check the language

As mentioned above, even names you think are completely made up could have a new meaning in different parts of the world. It’s best checking for the definition of different parts of your name before you commit to anything.

This will stop you from choosing an accidentally embarrassing moniker.

Test the name

Testing your name in real-world scenarios helps to ensure you’re not picking your title in a vacuum. Start by presenting your name to your colleagues and seeing how it makes them feel or what it makes them think about.

Consider sharing name ideas with your audience once you’ve secured the domains. 

Examples of technology company names

Since figuring out how to name a tech company can be complex, it’s often helpful to look at the experts for insights. Sometimes, examining the competition can give you the necessary technology naming inspiration. Just try to avoid picking anything too similar to an existing brand.

Here are some fantastic examples of tech business names to help you choose a good name for your tech company.

Apple

Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world today and a major mover in the technology space. The brand was initially named the “Apple Computer Company” before it was eventually simplified to just “Apple.”

Part of what makes this name so compelling is its uniqueness compared to the other names at the time, such as Microsoft and Intel.

Apple’s name is evocative and meaningful. It’s all about growth, nourishment, and discovery. It even connects with the tale of Isaac Newton discovering gravity and the bible story of the apple, which gave knowledge and free will to Eve.

Google

Perhaps one of the best-known technology names in the world, Google has quickly emerged as not just a famous tech brand but an everyday verb. After experimenting with a range of names, including “Backrub,” Google came up with the name “Googol,” taking from the “Googolplex” digit.

Apparently, the name was entered incorrectly into the database when the company applied for a trademark and spelled it as “Google.” However, the company liked the new spelling and decided to keep it.

The word “Google” is a fun, playful title with absolutely no prior meaning and still manages to have an evocative spirit.

Microsoft

There aren’t many people in the world today who aren’t familiar with the word “Microsoft.” Perhaps one of the biggest software and hardware companies in the globe, Microsoft has taken the world by storm with computers and operating systems.

The title is a portmanteau of “microcomputer” and “software” intended to highlight the focus areas of the brand. The name is simple, flexible, and easy to understand worldwide. It’s also an invented term, so it’s easy for the company to preserve its trademark

Intel

Probably one of the best technology company names of all time, Intel was founded in 1986 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.

Initially, Intel was known as NM Electronics, using the founders’ name for the “NM.” However, the organization eventually evolved to Intel after purchasing another brand’s rights to the name.

Associated with “Intelligence,” Intel is a name that immediately makes us think of innovation and creativity. It’s also short, simple, and easy to remember.

Meta

One of the most recently coined names in the technology space, Meta is the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and a range of other social media platforms. The brand chose the name “Meta” to focus its attention on the rising concept of the “Metaverse.”

This title is unique, impactful, and enough to remember easily. The new name also helped the brand pivot into a new, more tech-focused space after mainly being associated with the social media landscape.

Choosing the right tech names

Figuring out how to name a tech company can be a complex process. There are a lot of steps involved in sorting through ideas, ensuring you come up with the right concept, and conducting research. However, the power of a fantastic name isn’t something any brand should take lightly.

The right technology company naming strategy will set your business up for success and ensure you make the right impact on your audience.

If you need help finding a compelling name for a technology company and need more time before your brand launch, the best option might be to seek professional assistance.

Working with a naming agency can give you access to more ideas tuned to the kind of moniker you’re looking for.

Some naming agencies can also help with due diligence so that you can launch faster.

Fabrik: A naming agency for our times.

We’ve made our name famous by naming other businesses.

Get in touch if you have a company, product, or service that requires a unique name. Click below, and let’s start a conversation today!

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Now read these:
—Top tips for marketing a tech company
—Branding essentials for tech companies 
—Your guide to starting a tech business
—The ultimate list of tech company logos