The Brand Lab
Free business name generator for UK small businesses
Starting something and don't know what to call it? This is a free business name generator for UK small businesses. Tell the lab what you want to make. It reads your idea, builds thousands of business name ideas from it, and shows you the ones it likes best with the whole list underneath. Shortlist your favourites, copy them or download the lot.
Your names
The whole list
Before you fall for one: search it at Companies House, see if the .co.uk and the Instagram handle are free, and say it out loud down the phone.
Say what you want to make
Plain words. The lab reads the type of business, the town, the feel and the words that matter to you.
Get thousands of names
The lab crosses every style it knows with your words, your town and your name, ranks the lot, and shows you the ten it would pick first plus the whole list to dig through.
Keep the ones you like
Shortlist your favourites, copy the list or download every name. Then check the ones you love at Companies House and for the domain and handle before you commit.
How to choose a good business name
It survives being said out loud
Most of your name's life is spoken. Someone gives it over the phone, shouts it across a yard, tells a friend in a pub. If you have to spell it every time, or people hear it wrong, that is a tax you pay forever. Say every name on your shortlist out loud before you fall for one. Better still, say it to someone who has not seen it written down and ask them to write it back.
It leaves you room to grow
Plenty of businesses outgrow their name in year two. A name built around one service, one town or one product can hold you back when you add the second thing. Durham Window Cleaning is clear and good for local search, but it gets awkward the day you start doing gutters in Newcastle.
There is a real trade off here, so make it on purpose. A descriptive name gets found more easily at the start. A broader name lasts longer and is easier to own. Neither is wrong.
It works small and plain
Your name has to fit in places you are not thinking about yet: a browser tab, an invoice, an Instagram handle, an email signature, the top of a quote. Long names get shortened by other people, and you do not get to choose how. If your name is four words, work out now what people will call you instead, and decide whether you are happy with it.
It is actually free to use
A name you love is worthless if someone else already trades under it. Before you print anything, check all four of these:
- Companies House for the registered name, if you are setting up a limited company.
- A plain Google search for the name plus your trade, to see who is already using it nearby.
- The domain. A .co.uk is usually enough for a UK business.
- The social handles you will actually use. Matching handles are worth more than a perfect domain.
If you plan to trade nationally, it is worth a look at the trademark register too. That is a solicitor's job rather than mine, and worth the fee if the name is carrying your whole business.
It does not have to be clever
A lot of the names people remember are dull on paper. They became good because the business behind them was good, and because they were used consistently for years. A clear name you can live with beats a clever one you have to explain. If a pun only works written down, it will not survive the phone.
Business name generator questions
Is this really free?
Yes. No account, no email, no limit on how many times you use it. It runs in your browser, so nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Can I actually use one of these names?
Yes, they are yours. Check it is free first, as above, because the lab does not know who else is trading under a name. Nobody can, without checking the registers.
How does it come up with them?
Like any good brand name generator, it starts with your words. It reads what you wrote for the type of business, the town, the feel and the words that matter to you. Then it crosses about twenty naming styles with those words: local names, founder names, pairings, invented words, place words, and so on. That usually makes several thousand names, which it ranks and shows best first.
Does it check the domain or Companies House?
No, and be wary of tools that say they do it instantly, because availability changes daily. The lab shows the handle and .co.uk next to each name so you can copy them and check properly. That takes two minutes and is worth doing before you get attached. Check your shortlist on the Companies House name availability checker before you commit.
Should I put what I do in the name?
It helps people find you when nobody knows your name yet, which is most of year one. Adding your town helps too, for the same reason. The cost is flexibility later. A common middle ground is a name with room in it, plus a plain line underneath saying what you do and where, which you can change any time.
I have a name. What now?
Register what you need to register, take the domain and the handles even if you are not ready to use them, then get it drawn properly. A name becomes a brand once it has a mark, a set of colours and type, and gets used the same way everywhere. That is the part I do: logo and brand design. The prices are on the site.
A name is the start.
Once you have a name, I can design the logo: drawn properly, made to work everywhere your business shows up, and set up for print and screen. See what I design, or tell me about your new business.