How to Create Brand Names Using AI
You’re looking for a great name for your business. You brainstorm. Ask friends. Even random people on Reddit. You tried some AI.
Nothing. Stuck. Now you’re wondering how you’ll ever land a brand name without paying five-figure fees to a naming expert.
Here’s the good news: you CAN get great brand names using AI.
After months trying various models, I’ve made a Claude skill that gives me great brand names almost every time.
The #1 mistake
The #1 mistake I see people make with brand naming is they all want short names. Four or six characters, with a matching .com. “Short, creative, catchy” — If I had a dollar for every time I heard that in a naming brief.
Believe it or not, all those names and matching .com domains are taken. Most of us can’t afford a domain like x.com. (If you can, let’s work together).
So what can you do?
I’ve worked on naming projects for two decades. Here’s what I can tell you: a great brand name doesn’t come without a process. I’ve learned that process. And it works every single time.
Almost.
Naming is both art and science. Ad agencies charge thousands of dollars for a single name. I’ve been inside those agencies. So here’s my advice: don’t look for short names, look for compound names.
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Searching for a short name with an available .com today is like searching for a business podcast without the word “AI.” But compound names?
Names like MailChimp, JetBlue, GymShark, Whole Foods, Octopus Energy, Red Bull, and (pause) Brand Broccoli. They stand out. They’re easy to remember. And they tell a story.
How to use AI to create compound names
- Find your anchor word. “Foods” in Whole Foods, “Mail” in MailChimp, “Gym” in GymShark are anchor words. They hint at what the brand is about. Non-negotiable? Not really. But it helps to have one. New Balance and Reigning Champ don’t.
- Articulate the feeling, quality, or differentiator you want to highlight. “Whole” in Whole Foods is for wholesome. “Broccoli” in Brand Broccoli is for nutrition.
- Start mashing them up. This is the fun part. Go wide, don’t judge at first, then narrow it down.
- I’ve packed all of this into a Claude Skill. It works with ChatGPT too, because AI is only as good as your prompt and your creativity.
p.s. Great names can be brainstormed, but they can also be found in the wild
You can use AI to brainstorm brand names. I do it too. Sometimes I’ll chew on a name for weeks. I pay attention to words I’m reading in books, words I’m hearing on podcasts. Then suddenly the right word shows up.
And I’m not the only one who works this way. In Brand Mysticism, Steven Grasse admits he doesn’t sit in a room and “ideate” perfect names on command. He hunts for them. He collects them. He’ll be listening to an audiobook and slam pause when he hears something like The War of Jenkins’ Ear, or a nickname like Old Fuss & Feathers. He writes it down.
“I love discovering this obscure shit, and I could go on forever. In fact, we have a file of hundreds if not thousands of possible brand names just sitting around waiting for us to strike, waiting for us to find a cool way to use them.”
Fair warning: collecting words like this turns into an obsession. It did for me. Building a file of great names takes time. But do it anyway.
Get the Skill → https://deveshuba.gumroad.com/l/skill
