Of all the things to worry about, the name of an app is probably most agonized over. And rightly so. It’s the first, and last impression. The reason the app sticks, or doesn’t. A great app with an awful name has two strikes against it before it even approaches the plate.

A really great name is essential to a great app- but you don’t need to wait on development to find the perfect name. When we begin a new app, we pick a code name. Something we can call it. Something friendly, and neat. 

We try not to burden the codename too much with being perfect, we just pick one of the best of our first ideas that seems acceptable. It takes the burden off of having something to call your app, and lets development move forward in a more natural way.

Picking the real name

Picking the real name is much tougher of course. All sorts of things come into play.

• If you like it.
• If everyone who works on the project likes it. 
• If (you think) the people who will use the app will like it.
• If the domain you want is available.
• If the name you want has trademarks, competitors, or other confusing things to worry about.
• If you can own the name enough in searches to make it findable.
• If it sounds cool…

It’s really challenging. Especially since it seems like all the best urls are taken. We’ve worked on a list of questions that help us explore, and create more original names. Follow along, and add every thing you think of to the list, no matter how silly.

A few brainstorming ideas

• What common phrases seem applicable to what this app does? By common phrase, we mean the really trite ones like “pot calling the kettle black” and “early bird gets the worm.” you can’t base your name directly on them, but they can lead to interesting derivatives.

• Make a list of words that remind you of your app, or that sound cool, and look them up in a thesaurus. Write down the coolest, and most interesting words.

• Look up several words that describe your app well in an alternate language dictionary. Latin is always fun too.

• Think of movies, songs, and books that remind you of your app. Explore major character names, quotes, and plot devices that might be interesting or illustrative of your idea. The nerdier the better.

• Think of famous people in history who remind you of your app, or what it does. Look them up in Wikipedia and see if any words, or names leap out at you. 

• Search Google using the image search, the text search, and especially the advanced search to see what weird cross references you can find.

• Search quote reference sites like: http://www.brainyquote.com/ that offer quotes based on topic to see what’s been said about what your app does. Look for any word, or words that stand out.

Once you have a great list of words, and phrases, move on to searching for domains that are available. Here are a few places to start.

http://www.dotomator.com/index.html
Use this site to combine your words with other terms to make something unique.

http://domai.nr/
Use this site to see what unconventional uses of your words are available as domains..

https://auctions.godaddy.com/trpHome.aspx?se=%2B
Check the existing names that are for sale to see what might work.

A few more tips…

If you have a name you really like, and the domain is not available, try these things:

• Remove the vowels.
• Add “app” to the end.
• Add “go” the the beginning.
• Add “hq” to the end.
• Think of alternative phonetical ways to spell your name, even if incorrect.

When you have a domain you like

Once you have a name and domain you like, you still need to run it through a few checks. 

• Is it easy to say?
• Is it easy to remember?
• Does it look good on paper?
• Can you own the search of the term?
• This list is a great resource… http://www.dotomator.com/tips.html

Some final advice.

When you have the final answer, permit yourself room to change. Live with a name- register as many as you like; they’re cheap. But give yourself room to grow. As development moves forward, and as you formulate your ideas, other analogies may become more relevant to you. We’re not advocating being indecisive, only that you allow your ideas on naming to evolve the same way your ideas on your app evolve.

For us, our new app has a codename, and a possible real name. We’re calling it Groundhog, and have a whole mess of domains registered to match. Unfortunately, groundhog.com is not one of them, but we’re pretty happy just the same. Maybe that will be the final name, maybe not. But the name of our new app is absolutely not holding us back from mockups, programming, and writing. Any ideas what an app named Groundhog might do?

Next up… Where to start…