Coming up with a brand name is probably one of the most difficult things when starting a business. Brands, like people, also need an impressive, unique and meaningful name.

But how to name your brand so that when it is mentioned, customers will immediately remember you? How to name it so as not to be confused with other brands? What name should be unique and impressive but still carry the correct brand message?

Countless questions arise when you need to name your brand.

Although there is no formula to confirm that this is a good brand name, there are common characteristics of a memorable and easy-to-use brand name:

Meaningful: Your brand name communicates the essence of your brand, evokes imagery, and fosters a positive emotional connection.
Differentiation: The brand name is unique, memorable, and stands out from your competitors. Differentiation makes it easier to promote brand awareness.
Easy to understand: People can easily interpret, say, spell or Google your brand name. (Even if you have an unusual or strange name, it should be understandable.)
Can be registered for protection: The brand name must be able to be registered as a trademark, domain name registration (both legal and common sense protection)
Future-proof: Brand names can grow with the company and maintain relevance — and be adapted for different products and brand extensions.
Visual: You can translate/communicate it through design, including icons, logos, colors, etc.

And without making you wait any longer, here are 12 popular brand name methods to help you create the most potential brand names.

Method #1. Use personal names to brand
Using your own name to name a brand is probably no longer strange. However, because it is familiar, it is easy to be overshadowed in the eyes of consumers.

Therefore, when using a personal name for a brand, if your name is not special, you need to refresh and transform it to become unique, easy to remember, and easily ingrained in the consumer’s subconscious. .

In addition to using your real name, you can also use your nicknames and common pronouns to combine the name of your brand, for example: Ms. Ba, Ms. Bay,…

In addition, starting from your name, you can also combine it with other elements and abbreviations to help your brand name become more unique.

How to apply this brand naming method?

Tip #1: Use both husband and wife’s last names (if they are different), for example: Nguyen Tran
Tip #2: Put your last name backwards, for example: Kim Nguyen
Tip #3: Use a combination of Sino-Vietnamese words and family names to create a brand name, for example: Tran Gia, Gia Nguyen
Tip #4: Incorporate names and words related to products & services, for example: Khai Silk
Tip #5: Use part of the name, e.g. Gitra, Saki, Kimg
Tip #6: Double the words in the name, e.g. Gittra, Saaki, ssaki
Method #2. Use product characteristics to name
This way of naming a brand can also help customers immediately understand what you sell and what service you provide, for example: Vieclam24h, timviecnhanh, …

This is probably the most classic way of naming among the 12 ways mentioned in this article. However, this naming method is only suitable for new business products with little competition in the market to attract customers.

The advantage of this naming method is that when it comes to it, consumers will know what your brand is about, whether it is what they are looking for or not.

However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to respond long term. Because, when your field expands and changes, the old brand name may no longer be suitable. At that time, a new brand recognition campaign will take a lot of money and effort.

Method #3. Name the brand according to the address or place
Do Trai beef noodle soup, Bat Trang ceramics, Ha Dong silk,… are familiar names that when mentioned, everyone knows where it is and what product it is.

These are typical examples of naming a brand after the address or place where your business is located. In addition to using the name, you can also use the house number, alley number, etc. to put it together to create a difference and impression on consumers.

Some ways to name a brand based on an address or place that you can refer to are:

Specialty business: Use the local name of that specialty as your brand name or store name. For example: Nghe An eel porridge, Van Dinh grass duck, Hue sesame, Thai Nguyen tea,…
Use place names to gradually indicate the origin of the product. For example: Dong Tam Long An,
If your product is a joint venture, you can use the combined names of countries to name the brand. For example: Vietnamese-Japanese, Vietnamese-Korean,…
Use the province name as the store name or brand name. For example: Hanoi Beer, Saigon Beer,…
However, brand names associated with addresses and place names are often difficult to fully protect, or can only be partially protected.

Method #4. Use acronyms to name your brand
Most methods of using abbreviations to name a brand are derived from the first letters or full English name of that brand.

These two methods are currently being used very commonly in Vietnam, typically famous brands whose brand names originate from the full English name are: Vinaphone, Vinamilk, Vinaconex, Vingroup, Vinhomes… the word Vina or the word Vin are both abbreviations for the word Vietnam, plus the second part is the name of the product or service of the enterprise.

Or another way is to use abbreviations of the first letters of the English name such as: ACB (Asia Bank), ICP (Internation Consumer Product), …

Method #5. Name it according to the store’s characteristics
This method is more suitable for naming small food and entertainment service stores than for other products. Stores that stand out in terms of location, landscape, or have an easily identifiable feature in front of the store, you can use that to name your store.

For example: Cay Si Restaurant, Coi Mill Gio Bakery, Cay Da Café,…

Method #6. Name the brand according to scale
This scale-based brand naming method is used for brands that sell many products of the same category. You can use some words like: World, Supermarket,… to make customers feel that this place has everything they need.

This method is suitable for large stores. Smaller stores need to be careful when using it because if used incorrectly, customers will feel cheated and will not have sympathy for your store. Will not return to purchase.

Method #7. Name the brand according to association
Association here means that when it comes to your brand name, consumers will immediately imagine what you are selling and the uses of that product.

To do this, you must really understand the characteristics and benefits it brings to customers. For example, if you sell heaters, you can name it “Heat”, if you sell fans, you can name it Windy, etc.

Method #8. Name the brand according to suggested nouns
An image, an object or an event all has its own meaning. And this is also the reason why suggestive nouns are often used as brand names. Some examples include:

Animals: Red Bear Noodles, Sau Tom Noodles, Laughing Cow Cheese,…
Flowers: Tulip fashion,…
Stars: Venus, Mercury,…
Gods: Venus, Zeus, Sun,…
Method #9. The brand name creates a sense of curiosity
When you look at a brand name like this, you may not immediately understand what it means, but it creates curiosity that makes you want to explore them.

In fact, if analyzed, brand names of this type all have some deep meaning, they can be abbreviations of words with combined meanings.

For example: BaDuNo is the name of a store selling Banh Duc, BaDu is extracted from “Banh Duc”.

Sounds strange, right? This is also a way to attract customers’ attention to your brand and impress them.

Method #10. Use adjectives to name your brand
In business, everyone wants their work to go smoothly, that’s why names like Tai Loc, Thinh Phat, Thinh Vuong,… are also often used to name brands.

In Vietnam, some famous brands use this naming method: Hoa Phat, Hiep Phat, Hoa Binh, Tien Phong, Tien Phong,…

Method #11. Use foreign language to name
When read in a foreign language, it sounds very professional and makes your products and services quite high-end, right?

This is one of the reasons why this naming method is popular even when the brand is Vietnamese. This naming method helps your brand not be duplicated, is new, sounds luxurious, attracts consumers, and still has a lot of meaning.

Some brands that use foreign words include: Owen, Adam Store, Torano, etc. They are short, meaningful, and easy to attract customers’ curiosity.

Method #12. Use phonetic transcription for naming
Using audio transcription to name a brand is a very smart way. Familiar everyday sounds make the brand even more memorable.

Some brands use this naming method such as:

Tiktok
Cup Cup
Cuckoo
Tacke
BONUS: How to name a brand phonetically
There are many brands with foreign cultural elements that often use phonetic words to name their brands. This approach creates a unique brand in the Vietnamese market.

Brands with Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultural elements often use this method, for example:

Fenghuang – Phoenix
Haidilao – Hai De Lao
Akira – Smart
Dimsum – Breakfast
Sakura – Cherry blossoms