Naming & Brand Naming
A good name is half the brand, and a bad name costs a lot of money later. Naming is rarely a by-product of design, it is its own discipline sitting between linguistics, trademark law and sound. We develop brand names for launches, relaunches and new product lines, across Germany and in close coordination with everyone who will later have to say the name, in sales, customer support and the brief of the next campaign.
How a naming project runs
We start with a two-hour brief covering target audience, market context, competitors and the strategic guardrails. Then come two weeks of concept work: word fields, linguistic roots, sound groups, rhymes, acronyms, invented words. From 300 to 600 raw suggestions we condense to 25 to 40 candidates, testing sound, spellability and cultural fit. What survives goes into a first DPMA search, a domain check for .de and .com, and a check of the relevant social handles.
In the presentation 5 to 8 names land on the table, each with a one-page analysis: meaning, sound, tonality, extendability, linguistic risks in DE, EN and a third relevant language. Concretely, that means: we do not deliver an Excel list, we deliver a decision basis. The company makes the call, we moderate. Anyone running a parallel brand strategy or brand workshop gets a better-grounded name, because the brief sharpens.
When a new name is worth it
A new name is not always the right answer. If the brand just feels tired, a brand relaunch with the existing name often does the job. A real rename makes sense when the name is linguistically off, fails internationally, collides on trademark grounds, or has been burned by a scandal. In B2B, this comes up around spin-offs. In consumer goods, around international expansion.
What we do not do: generic tech buzzwords with two vowels and a special character, swapped out again within two years. No fantasy names without semantic grounding, just because a domain is free. The result has to be spellable on the phone, fit in an email signature and find its place on a business card. When the logo design follows the naming, we hand the phonetic analysis straight into the typographic work.
Names that stick
We say every option out loud, in a sentence, on the phone and in a search bar. Anything that cannot be spelled on first hearing gets cut, no matter how clever the wordplay.
Trademark reality from the start
We check DPMA records, free domains and social handles before the presentation. So no favourites land on the table that cannot be registered later.
Extendable, not one-off
A name has to carry the product line, not just the first product. We consider sub-brands, sub-lines and international pronunciation up front, instead of patching them later.
Not a generator list
Instead of 200 AI-tool suggestions, we present 5 to 8 considered names with sonic analysis, meaning layers and availability. A real choice, not a flood.
Selected work
ANNA YUNA – Music Branding
A visual language that oscillates between neon light and moonlight — cover artwork and stage presence for a musician.
TheSharp.Club – Packaging Design
Packaging as ritual: labels, box and banderole for a blade club that celebrates craft.
Leni's Café – Branding
A café brand like a handwritten note: watercolour menu, packaging and type for a small café.
Frequently asked
A full naming project with research, concept, three presentation rounds and a trademark search typically lands between €4,500 and €12,000, depending on language, product range and protection territory. Smaller naming sprints for sub-brands start at €2,500.
3 to 6 weeks is realistic. The first two weeks go into research and concept, the following into refinement, sonic testing and availability checks. If a [brand strategy](/en/leistungen/strategie/brand-strategie) runs in parallel, both phases overlap.
The actual trademark filing belongs in the hands of a law firm. We recommend vetted partners, supply the research base and stay in the loop, so no gap opens between naming and protection.
Yes. Naming workshops, language tests and presentations run fully remote. For consumer goods, an on-site visit at the shop or production sometimes makes sense, across Germany by arrangement.
There is a second round with a fresh brief, based on what worked in the first set and what did not. That is included in the fee, no surcharge. A third round is rare in practice.
Start a project?
Tell me briefly what it is about — in a 30-minute first conversation we clarify whether and how we can work together.