Choosing a name for a small business is more than a formality; it establishes a unique identity and makes a lasting impression. A compelling name conveys the essence of a business, attracts the right customers and sets the tone for the entire brand. However, navigating trademark issues and ensuring the name aligns with your brand can make the process challenging. Some businesses even decide to change their names after rebrands.

Over time, the ICSC Small Business Center has gathered insights from its interviews with small business owners on how they chose their names. From quirky to profound, each name holds a story of creativity, heritage or vision. Read on to discover the thought processes and inspiration behind that led to names that resonate with both the business owners and their customers.

MORE FROM THE ICSC SMALL BUSINESS CENTER: 9 Tips for Naming and Trademarking Your Small Business

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State & Liberty

Steve Fisher and Lee Moffie founded men’s clothing store State & Liberty in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It now has 26 retail locations across the country. The company’s name reflects on where it got started.

“A lot of people say: “Wow, what a great American name.” I think they don’t realize it’s an intersection at the center of Ann Arbor where Lee and I met, so it sort of likens back to our home here in Ann Arbor and the roots of the company.”
—Co-founder Steve Fisher

MORE ON STATE & LIBERTY: State & Liberty Proves It’s Still Possible: Find Something No One Else Is Doing and Start a Business Around It

Laced Midwest

The name of this small chain of sneaker resale shops in the Midwest reflects the business’ focus.

“We created the name Laced Midwest because we wanted to show people that the Midwest could be big in sneaker culture, just like the East Coast and the West Coast. Our plan was always to grow within the Midwest, but we weren’t going to force something that didn’t work.”
—Co-founder Peter Flores

MORE ON LACED MIDWEST: Sole Success: From Sneakerheads to Store Owner

MilkShake Factory

This chain of milkshake stores headquartered in Pittsburgh started its life as Chocolate Celebration and changed its name to reflect a switch in focus.

“The new milkshake concept started doing really well. We still sold our chocolate, but we realized that there was something special about the milkshakes we made that was driving people into the store. We changed the name on the front of the building after we saw the traction that it started getting. There was a transition, yes, but really why people came to our store was [for the experience]. Our family had had that original chocolate shop location for 30 years, so they knew it as our family [store], not necessarily a brand. It wasn’t too difficult to transition that store because our loyal customers were there, and then the new customers that were coming in really knew it as the milkshake place. What I really liked [about the new name] is that it was simple. When you read the logo and see the sign, you know what we do.”
—CEO Dana Edwards Manatos

MORE ON MILKSHAKE FACTORY: MilkShake Factory’s Pivot from Seasonal to Year-Round Business Was So Successful That Now It’s Franchising

Mixology Clothing Co.

This family-owned clothing boutique has 15 locations along the East Coast that mix both prices and labels. Its name reflects that niche.

“We started our store as a response to the Great Recession. It kind of straddled the fast-fashion market, which at the time was Zara and H&M, and boutique markets, which were usually more designer brands. Mixology, our name, was about mixing and matching price points.”
—CEO Jordan Edwards

MORE ON MIXOLOGY CLOTHING CO.: When, Why and How to Grow to Multiple Locations

Showroom

This omnichannel women’s designer and retailer has brick-and-mortar locations in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and Austin, Texas. The name reflects personalization for its audience.

“The feedback I kept getting from the female executives I interacted with all these years was: ‘There’s nothing out there for women my age. There’s nothing workwear appropriate.’ Everything [in the stores] was hot and trendy and cool. That works sometimes, but it doesn’t fit everybody. They didn’t feel seen. That’s where the name Showroom came about because I was like: I’m going to bring my clients their own personal showrooms. Even though we started out online, I still wanted that online presence to feel like I have literally procured everything on this site just for you and I’ve condensed it all. I’ve gone through every brand, I’ve edited it out, and this is everything that you want for this stage in your life.”
—Founder Erica Hanks

MORE ON SHOWROOM: How One Entrepreneur Got the Courage to Transition Her Career into a Small Digital and Then Omnichannel Business

Level 1 Gamers

The name of this gaming store at The Shops at South Town in Sandy, Utah, reflects its audience’s insider lexicon

“We were expecting our son, and we just wanted some nerdy baby onesies but we couldn’t find any that spoke to us. We couldn’t find any geeky or gamer-themed onesies that were easily available. So we cashed out my 401k. We bought the T-shirt press. We bought the vinyl cutter and started making our own baby onesies. We actually went with the name Level 1 Gamers because we were making stuff for babies and Level 1 is the first level in gaming.”
—Co-founder Lisa Hall

MORE ON LEVEL 1 GAMERS: Building a Store Around a Clear-Cut Niche and a Strong Community

Avatar Coffee Roasters

The name of this cafe in Santa Ana, California, reflects the founders’ cultures.

“I’m from Brazil and Pavan is from India, so our cafe we wanted to be a fusion of cultures because that’s what we are.”
—Co-founder Kelly Makker

“Our name Avatar is a Sanskrit word. The direct translation in Sanskrit of an avatar is ‘God in the form of a human.’ And our most popular blend is a nitro cold brew that we call Amrit, which means ‘immortality,’ so we think of it as a drink of immortality.”
—Co-founder Pavan Makker

MORE ON AVATAR COFFEE ROASTERS: Launching a Business: What This Coffee Company’s Founders Knew, What They Learned and What They Would Do Differently

Pure Water Outpost

The name of this surf school and training center in Satellite Beach, Florida’s Atlantic Plaza reflects the business’ vibe.

“The word ‘pure’ was in the title of a film production company I had in the ’90s. I just threw some things around using ‘Pure’ as part of it. It just felt it was the one.”
—Owner Glenn Tebbe

MORE ON PURE WATER OUTPOST: Building Out Your Location and Dealing with Permitting

Doinks Burger Joint

The name of this burger restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, that started out of a backyard during COVID reflects the owners’ sense of humor. 

“There was this [viral] YouTube video of this guy who was ‘smokin’ big doinks in Amish.’ He was in a cornfield in Amish country, and he just kept yelling it over and over and over: ‘Big doinks in Amish.’ We watched it all the time. It was just so funny. We ended up naming our [company] Doinks Burger Joint because before that idea, it was just Peter and Bonn selling burgers.
—Co-founder Bonn Rassavong

MORE ON DOINKS BURGER JOINT: Building a Burger Business on Community Demand, Crowdfunding and Social Media Marketing

Brianna Cannon

This clothing and accessories brand started out making game day jewelry for college sports teams and then expanded to fashion. The founder used the opportunity to change the company’s name to her own in order to establish a personal connection between customers and herself.

“We launched our company as Team RLN. RLN stands for ‘red lips and nails.’ It was the name of a blog I had. At the time, I thought I was going to be a fashion blogger full-time until I realized that’s really not for me. But I had my blog, and I called my [thousands of] followers Team RLN. When I launched this game day brand, I thought that it would be kind of an extension of my blogger situation. [After a while], we were being knocked off a lot. I thought it was a perfect time to rebrand and introduce an actual logo and trademark for our company. Also, COVID really changed the trajectory of our business. Games were not happening, so while the game day industry was on hold, we shifted into more of a fashion direction. We started creating everyday jewelry and accessories and holiday and seasonal products during that time, so it didn’t make sense to call the company Team RLN anymore. I just decided we’ll call it my name. A lot of brands are the designer’s name: Ralph Lauren, Kendra Scott, Louis Vuitton. I thought that having the personal connection to me would be better. That way at market, whenever people would come up and meet me, they would already know my name.”
—Founder Brianna Cannon

MORE ON BRIANNA CANNON: How Brianna Cannon Built a Nationwide Brand

Mulholland and Sachs

This mother/daughter-owned and operated retail store focusing on specialty gifts in Woodmere, Ohio, also named their business after themselves. Anne Mulholland, though, has uncovered the exit-strategy consequence.

“People have often said: ‘Why don’t you sell the business?’ [But I’ve also] had advice not to sell it with my name on it because what if in a year they went bad? What if they turned into, like, a laundering money thing and your name is the storefront? I don’t know that that’s ideal.”
—Co-founder Anne Mulholland

MORE ON MULHOLLAND AND SACHS: Running a Family Business