how important is a name and where to start

There are business naming consultants who charge an arm and a leg, but in my opinion, names aren't a huge deal. You'll see a lot of advice out there coming from two angles:

1) Technology companies that have huge success (Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, Oracle, Sun, Zappos, Monster.com, etc.) never have descriptive names that suggest what they do, so you should pick a name that fits with your personality and ideals, but something very subject-agnostic. Some recent startups like this would be Oyster.com (hotel reviews), Gist.com (email + social networking data), Avvo.com (lawyer reviews), Zillow.com (real estate)

2) Choose something that instantly describes who you are and what you do so there's no confusion. In the SEO field (I know, I know - I'm totally biased by my profession), folks even recommend choosing the most generic keyword that describes what you are so when everyone types that in, your company pops up first. Big companies like IBM (International Business Machines), General Motors, ETrade, etc. and startups like Farecast.com (predictive airline prices), SimplyHired.com (job boards and search), Fanbase.com (all things sports) or even www.conversion-rate-experts.com (a little over the top, but definitely descriptive and they do great work)

I'm a bit partial to the latter, but I know people who swear by the former. For a consulting company, I don't think either will make or break you.

• Short
• Memorable
• Domain Name available (not crucial though)
• Trade Markable (? I'm not sure if you need this)
• When you say it someone verbally, they can type / search it
• Easy to invade Google on that keyword. This is really really important. IMHO Just typing your name should point to you at least in the first 3-4 results.

More than you ever wanted to know, 115 page PDF: http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-company-names.php

Since you are starting a "consultancy company focused on innovative design", you need an innovative name :)

Make sure its short, sounds chic, and can be explained in some fashion. You can try to mash to words together, like crevo for customer revolution (a name I used for a new type of credit card, and failed with, so pick something else :) )

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the name is available for use. Google and pipl.com it (business search) to see if anything comes up. Check to make sure that the domain name is available, and also check twitter, facebook and other social media websites. It is much easier the change the name now then to come up with a domain name that works if the name is taken.

The brand is about the emotional connect you would like your customers to establish with your company so think about the attributes you would like the brand to stand for. The brand can be but need not be descriptive of the exact services you offer. The length matters - short is good - but if you have an interesting story to tell, that's even better. Generate a few options and ideally test them on a few advisors/ mentors/ potential clients for their reaction and feedback (for instance, it is safe to avoid things that may conjure undesirable imagery or association for some or more of your customers; also check the name doesn't mean something embarrassing in a major foreign language!). Make sure to check for domain names, as fm has pointed out, but don't let the unavailability upset you (you can always append "consulting", "advisory" or any such generic but useful term to it for the domain). Grab the Twitter name/ Facebook page/ LinkedIn company profile also while you are at it! You can trademark it within the permissible laws but be aware of font licensing considerations and other violations you may inadvertently commit. And if you have money, get a logo! A visual mnemonic is worth every penny. Good luck!

I would think about choosing a name that has a good domain name available. A bit self-serving, but we wrote two posts on choosing a domain name.

Basically: short, expressive, fun, memorable, trademarkable, appealing to others. "Appealing to others" might include using .com so you're not wei.rd, but really it means ask a few other people, in my opinion. People tell us out of the blue that our domain name (thinkmeter.com) is appealing. That was by design: we asked people what they liked.

There is also a great smashing magazine article.

It should be short and memorable. If you can meet these two requirements you have a winner. For bonus points you want something that communicates what you do, and is available as a domain name.

Avoid names where the spelling isn't immediately obvious, as you'll loose the customer that hears your name, but then isn't able to type it into a browser when they get back to their computer. Similarly for using Google as a way for customers to find your company site.

Case in point: the tendency for vowel-dropping in start-up names can be tricky if it isn't obvious which vowel has actually been dropped! (Of course, by the time you're as big as flickr, it doesn't matter anymore!)

Just a minor thing: Picking a name with an "A" at the beginning is often helpful.

1. Your name ends up at the top of lists (like reviews, directories, etc).
2. People often pick the first one.

More thoughts on "A".

Great answer by Ranfish. I have a feeling that while made up named companies are so popular in the Web & technology industry the trick gets really overused. When we chose a name for our company we had the same dilemma and decided to go with a very long but descriptive name - AskYourTargetMarket. We tested it with our own service and selected from many alternatives. We found out that the length is not an issue for us and it's more important that:

• it's descriptive
• Easy to remember and spell
• Available everywhere
• performs well in SEO

The downside is that it's goofy in e-mail addresses and sometimes too long to type but we solved it by registering an alias AskYTM.com. Short and sweet. :) We are building a family of sites now all following the same model.

As a graphic designer though I have to admin that short (1-2 word) names are much easier to work with when you build a logo and Corporate ID.

Back to the steps that you have asked about:

1. Choose the type of name you feel better about to concentrate your effort
2. Come up with a list of names (30-50)
3. Focus on names that would appeal to your future clients. To do so you need to clearly understand who they are in terms of demographics, emotions, goals etc.
4. Narrow the list by filtering ones that are really hard to remember/spell
5. Narrow it further by domain name availability and ability to trade mark
6. Select 5-7 winning names and secure .com domain names (one for each)
7. Do some research - show them to your peers, ideally potential customers or use one of the available online survey services.
8. Choose the winner name and build a brand around it

Good luck!

My site, HotNameList, will give you ideas for available domain names based on your keywords.