Guides

Choosing a name for a new business, checking it is free to use, and securing it.

• How synym finds a name
  What happens between typing a description of your business and getting a ranked list of names with free domains and no matching trade marks.
• How to choose a business name
  A practical checklist for judging a business name before you commit to it, from the telephone test to how it reads in other languages.
• Invented, altered or plain words: styles of business name
  The main styles of business name, their strengths and weaknesses, and why the style you choose decides how easily you can protect the name.
• Trade mark basics for a new business
  What a trade mark protects, how to search the registers properly, and what it costs to register a name in the EU, the US, the UK and Switzerland.
• Choosing a domain ending: .com, .io, .ai and the rest
  What the main domain endings say about a business, what they cost, and the risks of the newer and country endings, so you can choose one with your eyes open.
• You've chosen a name: what to do next
  A checklist for the days after you choose a business name, in the order that keeps someone else from getting there first.