services · naming + domains

Naming consultant: a name you can trademark, and the domain to match.

Most names fail after launch, not before it. A trademark letter, a .com someone else owns, a word that means something unfortunate in your second market. I screen every candidate for all of that before you see it, then buy the domain for the one you pick.

book a 30-min call check a name free

3,000-12,000 USD · domain acquisition included · trademark, language, domain, and AI search screens · attorney handoff

who this is for

Founders naming a new company

The product and the market are sorted. Every name you like is taken, hard to say, or already a trademark in your class. What you want is a shortlist that survives the checks before anyone pays for a logo.

Teams forced into a rename

A conflict letter, a market expansion or a merger means the current name has to go. You need a replacement fast. It also has to clear the registers the old one failed.

Product and sub-brand launches

A new product line needs a name that sits inside the parent brand without blurring into it. AI assistants should not confuse it with something else in the category either.

You have the name, not the domain

The name is settled, but someone else owns the .com. You need to know who, what it is worth, and whether to buy it or brand around it.

naming strategy, in six stages

the long version →
  • /01 Brief Positioning, audience, markets, languages, and the domain policy you will accept: .com only, a country ending, or a newer extension. Fix the constraints first. That is what keeps the longlist useful.
  • /02 Territory map What the category already sounds like. I sort competitor names by pattern, so the longlist can aim at the space nobody holds rather than the one everyone does.
  • /03 Longlist A wide longlist across coined words, blends, compounds, metaphors, real words and descriptive names. Generating names is cheap. The screening that follows is where they live or die.
  • /04 Screening Trademark knockout searches in every target market. A linguistic check across your languages. Domain and social handle availability, plus an AI search test for entity collisions. Each stage is pass or fail, and the reasons are written down.
  • /05 Shortlist defence Three to five names, each with a written rationale: what it signals, how it will be misheard, what the register showed, and what the domain will cost. You choose with the trade-offs in front of you.
  • /06 Domain and handles secured The name you choose gets its domain registered, or bought from its current owner, along with the matching handles. Then it goes to a trademark attorney for formal clearance and filing.

domain acquisition

When the .com is taken, someone still owns it.

Most taken domains are not in use. They sit parked, held by an investor or a company that moved on, and a fair number can be bought. Acquisition work is part of the naming fee, with no separate charge or commission on the price. You pay the seller and the escrow fee directly. So the only person negotiating the price down is on your side.

  1. 01

    Ownership and history

    Registration records, archive snapshots and any live use. You learn whether the domain is parked, for sale or part of a working business before anyone makes contact.

  2. 02

    Valuation

    Comparable sales for names of similar length, pattern and extension. The ceiling you set then reflects the market, not what the seller hopes for.

  3. 03

    Anonymous outreach

    The first approach comes from me, not your company. Sellers price by who is asking. A funded startup asking by name usually pays more.

  4. 04

    Negotiation to your ceiling

    You set the maximum before talks start. If the seller will not meet it, the fallbacks are already priced: a modifier word, a different ending or a coined variant.

  5. 05

    Escrow and transfer

    Payment goes through a recognised escrow service, never direct. The domain moves to a registrar account in your name. DNS, locks and renewal are set up before funds release.

what you get

  • A written brief and a territory map, reusable for future product names
  • A 3-5 name shortlist, each name with a rationale, register notes and linguistic notes
  • Trademark knockout results for each name and market, ready for your attorney
  • Domain and handle status for every shortlisted name, with prices where the domain is taken
  • Domain acquisition for the chosen name, from outreach to transfer, included in the fee
  • A registrar account set up in your name, with transfer lock and auto-renew switched on
  • An entity check on how AI assistants answer when asked about the name
  • A handoff pack for your trademark attorney, so formal clearance starts from the shortlist work

what it costs

single market

from 3,000 USD

A new company or product in one market and language. Full screening, a 3-5 name shortlist, and domain acquisition for the chosen name.

multi-market

up to 12,000 USD

Several markets and languages, wider trademark screening, or a name that must fit an existing brand family.

paid separately

at cost

The domain seller's price, escrow fees, registrar renewals, and trademark attorney and filing fees. None of it is marked up.

names I picked and run

common questions

What does a naming consultant do?

A naming consultant runs the whole naming job. That means writing the brief, mapping what the category already sounds like, generating candidates, and screening them for trademark conflicts, pronunciation, meaning in other languages and domain availability. What comes out is a short list of names that have passed those checks, with the reasoning for each. The final choice rests on evidence, not taste alone.

How much does a naming consultant cost?

My naming engagements run 3,000-12,000 USD. The low end is a single-market sprint for a new company or product. The top end covers several markets and languages, wider trademark screening, and a name that has to sit inside an existing brand architecture. Domain acquisition work is in that fee. Three costs sit outside it: the price paid to a domain seller, escrow fees, and trademark attorney and filing fees.

How long does naming take?

Most projects take two to four weeks from brief to shortlist. Multi-market work with linguistic screening across several languages takes longer. Buying a taken domain adds time of its own, because it depends on how fast the owner replies. Escrow and transfer usually add a week or two once a price is agreed.

Can you buy a domain someone else already owns?

Often, yes. Most registered domains are parked or unused, and many owners will sell at the right price. I find the owner, value the name against comparable sales, approach them without revealing the buyer, negotiate up to a ceiling you set, and close through escrow so neither side carries the risk. Some owners will not sell at any reasonable price. That is why the fallback options get priced before talks begin.

Do I need the .com?

Not always. A .com still carries the most trust with mainstream buyers, and it is what people guess when they hear a name. But a strong name with a deliberate alternative ending, a country domain for a local business, or a modifier word can outperform a weaker name that happened to have the .com free. The right call depends on your market and budget. The shortlist shows both prices side by side.

Is the name legally cleared at the end?

No, and no naming consultant can give you that. Screening tells you which names are clearly blocked. Clearance is a written opinion from a qualified trademark attorney on the names that survived. You get a handoff pack with the knockout results, so that opinion starts from work already done. This is not legal advice.

further reading

the first call

Bring the names you have tried. I will tell you why they did not stick.

Thirty minutes on what you are naming, where you will sell it, and any names already on the table. You leave knowing whether you need a full naming project, a domain purchase or just a second opinion, and what each costs.

book a 30-min call after the name: identity