How To Name Your Family Business
When it comes to naming your family business, it can be difficult to tell how much emphasis you should give to your own family name. With our experts’ guide to naming your family business, you’ll be able to craft a business name that strikes the perfect balance between the personal and the professional!
Owing to their values of trust and competitiveness, family businesses often succeed where others fail. As of 2019, family-run companies generated 70% of global annual GDP!
If you’re looking at starting a new business venture with your family, you need a name that sets you up for success. Our Family Business Name Generator will help guide you through this process. Give it a go and see what business names you can find!
After trying the name generator, keep reading for insights from our marketing specialists. You’ll find tips on how to craft an original name, examples of some of the best real-world family businesses, and a step-by-step guide that takes you through the naming process.
20 Family Business Name Ideas
To get you thinking about your new family business name, we’ve put together 20 examples from our Family Business Name Generator. Which of these stand out to you? If you think you could do better, try the name generator for yourself!
- Simply Family
- Family Kitchen
- Homestead Enterprises
- Family Tree Company
- Family Consultants
- Bloodline Co.
- Intergenerational Group
- Home Assurances
- Family Tradesmen
- Father & Son Corporation
- Family First Group
- Homemade Accounting
- Familiar Comforts
- Family Farmers
- Maternal Marketing
- The Florist Family
- Familial Spirit
- Famtastic
- Generations Incorporated
- Dynasty Industries
20 More Family Business Name Ideas
- Family Affair
- We Are Family
- La Familia
- Family Goods
- For Young and Old
- Household Perfection
- Idyllic Home
- Happiness in the Little Things
- From Mom with Love
- Made by Grandma
- As Good as Mom’s
- Home and Beyond
- Homemade
- Everything for My Family
- Little Smiles
- Lovely Things
- From Our Family to Yours
- Made with Care
- The Family Enterprise
- Five Generations Co.
Best Real-world Family Business Names
Family businesses are found across all sectors of the economy. They also comprise some of the biggest corporations in the world—as of 2014, family-led businesses made up around one-third of the entries on the Global Fortune 500 index. What this means is that you can think big with your new family business venture!
To give you an idea of what a family business name looks like, we’ve provided five of our favorite real-world examples below. These are all extremely successful companies that have transformed their founders’ surnames into internationally recognizable brands.
Use these examples as inspiration for your own family business name ideas.
IKEA
IKEA’s name is a simple but creative derivation. The letters come from the initials of founder Ingvar Kamprad, the name of the farm he grew up on (Elmtaryd), and the nearby village (Agunnaryd). Rather than incorporating the founder’s full name, IKEA uses an acronym to create a name that is concise and extremely brandable but still keeps the company heritage at the core.
Swire
Swire is a multinational conglomerate working across industry, property, aviation, and beverages. It is parented by John Swire & Sons, which was founded in 1816 by John Swire and later expanded internationally by his sons. The family name has been maintained for over two centuries. By shortening the original business title to ‘Squire’, the name has been made more memorable and brandable.
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is a global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta with subsidiaries in the media, communications, and automotive industries. Founded by James M. Cox in 1898, today the business is in the hands of his great-grandson, Alexander C. Taylor. The family-oriented name and internal structuring of Cox Enterprises help to convey its core values of honesty, integrity, and accountability.
JM Family Enterprises
JM Family Enterprises is a diversified automotive business with operations in vehicle distribution, retail sales, and insurance. ‘JM’ represents the initials of founder Jim Moran, who established the company in 1968. The inclusion of the word ‘family’ gives the business name a personal touch and suggests that customers will receive a friendly and reliable level of service.
Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra & Mahindra is a global automotive manufacturing company headquartered in India. It was originally established in 1945 as Muhammad & Mahindra before being renamed to Mahindra & Mahindra after its two sibling founders, Kailash Chandra Mahindra and Jagdish Chandra Mahindra. The repetition of the Mahindra name provides a sense of visual constancy whilst also helping to reaffirm the business’ family values.
Step-by-step Guide to Naming your Family Business
It’s now time to put your family business name ideas into action! We’ve simplified the naming process into six easy-to-follow steps. With some help from the Family Business Name Generator, you’ll have your desired name in no time.
1. Establish your Line of Business
As we’ve already seen, family business encompasses the whole spectrum of work. The services or products that you choose to provide with your business will influence your name, so it’s important to establish this before you can start thinking of ideas.
Try to be as specific as possible when establishing your line of business. For example, if you’re going to be a consultancy company, what type of consulting services will you specialize in?
The more detail you can provide, the easier the next steps of the naming process will be!
2. Identify your Target Market
Once you’ve decided the area of business you want to pursue, you can begin to consider your target market. When starting out as a new family business, it’s logical to focus on a specific profile of customers. After establishing your business, you’ll be able to branch out into new areas.You can break down the market into some of the following areas:
- Income
- Age
- Psychographics
- Gender
With your new family business, you should always aim to fill a gap in the market. This will boost your chances of success.
3. Brainstorm Keywords
Now you’ve settled on your sector and target market, you can begin to think of related keywords. With a family business, you’ll likely include your name in the business. However, you still need to match the family name with one or two compelling keywords.
In the professional services sector, businesses tend to pair the family name with neutral words such as:
- Group
- Enterprises
- Company
- Corporation
- Industries
- Services
However, feel free to be more creative with your keywords. If you are working in a different sector, tailor your keyword(s) to that field.
4. Use the Family Business Name Generator
Once you’ve gathered your keywords, you can begin to formulate business name ideas. This is where the Family Business Name Generator comes in.
Enter your designated keyword into the name generator’s search bar and shortlist five business names. Look for names that are catchy and concise.
You can filter options based on character length, number of words, and rhythmic elements.
5. Conduct Market Research
It’s time to put your five shortlisted names to the test. Devise a name testing survey and ask for feedback from colleagues, friends, and family. Some of the questions you include on your survey could be:
- How does the name make you feel?
- What products or services do you associate with the name?
- Is the name easy to pronounce?
6. Check Availability
Based on the results of your name testing survey, select the most popular name and check its availability. Firstly, you need to verify that it hasn’t already been trademarked by another business.
Then, check if the web domain matching your desired business name is available. It’s important that your website address matches your company name so that your customers can find you easily.
If your chosen name satisfies both of these checks, that’s it: you have your new family business name!
4 Tips for Creating a Unique Family Business Name
Our experts have also put together four key tips for you to consider during the naming process.
1. Use Rhythmic Elements
Incorporating rhythmic elements into your family business name will help make it more memorable for customers. This can be achieved through language devices like alliteration or repetition.
The Family Business Name Generator allows you to filter results that are catchy by toggling the ‘rhyming’ button.
2. Consider Acronyms
Acronyms are a great way to condense long surnames into short, brandable business names. If your personal name is particularly long, we suggest using your initials as an acronym.
The example of IKEA shows that you can also use acronyms creatively by incorporating other personal elements like your hometown.
3. Make it Concise
A short name is more likely to stick with customers. When selecting your keywords, try to pick words that are three syllables or less. Also, aim not to exceed the 20-character mark.
The Family Business Name Generator lets you view names based on length for this purpose.
4. Experiment with Words
Family businesses typically include generic keywords like ‘group’, ‘enterprises’ or ‘services’. There’s nothing wrong with this, but if you’re able to come up with something different, your business will stand out.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with your word choices. You could combine two words to make a creative name. Another idea is to make a whole new word. If you’re able to do this without compromising the readability of your name, it could give you an advantage over competitors.
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