How To Name Your Hipster Business
In a field that sells itself as being different, you’ve got to think doubly hard when coming up with a name for your hipster business! With our specialist guide, you’ll be able to create an original name that sparks curiosity about your new hipster business.
With many consumers spurning the big-name chains in favor of independent businesses, there’s money to be made in the hipster market. But before you can claim your piece of the pie, you need a name that stands out!
The Hipster Business Name Generator will be your main source of inspiration on this journey. Try it out now and gain access to hundreds of trendy names ready for you to use!
Once you’ve given the name generator a go, read on for insights from our expert marketers. These include a competitor analysis, keyword advice, and tips to help you craft a hipster or boho business name that catches the eye.
20 Hipster Business Name Ideas
To get things started, we’ve selected 20 example names from the Hipster Business Name Generator. See which ones hit home with you before trying the name generator yourself to see if you can do better.
- Vintage Castaway
- Second-Hand Sunshine
- Axel Vintage
- Wonder Bookstore
- The Vintage Bunker
- Havana Cafeteria
- Vintage Misfits
- TRUE Independent
- Vintagenic
- The Coffee Convent
- Timeless Tastes
- Coffeelia
- Freethinking Fashion
- Cafe Rising
- The Eccentrium
- Chai Barista
- Ruckus Records
- Zion Trendsetters
- Recordopolis
- Lost Treasures Bookstore
20 More Hipster Business Name Ideas
- Recyclify
- Magic Jar
- Cup of Cha
- Indie World
- Wooden Bucket
- HerCraft
- Vintagely
- organic.ly
- reuse.me
- Retro Walk
- Reloaded
- Aromatify
- Crafted Juice
- Summertime Sadness
- Nostalgic Fashion
- Abstrakt Cafe
- Libertus
- Rebel Records
- Evocational
- Lounge Bookstore
Best Real-world Hipster Business Names
It’s difficult to tell just how left-field you should go with your hipster business name. Taking a look at some of your competitors in the field can help to set boundaries during the naming process.
That’s why we’ve put together five of our favorite real-world hipster business names and explained what makes them work. We’ve included a blend of big names and independent businesses spread across a variety of sectors so that you can gain some insight no matter what direction you want to take your company.
Buffalo Exchange
Founded in 1974, Buffalo Exchange is a vintage and used clothing brand with stores across the US. There’s no hidden meaning with this name. The founder, Kirsten Block, selected the first half as the word ‘Buffalo’ reminded her of the American West. ‘Exchange’ ties the name together by stating the business’ purpose as a thrift store.
Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit is the hipster’s cigarette brand of choice. Its name coalesces with the logo featuring a Native American man and health-oriented marketing techniques to present the product as a more conscious way of smoking. ‘Natural’ alludes to the USP of being 100% additive-free tobacco, whilst ‘Spirit’ is one of those buzzwords that will always appeal to hipsters.
Rough Trade
First opened as a record shop in London in 1976, Rough Trade is now a fully-fledged music label and store with locations across the UK and in New York. The name employs a clever double entendre. On one level, it marks itself as a business dealing fringe or ‘rough’ items. But it also has a more provocative meaning, with ‘rough trade’ used in some spaces to describe rough sex acts.
Coffee Collective
Coffee Collective is an independent coffee shop from Copenhagen and is widely recognised as one of the best in Denmark. Alliteration and assonance, with the repeated ‘co’ sounds, help this name to roll off the tongue and stick in the memory. ‘Collective’ is also a word that particularly appeals to hipster sensibility.
Honesty Bookshop
Honesty Bookshop, tucked away in the small Welsh market town of Hay-on-wye, is part of the Hay Castle Trust charity site. The renowned open-air bookshop has no till; all customer proceeds are placed trustingly in a collection box. The name, therefore, communicates the bookshop’s USP. This is a great example of a business offering customers a genuinely unique experience, which is exactly what you need to crack the hipster market.
Finding Keywords for your Hipster Business Name
We’ve already seen that the range of hipster businesses is broad. Cafes, clothing stores, or bookshops are just some of the directions you may decide to take your new business. Some hipster brands throw out the rule book entirely and run hybrid stores combining all of these things!
Whatever you decide to sell, your name should include keywords that evoke that kind of product. These particular words should also resonate with your target audience; luckily, with a hipster business, your audience will likely share similar traits and perspectives.
The Collins Dictionary defines a hipster as “a person who follows trends that he or she regards as being outside the mainstream”. In terms of their worldview, hipsters are associated with free-thinking and progressive politics.
So when coming up with ideas, you want to be thinking of keywords that evoke eccentricity and open-mindedness—’Collective’ is a good example from earlier. But how do you go about adapting these words to different business types? Let’s take a look.
Clothing Shop
If you’re opening a hipster clothing shop, you need to distinguish yourself from the major brands. You may decide to focus on second-hand clothes or only stock items from up-and-coming designers.
Either way, here are some keywords for you to consider:
- Vintage
- Nostalgia
- Classic
- Fresh
- Alternative
Coffee Shop
Independent coffeehouses are often a popular alternative to the big chains for hipster crowds. The key to success here is to offer something unique to customers—and do it really well. For example, you might have a rich variety of in-house blends or off-the-wall interior decor.
Below are some keywords to get you thinking:
- Roast
- Energy
- Brew
- Java
- Comfort
Bookstore
As with an independent coffee shop, a hipster bookstore needs to provide a special customer experience that consumers cannot match elsewhere. This could be through selling second-hand books that you’re able to offer at especially low prices.
You may decide to specialize in a certain area of literature like crime fiction or academic writing.
Here are some keywords specific to bookstores:
- Library
- Study
- Poetry
- Bookworm
- Literature
4 Tips for Creating Unique Hipster Business Names
Hopefully, you’re now at a point where you’re ready to start thinking of names. We’ve compiled four key tips for you to bear in mind to ensure your chosen name is a hit with customers.
1. Make it Catchy
You need to make sure that your name is memorable so that satisfied customers can spread the word with friends and family. Many hipster businesses rely on word-of-mouth recommendations for their initial growth.
Try incorporating alliteration or rhythmic features into your business name, as with Coffee Collective. Keeping it short also ensures that your name is easy to pronounce.
2. Experiment with Words
Remember that you have some creative license to experiment with your name. Trying something different is a great way to stand out and appeal to hipsters who appreciate the occasional flouting of the rules.
For example, you may combine two words to create a name that is concise and original. Alternatively, you can come up with a new word entirely. The Hipster Business Name Generator allows you to do this by filtering the results to ‘One Word’.
3. Communicate the Product
It’s handy to indicate the type of your business in the name so that passersby in the street and internet users browsing online can quickly identify what kind of services you provide.
One effective technique is to combine a keyword that describes your business type with another that might appeal to a hipster crowd more generally. Buffalo Exchange and Honesty Bookshop are two perfect examples of this.
4. Check Availability
Before you can settle on a name, you need to check that’s available for you to register as a business. There are three steps to this process:
- Check that the name hasn’t already been trademarked for use by another company. Copying the name will likely infringe on copyright laws.
- Check that the name is available as a web domain. You need a website address that is consistent with your business name so that customers can find you. This is especially important for hipster businesses that intend to open an online shop.
- Check that the name is available for use on the big social media sites. Since most hipsters are avid social media users, these platforms become important touchstones to connect you with your customers.
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