Podcast Name Generator
Generate name ideas for your Podcast below.
Ashley S.
Branding & Marketing Specialist
Article Contents
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4-Tips for Naming your Podcast
Podcast Name Analysis
Podcast Name Inspiration
How to create a great Podcast name
Hey, I’m Ashley (Branding Expert) and I’m going to guide you through how to create the perfect name for your Podcast!
It goes without saying that a badly named Podcast will struggle to capture and engage new listeners and in an already competitive landscape, your Podcast Name is the first touch-point your podcast will have to capture new listeners.
In this guide, you’ll learn all the tips and tricks branding experts use when it comes to name Podcast’s. I’ll also do an analysis of real Podcast names to help you understand why the name works so well for them!
4-Tips for Naming your Podcast
While there are a range of things you’ll want to consider when naming your podcast, here are my three most important tips.
1. Create a Tone and Personality in your Podcast Name
When there seems to be a podcast for every industry or topic on the internet, creating a unique, interesting and memorable Podcast Show name can be a difficult task. A good place to start the naming process is by really defining, at its core, the type of content, topics or information your podcast will produce and using words that capture those ideas.
For example, if you’re creating a fun talk show about astrophysics setting the tone and personality in your podcast name will help you attract the right type of audience. Some podcast names that convey a fun and entertaining tone could be: “Astro-World Daily” or “To Infinity & Beyond!” (Also a Toy Story Reference if a kid/education focused podcast).
In contrast, if your podcast is a more higher-level educational astrophysics show, names that could convey might be: “Cosmic Engine” or “Galileo’s Galaxy”
2. Be appealing and relevant to your target audience
When developing ideas for your Podcast name it’s essential you create a name with your target audiences in mind. Ask yourself questions like:
- What are their interests?
- Why should they listen to your show?
- What about your show name is interesting or relevant to them?
With your name, you have a couple of words to tell them what your podcast is about and/or capture their curiosity. To help the creative process, write down a list of keywords or phrases relevant to your podcast industry, create a shortlist of your best names and be sure to get feedback on it from any potential listeners.
3. Have timeliness in your podcast name
Better used for news, educational or talk podcasts, alluding to the shows length or timeliness of your podcast in the name is a great way to capture audiences that are either time poor or looking for a full-length podcast. Some examples of this can be seen in popular podcasts like:
- Dissect – Dissect is a music podcast whose host breaks down the musical theory and inspirations behind popular music. A typical episode length is 45 mins to an hour, using the word ‘Dissect’ conveys a show that is in-depth and provides well thoughtout ideas.
- This Week in Tech – A much more straight forward podcast name, this show lets audiences know exactly what they can expect and what it’s about.
- Murder Minute – With a typical length of 30 minutes, this podcast is made for audiences on a short commute or wanting a quick fix of true crime drama.
4. Check the Domain Availability!
A typical pitfall for many up and starting podcasts is failing to secure the website/domain name for their show. As your podcasts builds a strong and steadily growing audience base, you’ll want to direct them to any merch or offers from your show. By securing the exact name of your podcast (.com’s are always the most memorable), you’ll mitigate the amount of listeners that go to the wrong website or aren’t able to find your podcast because of a totally different or irrelevant domain name.
Check Domain Availability
Podcast Name Analysis
To help you brainstorm podcast names, let’s take a look at five popular podcasts, breaking down why and how they’ve chosen to name their show and why it works for them.
Pod Save America
Pod Save America is a News podcast that addresses current political stories in the US. The name plays on the phrase ‘God Save America’, the play on words hints at it’s satirical nature whilst also showing they are discussing serious topics.
Philosophize this!
This is a philosophy podcast that is to bring philosophical ideas to bigger audience. The punctuation in the name is important as philosophy is traditionally a very dry subject and the name, punctuated with an exclamation mark shows that there is a lighter passionate side to this podcast.
No Such Thing as Fish
No Such Thing as a Fish is a weekly British podcast series produced and presented by the researchers behind the BBC Two panel game QI. The topics are weird facts and features the like of which feature on the show QI. This name is less descriptive, and you don’t instantly know what the show is about. However, it grabs your attention and makes you curious to find out. Once you know it makes perfects sense.
The Guilty Feminist
Again a very descriptive name. This is a feminist comedy Podcast that addresses the hypocrisies and double standards of everyday life. Each episode starts with short stories beginning ‘I’m a feminist but…’
My Dad Wrote a Porno
This isn’t just an arresting title. It is literally British podcast host, Jamie Morton, reading chapters from his father’s erotic novels. This is a light-hearted comedy Podcast supposed to amuse and engage, which is exactly what the title does.
Podcast Name Inspiration
Below are a few podcast name ideas for a variety of Podcast’s I’ve imagined. Here you’ll see my process and how I came to make the name.
Should you use your real name when Podcasting, or a Pseudonym?
A common question new podcaster’s have when starting out is whether or not they should use their real name. Whilst there are both risks and benefits for each, here’s our advice when thinking about your podcasting persona:
Disadvantages of using your real name
- Everything you do online will be connected to you—forever. This can potentially hurt when applying for a job, but if it’s done right it should actually be a big help. Make sure you’re careful with what you associate with your real identity.
- Your real name may be too long, difficult to spell. It might be already taken online, or very similar to someone else. This is frustrating for a lot of people. But there are ways around it. Be creative and make sure you don’t limit your potential podcast topics. Someday you may want to change topics, or expand.
- Your real name might compromise your privacy or your security in some way. One of the biggest concerns online is about safety. This is a very real concern. You can take a few precautions though to help keep yourself safe online, for example like getting a PO Box and never sharing any information that might reveal your location.
The Disadvantages of using a Pseudonym
- You may not be taken seriously. Imagine trying to broach a serious current issue that’s recently been in the news, but you’re only known as ‘That Cat Lady’. Having a ‘cute’ name could damage your credibility and limit your possible subject matter.
- You may regret your decision down the line. When it comes to building a personal brand, you need to use your real name. Your real name has credibility and authenticity and you can detract from that with a pseudonym.
- You may have complications with multiple identities. If you use a pseudonym online, what do you call yourself when you go to in-person events like conferences and meetups? What if you launch a business related to your podcast? You have to essentially live a constant “lie” if you use anything other than your real name.
Should you name your Blog and Podcast the same?
Podcasting and blogging go hand in hand. Your Podcast will benefit massively if you blog alongside it effectively. We’ve written a guide to naming your blog and created a blog name generator you can check out for more help.
Keeping your branding the same across your blog and podcast will absolutely help you in the long run. And having the same name for both will help your listeners find your blog online.
On your blog you can publish show notes, outline what the podcast is about, and share any resources you referenced in the show for interested listeners.
On top off this blogging is another great way to get your show seen. Because Podcasts are audio only, optimising their visibility on search engines like Google is pretty tough. You have the Podcast name, episode name, and maybe, if it’s published in iTunes for example, a short description. Writing up a blog around eah episode will not only add valuable additional information, but make your podcast much more searchable online.
What to do if your Podcast name is taken?
You’ve come up with a great name. But after a quick search on the internet it seems that someone had that idea first. What can you do?
- First of all, figure out if their podcast is still active. If they haven’t posted anything for a long time contact them and see if they will let you have it. If they say no, or they are obviously still actively using their podcast name, don’t worry, this actually might be a good thing, you don’t necessarily have to go back to the drawing board.
- What is the key message behind your name? Are there any words that you could swap out? Use a thesaurus and search up synonyms. Find interesting words and phrases that mean similar things. Rearrange the structure of the name too.
- Remember that you want your name to be original. If, whoever got to your name first, has a podcast covering a similar topic, you don’t want your name to be in anyway recognizable as theirs. If it is you will look like a cheap imitation, whether or not your show is better, they were there first.
Can you change your Podcast name later?
Sometimes it may be necessary to change your name at a later date. Maybe your Podcast evolved and you no longer think the title is relevant, or perhaps it’s too restricting.
You can certainly change your name at any point. However, you can’t realistically expect to keep all your subscribers. But if you go about it wisely you shouldn’t cause too much of an upset with the name change.
- Make sure you can explain the reason behind the change.
- Communicate the reasons way ahead of time. Make sure everyone know what’s happening, when, and why.
- Communicate the change on your website and on social media.
- If changing topic, make it clear.
Don’t feel trapped or tied down by your name. Make sure the name is a good fit for you. Companies rebrand all the time, done well it can help you grow to new heights.
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