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How to name your toy business
Hey, I’m Ashley (Branding Expert) and I’m going to guide you through our four steps to name your toy business. Below you’ll find twenty example names I created in this process and next, I’ll show you how you can create your own. To get started, try our toy business name generator above and then scroll below to find the first step in the naming process.
- In the Treehouse
- The Toyagator
- Toy Temptations
- The Play Castle
- Toy Creations
- The Creative Carpenter
- Enlighten Kids
- Toy Kingdom
- A Jillion Things
- Santa’s Treasure Chest
- Toy Terminal
- Play Elements
- The Brain Gym
- Kid Palace
- Planet Adventure
- Toyventures
- Toy Fanatics
- The Myriad
- Daydreamers
- Toy Jungle
Four steps to naming your toy business
This four-step process will help you name your toy business. In this example, I’m creating a name for a toy business that conveys that the toys my business will have are educational, stimulating, durable, and promote creativity. Here’s each step I took in crafting these business names.
#1) Brainstorm your name ideas
Start by brainstorming what words could fit into your business name. In my name ideas, I used words like “Imagine”, “Creative”, “Kid”, and “Play”. You can see that while these words are related to Toy, they also suggest that you can expect a toy that is more than a one-button-wonder from this business or brand. Your goal here is to create a list of words or names that come to mind when thinking about your business.
If you’re stuck on words to use, try our business name generator.
Here are my name ideas after brainstorming:
- In the Treehouse
- The Toyagator
- Toy Temptations
- The Play Castle
- Toy Creations
- The Creative Carpenter
- Enlighten Kids
- Toy Kingdom
- A Jillion Things
- Santa’s Treasure Chest
- Toy Terminal
- Play Elements
- The Brain Gym
- Kid Palace
- Toyventures
- Toy Fanatics
- The Myriad
- Daydreamers
- Toy Jungle
#2) Shortlist your ideas
Once you’ve developed a list of possible names, do an analysis of your ideas. Remove any names that could be hard to remember, spell or speak aloud. Keep names that are brandable, sound great, are memorable and communicate your brand values, product or service to your target audience.
Here’s a quick checklist you can run your ideas through to help shorten your list of names:
- Is the name simple and easy to remember?
- Is the name easy to read and say aloud?
- Is the name different from competitors?
- Does the name convey a relevant meaning?
- Does the name avoid overused words or cliches?
My Shortlist:
- In the Treehouse
- Enlighten Kids
- Toy Kingdom
- A Jillion Things
Removed Ideas:
- The Toyagator
- Toy Temptations
- The Play Castle
- Toy Creations
- The Creative Carpenter
- Santa’s Treasure Chest
- Toy Terminal
- Play Elements
- The Brain Gym
- Kid Palace
- Planet Adventure
- Toyventures
- Toy Fanatics
- The Myriad
- Daydreamers
- Toy Jungle
#3) Get some feedback
You’ll now have a list of 3-6 great toy business names and you can start to ask potential customers or people working in the industry for feedback (your target audience). Avoid asking family and friends for feedback since they are more likely to praise all your ideas and they aren’t your customer.
Be sure to ask questions like:
- What first comes to mind when you first hear the name?
- How would you spell it?
With your customer’s feedback, you can now ask yourself if the name is still relevant? and does it represent your business how you intended?
My customer feedback:
In the Treehouse
This name conveys almost every child’s dream play place.
A Jillion Things
This name conveys a fun, kid-like atmosphere of endless things.
Toy Kingdom
This name conveys a store that has toys that “rule”!
Enlighten Kids
This name conveys the image of a store full of great ideas.
#4) Check It’s available
At this point, it’s good to have at least three great toy business names on your list, in case any of your names are already taken. You can do a quick Business Name Search online to find out if your name is available within your country/state. Also be sure to search if the name is available for Trademark and Domain Name Registration.
Competitor Name Analysis
To help you brainstorm potential business names, let’s take a look at three successful toy businesses and break down why and how they’ve chosen to name their business and why it works for them.
Toys “R” Us is a name that works because is straightforward, short, and memorable. Their simple and straightforward approach to a business name assisted in their brand being the first business that came to mind when parents and children think of toys in the US and around the world.
FAO Schwarz is the polar opposite to Toys’R’Us when it comes to business names. Typically naming a business after its founder is a risky move, but FAO Schwarz has succeeded by marketing and offering themselves as a premium store, whose offerings can be compared to that of an amusement park.
Tantrum is typically a word negatively associated with kids. By using this as a store name, Tantrum is able to stop parents in their tracks and notice this uniquely named toy store.
5 Tips for naming your toy business
The ideal business name should be simple, memorable, and convey a meaning all at the same time. Here are my 5 tips to keep in mind when developing your business names.
1. Do a Competitor Analysis
Doing a competitor analysis as your first step will save you a lot of time in the future. Knowing what names to avoid and understanding why and how your competitors’ business name works for them will help you in forming your own business names.
When analyzing competitors think about:
- What business or product values are they conveying in their business name? How does that work for them?
- Is there a trend in how these businesses are naming themselves? It’s best to avoid sounding like “just another one of those businesses”.
- Who does it best? Why does it work and how can I produce a better name?
2. Focus on Naming your Business not Describing it.
A typical pitfall most businesses run into is describing their business name too literally, using overused toy terms like store, play, and games. A more effective business name should convey to customers your businesses and product values at a deeper level. Try to name your business in a way that has a story behind it.
Let’s take for example a real toy business named “Amato’s Toy & Hobby”.
This name suggests that this is a family business. Vincent Amato began selling model airplanes out of his dad’s plumbing supply store in the 1940s. Over time, this evolved into a toy and hobby store and has further grown into a second store, all currently run by Amato’s three children. This name translates the history and values of the product/business: they’re local, family-owned and operated, and have been selling model airplanes – and toys – for decades.
3. How to make a more memorable name
Creating a memorable business name is the first step in getting into a customer’s mind and is also a task that’s easier said than done. Your business name should aim to stop a customer in their tracks and give extra thought to your product among your wave of competitors. Some tips to create a memorable name would be:
- Use rhythmic pronunciation or alliteration (Tip Top Toys, The Joy of Toys)
- Try using a word that wouldn’t be relevant when out of context (Parallel Toys – Parallel refers to the type of play toddlers and early preschoolers exhibit)
- Keep it short and simple.
4. Try purchasing a Brandable business name
Brandable business names are names that are non-sensical but read and are pronounced well. They often use letter patterns of Vowel/Consonant/Vowel as these word structures are typically short, catchy, and easy to say and remember. For example, some brandable toy business names could be:
- Nulane Toys
- Arovas Toys
- Truviro Toys
You can find a full list of Brandable business names at Domainify.com
5. Avoid combining words just to create a unique name.
Another mistake business owners typically make is creating bad word combinations when they find out that their business name idea is already taken. For example, John names his business Top Tot Toys and finds out it’s already taken. Because he’s already decided this is what he’ll name his business he tries to opt for similar-sounding names like Toptys, Tottys, or TTToys.
You can see how these ideas are a step backward as they are not catchy, easily pronounceable, or memorable. In these situations, we suggest starting from scratch and trying the tips we mentioned previously.
Toy business name ideas
Here’s the ultimate list of toy related words you could use in your business name. Below is a list of trending, descriptive and action words that are often related to toys.
Trending Words
Here are the top trending words used in toy company names.
- Ambassador
- Box
- Express
- Factory
- Go
- Grow
- Hero
- Hobbies
- Land
- Learn
- Magic
- Park
- Puzzle
- Space
- Sprout
- Think
- Vault
- Village
- Wonderland
- Workshop
Words Toy often describes
(“Toy ______”)
You can use these words to create Toy business names like ‘The Toy Box’ and ‘Play Factory’.
- Animals
- Balloons
- Blocks
- Boat
- Book
- Boutique
- Box
- Boy
- Boys
- Breed
- Bricks
- Business
- Cannon
- Car
- Cart
- Child
- Construction
- Cottages
- Cupboards
- Dog
- Engines
- Examples
- Experiments
- Fashion
- Figures
- Furniture
- Garden
- Horse
- House
- Industry
- Instrument
- Kit
- Maker
- Making
- Manufacturer
- Market
- Mice
- Mills
- Model
- Models
- Money
- Objects
- Pistols
- Play
- Poodles
- Preference
- Production
- Rabbits
- Seller
- Set
- Ships
- Shop
- Situation
- Size
- Soldier
- Store
- Task
- Terriers
- Test
- Theatre
- Tis
- Town
- Train
- Trains
- Trees
- Trials
- Village
How Toy is often described
(“______ Toy”)
Example Toy company names using these related descriptive words ‘Toy Wonders’ and ‘Familiar Fun’.
- Amusing
- Attractive
- Beautiful
- Beloved
- Big
- Bright
- Broken
- Charming
- Childish
- Costly
- Cuddly
- Curious
- Delightful
- Desirable
- Desired
- Educational
- Electrical
- Electronic
- Familiar
- Fascinating
- Favorite
- Fragile
- Giant
- Hidden
- Huge
- Inexpensive
- Ingenious
- Interesting
- Latest
- Little
- Lost
- Lovely
- Mechanical
- Mere
- Miniature
- Musical
- New
- Newest
- Nice
- Novel
- Optical
- Particular
- Philosophical
- Plastic
- Popular
- Precious
- Preferred
- Pretty
- Scientific
- Shiny
- Silly
- Simple
- Small
- Soft
- Special
- Squeaky
- Strange
- Stuffed
- Tiny
- Useless
- Wheeled
- Wonderful
- Wooden
Our Business Name Guides
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