In the last post, I wrote about how to push side projects forward with almost no free time. The main idea was that the smaller the task, the more likely you are to get it done. One example was spending just 30 minutes of your day coming up with a name for your project. Someone might say that picking a name isn't exactly a small task, and that 30 minutes isn't enough to find a good one. If that's your case, my tip is to shrink the task even more. Instead of trying to find the final name in 30 minutes, use that time to make a list of 10 potential names. Then the next day, take another 30 minutes to narrow it down to your top 5. And on the third day, spend another 30 minutes picking and polishing your final choice.

If you have no idea where to start when it comes to coming up with names, here are 3 strategies, proven pretty useful over time, to help you find the perfect name for your next project.

Animal/Color + Business Term

Try playing around with word sounds by mixing the name of an animal or a color with a term that best describes your product:

• gif + fox = gifox
• mail + chimp = mailchimp
• data + dog = datadog
• green + house = greenhouse
• red + bull = redbull
• blue + vine = bluevine

Business Term + Suffix

Another really popular strategy is to play around with adding suffixes to a word that best describes your business:

• shop + fy = shopify
• bit + ly = bitly
• word + nik = wordnik
• instant + gram = instagram
• compile + rama = compilorama

Unique Words

Finally, the strategy I like the most. Pick a few short words or ones that are related to your business and sound good, then play around with the letters until you come up with a unique spelling that still sounds pleasant. The end result will be an abstract word with no explicit meaning, giving your project a singular touch.

• bitsy → pitsy → pitsby
• tectonic → tastonic → taslonic
• nachos → nashos → nashios
• multiple → bortiple → bordiple
• vj → veedjey → veedgee

If you know any other great strategies for naming a project, don’t hesitate to share them with me! Your tip might even end up being added to this post.

Additionally, check out Zunnik, my latest side project. Zunnik will save you hours of research by bringing you the best remote front-end jobs as soon as they're posted. Oh, and if you want, you can also send me a message letting me know what you think of the name. 🙂