Ask HN: How to find a good startup name?

Here are the guidelines I personally like to follow. I wouldn't say they're the only way or the best way, but I'd like to share anyway.

1. There are different ways of coming up with a name--I personally like looking up the thesaurus and mashing words together. But however you arrive at your chosen name, make sure that your target market will at least be able to guess what it does when they hear or read it. Good brand names are expressive of what they do for the customer.

2. Try three syllables at most, whatever the language. Four is a gamble, but can still work if played well. Five is a huge gamble.

3. Always go for the .com, even if the trend is to get .ly and .io. If it's not available, take the last two letters of the brand name and check if that domain extension is available for purchasing.

If any of those three don't work, try again.

Seems like the approach a lot of modern day startups use is this:

1. Take the name of the niche you're targeting. For this example lets say we're a health startup wanting to revolutionise patient waiting times in hospital emergency awards.

2. See if the domain .ly is available or if not, .li; patientrocket.ly, waitzero.io

3. Profit $$$

I don't think there is a set formula. To some names are personal and to others they're just names and don't have any underlying meaning to them other than they're memorable or sound cool.

In the beginning focusing on the product instead of the name seems like a better investment of the time. I feel that sometimes it is just epiphany...you wait for it to come to you.

But until then anything that is easy to spell and easy to pronounce and possible self-explanatory is good enough as long as the domain does not cost an arm and leg.

I sometimes consult google translate to find quirky words in other languages which relate to the meaning in the name I am looking for.

I looked for something that felt right for the brand. For my agency I wanted something masculine (we were all women), waspy (we were all Jewish), and sounded 100 years old (it's brand new). I told my friend who does naming that it should sound like 100 year old scotch. She came up with Hunter & Bard (hunting for leads sales & market, bard is the story teller which is how we do it). I was happy. My exact quote was, "I feel Blackwatch plaid all over"

Checkout http://www.stylate.com/ - cool concept - Logo + domain for $250

I'd say the best names just come to you. I sat down with my team weighing different names and we ended up mustering out a name that we've used for all applications and VC stuff. None of us loved the name but we gave it time and ended up finding something that just clicks. Don't rush the process. Let it happen.

Try google translate. Input a word or phrase that describes your product and translate to Portuguese, Latin, etc. Just make sure google translate is accurate before you buy the .com :-) The biggest problem I always had was finding a domain name that wasn't taken by pirates.

I use http://www.namechk.com to ensure the social media real estate is available for a given name. also you want the .com as most non tech ppl wont remember tricky urls. keep it short and simple

I hired a copyrighter.

Keep doing what you actually are good.

Thesaurus might help.