How to Name Your Blog: What’s Your Type?

In this second part of a three-part series, you will learn about the different categories blog names can fall under. Part one covers the basics of a good blog name and part three offers a blog naming tutorial.

Naming your blog is not much different than naming a new company or new product. You’ve got to have something catchy and unique that inspires people whenever they engage with you — both online and offline.

In the corporate world, people often pay top dollar to professional naming and branding companies to discover that perfect name. The process is extensive and deep, but results can be quite effective.

Hiring a naming consultant isn’t totally realistic or necessary in the blogging world since most blogs have zero startup funds. Also, blogs usually start out as personal endeavors, so the name you choose should reflect (to a degree) who you are, what your passion is and how you choose to express yourself. In fact, coming up with a perfect name is half the fun.

There is a bit of a semantics when it comes to name selection. Names can fall into one of five categories:

The Five Categories of Blog Names

Descriptive

Descriptive names are straightforward and functional. They generally describe in literal terms what your blog is about. Since they are so direct, there is little dispute over the meaning of these names. Examples: autoblog.com, copyblogger.com, dailyblogtips.com.

Upside: easy to invent, easy to recognize, easy to brand, good for search engines, can sound authoritative, if well-constructed can dominate a niche (blogtips.com/dailyblogtips.com).
Downside: in popular niches, most of these (domain) names are taken, so expect to pay a lot if you want them; limits you to one focus; can sound generic, boring and copycatish when alongside similar names; trademarking can be sticky

Metaphoric

Metaphoric names use one word (or more) to suggest the likeness or analogy of another. To provide additional clarity, metaphoric names can be compounded with a more descriptive word (which usually but not always comes first). Examples: techcrunch.com, JetBlue, Facebook, SEOBook, zenhabits.net.

Upside: name tends to makes sense and sound good, easy to remember, easy domain name acquisition, easy to construct (limitless possibilities), combined words create interesting meanings
Downside: not too many downsides, except for the possibility of being too long

Invented

An invented name is poetically crafted and based on the experience and rhythm of saying it.  It may or may not contain a real word or two that conveys some meaning. Examples: mashable.com, gizmodo.com, prevential.com, tipd.com, not blogs: Skype, Flickr.

Upside: easy domain name acquisition, highly memorable, engaging and energetic, fun to say
Downside: difficult to think of, may be challenging to recognize, might sound gimmicky or cheesy, doesn’t necessarily provide any up-front meaning

Personal

Personal names are made from the name of the author of the blog. Usually it’s the first and last name in that order, but some lucky few are using their first name. Examples: garyvaynerchuk.com, johnchow.com, chrisbrogan.com, ted.me

Upside: easy to create, very strong personal brand potential, allows you to focus on anything, shows people you stand behind what you say, conveys personality
Downside: may be hard to spell or say depending on your name, doesn’t provide any up-front meaning, no separation from your name and your blog (for privacy or other reasons), being personally labeled may indefinitely affect how you are perceived, you’d have a hard time selling it

Evocative

Evocative names make use of an unrelated word to evoke and compliment the positioning of your blog rather than describe its niche. Examples: 43folders.com, amazon.com, boingboing.net.

Upside: a rare type of name that is easily differentiated, multidimensional and very engaging, can create a brand that dominates your niche
Downside: difficult to construct properly, risky brand positioning, likely difficult domain name acquisition if the name is short

As you might expect there are exceptions and hybrids to these name types, such as combining a personal name with a descriptive or metaphoric one (kind of like Shoemoney). There are also pun type names (like automattic.com) and initials/acronymns (tmz.com, tuaw.com).

Part Three in the Wordful Blog Naming series offers advice on how you can create your own cool blog name.