How to Pick a Perfect App Name if you Plan to Conquer the World

With growing competition in the IT industry, business owners are trying to stand out and grab their customers’ attention in every possible way, including in brand or product names. Despite drawing attention сatchy names don’t necessarily lead you to the best app to download or best website to visit. But still, a striking name helps a good app to get noticed.

Product name builds brand recognition but if you are planning to enter regional markets in the future you should make sure that your app name is recognized the right way. You’d be surprised how many hilarious situations happened even with big and well-known brands, let alone smaller companies and indie developers. Fortunately, today there are various app localization services that help companies translate promo lines into foreign languages and check if their app titles are applicable for the target audience.

So how to find a perfect app name if you are planning to go global? Let’s find out what is worth thinking about in advance.

Market Analysis

First of all, you need to understand who your audience is, what they need, what they search for, and what attracts them. Make sure you have studied the competitors and seen their ideas because you need to create something new. When you have any name idea, check if it’s free immediately. And once you found it, find a suitable domain name that you may use.

Choice

Before you settle for any name, make sure you have a couple of options on the list. You may take it to your relatives and friends who will stay unbiased and give you their opinion on how they perceive those names as users. If you have difficulties with name ideas, you may always ask your audience, and it will be a great way to gain product awareness before the release. Make a contest with prizes, set the deadlines, requirements, and rules, and surely, you will get something special.

Memorable, Velevant, and Catchy

There are thousands of competitors out there. Your brand name should be memorable, relevant, and catchy. Do not use a senseless combination of letters or abbreviations unless you have millions to spend on ads.

You may get a name from the company’s location, creators’ names, product’s characteristics, or the results it gives, maybe even the technology you use. Do not hesitate to combine several words after your brainstorming.

Size Matters

Keep your brand name short and simple. If you are planning to have an app, remember that there are length restrictions on the market places. For example, Google Play allows only 30 characters and the App Store recommends having only up to 23. If you have a longer name, it’ll look messy and may be considered spammy.

Keywords

The name should be searchable. That means it should be tied up to the keywords that the consumers are likely to search. At the same time, it should also apply to what your company or product does. If it doesn’t, the users may just flip through your app.

Moreover, an app name is one of the most important metadata both on the App Store and Google Play. Including relevant keywords in the app name is definitely worth trying, just keep in mind the length limits mentioned above. 

Localization

Most people prefer browsing in their native language and the developers and business owners should prioritize localization of their brand’s names and products. Yes, localize, not translate. Every country has its customs, jokes, superstitions, and much more, direct translation may look silly in other languages.

Create a name that will be easy to remember for people living in your target regions, check if it is easy for locals to pronounce and if it doesn’t have any undesirable meanings in the target language.

Think about Future

A brand is not only a name, it’s the full package. It’s essential to find such a name that will be perceived in the way you wanted. It’s your image on the whole market and people will always bear it in mind once you have new products or services.

Final Thoughts

The name of your app is extremely important. That is why you should not make any hasty decisions. Even if it seems that you found a perfect one, take your time, sleep on it, and check one more time if you followed all the instructions above.


The best name will rarely come fast and out of the blue. Mostly it is the result of a long process of thinking and analyzing. And it’s totally fine if it is not love at the first sight. Remember that with time this name can evolve and change.

We hope that the steps in the article will help you to make the right choice and find your unique name!