How to Choose Your Blog Name

Co-authored by Ross Taylor

Last Updated: September 15, 2022 References

One of the most important components of your blog’s success is choosing the perfect name. The best blog names are unique, memorable, and relevant to the blog's content. To find the perfect name, brainstorm some ideas that capture the subject, tone, and vision of your blog, then refine them to appeal to your audience. Check to make sure the name is available across site domains and other social media networks, then make it official!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Brainstorming Name Ideas

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Incorporate your blog’s niche. Your blog name should reflect what you’ll be writing about, or your vision for the blog. Keep it general while you brainstorm, and consider your blog’s most basic niche, then think of popular keywords related to that genre.^{[1]
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- Some of the most popular blog types include fashion, food, beauty, travel, photography, wedding, design, DIY, and fitness.^{[2]
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- If your vision for the blog is to promote health and fitness, choose some keywords related to that theme, such as “fit,” “inspire,” or “strong.” If your blog is going to be all about photography, you could incorporate words like “lens,” “focus,” or “frame.”
2
Make it unique. Think about what sets you and your blog apart. Incorporate a unique detail, such as where you live, your interests, your career, or personal detail, like your hair or eye color. Using details like these, you can create a strong visual and make your blog more memorable.
- For example, ThePioneerWoman.com highlights the blogger’s unique location and farm lifestyle, while BarefootBlonde.com references the blogger’s iconic blonde hair.
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3
Decide who your target audience will be. Knowing your target audience will help you choose a name that will perform well. Your target audience is the group of readers that you’ll be writing for—think about their age, gender, income, career, and geographic location when you consider names.^{[3]
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- For example, if your target audience is made up of well-dressed, city-dwelling, college-educated women in their twenties, your blog name should appeal to an element of that lifestyle. For example, you could choose a name like “5th Street Fashion” or “Styleminded."
- Essentially, you want to avoid any misconceptions about your blog. Your name should make sense next to the content you post.^{[4]
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Use a name generator to get ideas. Using an automatic generator can take some of the pressure out of the process and get your imagination working.^{[5]
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- Some popular blog name generators include http://www.wordoid.com, which helps you create made-up words that are still understandable and unique, and http://www.namestation.com, which lets you plug in keywords and generates a list of possible names.
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Look at competitors’ blog names. Do some market research and check out blogs that are similar to yours. Consider what their names convey, how they sound, and how long they are.^{[7]
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Research related words and synonyms. Think of some of the keywords and topics you’ll write about on your blog and type these into the Google Keyword Tool or http://www.thesaurus.com. Try incorporating these synonyms into your potential blog names and see if any sounds good. Sometimes a new synonym can be more interesting than an overused keyword.
- For example, instead of “home,” you could try “abode,” “habitat,” “dwelling,” or “hearth.”
- If you like a certain adjective in another blogger’s blog name, synonyms can help you reimagine and repurpose the word to make it your own.
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Explore your blog’s tone. Think about how would you describe your voice and style of writing. Your blog name should reflect the tone, or the attitude that comes across in your writing, such as funny, nostalgic, warm, serious, or sarcastic.^{[8]
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- For example, if your writing is humorous and satirical, you'll want your blog name to reflect that tone. Readers will be able to recognize your style more easily if your blog name signals that tone right away.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Refining the Name

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Make sure your blog name is easy to pronounce. Multisyllabic or made-up words can be difficult for a customer to pronounce, even when they’re just reading in their head. Choose a name that won’t confuse or trip up your readers. Use words that your target audience will recognize or a made-up word that’s easy to understand, like “veganish” or “healthful.”^{[9]
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- This will also help with memorability—a name that’s easy to pronounce is much easier to remember.
2
Pick something short and easy to remember. Generally, you should limit your blog name to 1-3 words. Anything longer may be difficult to remember and can lose its catchiness. Long names also create awkwardly long domain names.^{[10]
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Research source} Make sure your name is, at most, a catchy phrase rather than a full sentence.^{[11]
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- For example, you might shorten a name like “A London-Dweller’s Travel Diaries and Memories” to “The London Diaries” or “London Lady Travels.”
3
Don’t use your own name in your blog name unless you plan on making it personal. If you use your name, you lose some authority as a general niche blog and end up pigeonholing your blog as more of a diary space. However, if you plan on making your blog all about your interests and your life, using your name may work.
4
Choose a name that will suit your blog for a long time. It’s important to think about longevity when choosing your blog’s name, so choose something that will still suit your content in years to come. However, if you do grow out of the name—for example, if your content changes or you find that readers have trouble remembering it—then choosing a new name and rebranding, later on, is a possibility.^{[12]
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- If you plan on making your blog extra-niche, choose a name that reflects that specialty and appeals to a very specific audience. For example, if you’re a food blogger that only reviews pizza in New York City, you could use “The NYC Pizza Review” or “The NYC Slice.”
- If you’re worried about pigeonholing yourself and you’d like to leave room for content to evolve in the future, make your blog name something more general or abstract.^{[13]
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Consider how the name will look like a domain. When you write your blog name out as it will appear in someone’s search bar (yourblogname.com), check for any issues that may arise. Your name may create some ambiguity if it can be read in multiple ways or inappropriately.^{[14]
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- For example, a humor blog called thereasonicantdance.com could be read as “The Reason I Can’t Dance,” “There a Son I Can’t Dance,” or “There a Sonic Ant Dance.” Obviously, readers will realize the first option is the most likely, but if it gives them a reason to pause, your name might need some work.
- Sometimes you need fresh eyes to spot a problem—have someone else read your domain name and tell you if they spot any confusing letter combinations.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Confirming Availability

1
Check available site domains. If you’re using a blogging service, such as Blogger or WordPress, check your name’s availability on their website. If you’re building your own blog, check on domain purchasing sites to see if anyone else has a similar or identical name. If the name is taken, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.^{[15]
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- Blogs with a “.com” URL are often much more popular and successful. Make sure to use an available .com domain name, rather than less popular options such as .net or .info.
- If you use blogging services, consider paying an extra fee to remove the “.blogspot” or “.wordpress” from your domain name. Having a simple “.com” domain looks much more professional and credible.
2
Check the availability of the name on social media. Once you’ve chosen a name, run it through various social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If your handle is taken on too many sites, you should probably alter it a bit or choose a different name.^{[16]
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- You can also run the name through http://www.knowem.com, which will search all major social networks.
3
Make sure no one has a part of your blog name trademarked already. Be careful not to use trademarked company names in your blog names, such as Google or Nike. This may lead to legal issues, especially if your blog becomes a successful source of income.^{[17]
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Expert Q&A

Question

Is trademarking a name something worth doing when you're branding a company?

Ross Taylor
Marketing Expert
Ross Taylor is a Marketing Expert and the Founder of Alameda Internet Marketing. With over 10 years of experience, Ross specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Ross’ boutique SEO agency is a Google Partner agency, which has been recognized for its dedication to honest communication and quality service with awards from UpCity, ThreeBestRated.com, and Clutch. Ross holds an Associate of Arts degree from Chabot College and certifications in Google AdWords and CompTIA A+.

Ross Taylor

Marketing Expert

Expert Answer

I would say it is most definitely protecting your brand. Whether it's buying similar domain names or registering the trademark, it is definitely a clever thing to do to make sure no one else encroaches on your brand. Protect that as much as you possibly can. If you don't and someone does copy you, it's more difficult to take action to promote yourself as the original source. It's an easy preventive measure to trademark your brand, and it can solve a lot of problems down the road.
Question

I was always told that I should use letters(A-Z), a dash(-), and numbers(1-9), but I am already using all of them. What do you suggest?

Sapphire Games

Community Answer

Try using a simple name. If you don't like it, change it. A simple name will give people a better idea what the blog is about. Don't use all the letters and numbers, people will struggle to find what they're looking for.
Question

What title name should be on my blog?

Community Answer

It depends on whether the title is in your interests. If you like any hobbies (e.g. storywriting), you might choose a synonym or a special and meaningful word. Think of it as a book and you are picking its name according to its genre.