Brand, Web & Presence

Is it a bad idea to name my startup after myself or use my own name?

A starting point

It's fine for consulting, personal brands, or solo creator businesses where you are the product, but it gets awkward the moment you want to raise money, sell the company, or build a team that isn't about you. Your name also can't say what you do and is hard to trademark broadly. If you're building something you hope outgrows you, pick a name that can stand on its own without you attached to it.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Listen Read

Listen

🎧 Podcast
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it A short, honest conversation between two founders who lived this choice, with Jodie Cook admitting she named her agency after her initials almost by accident. It reframes the question around what actually makes a company saleable and independent, so you are deciding for the long game rather than for ego.

Should You Name Your Business After Yourself? w/ Jodie Cook (Ep 423)

On The Futur by Chris Do 19 min listen

  • Buyers want client relationships, repeatable systems, and talent, not a company that depends on one name.
  • Founders often pick their own name or initials with far less thought than the decision deserves.
  • The real job is building something that can stand and grow without you, whatever is on the door.
Open pod.wave.co →

Read

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Freemium Beginner

Why we picked it This is the cleanest, research-backed answer to the exact question, and it refuses to give you a blanket yes or no. Yohn walks through two academic studies (one finding a name boost, one finding the opposite) and lands on 'it depends' on your business type, which is the honest starting point most founders need before deciding.

Should You Name Your Company After Yourself?

From Harvard Business Review by Denise Lee Yohn 6 min read

  • Naming after yourself can signal founder confidence to the market, which sometimes correlates with better returns.
  • The same choice can lower resale value and make the company look too dependent on one person.
  • The right call hinges on whether you are the product (consulting, craft) or building something meant to run without you.
Open hbr.org →
✍️ Essay
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Where the HBR piece frames the trade-off, this essay digs into the specific ways a personal name helps early and holds you back later. It is direct about the scaling wall (everyone expects to deal with you personally) and the hiring and delegation friction that follows, which is the part founders underrate at the naming stage.

Should You Name a Business After Yourself?

From Fabrik Brands by Steve Harvey 12 min read

  • A personal name builds fast trust for solo and service work, where the founder is the product.
  • It gets awkward once you hire, because clients still expect to work with the name on the door.
  • A name unhooked from the founder is easier to scale, hand off, and eventually sell.
Open fabrikbrands.com →

People also ask

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