From Idea to Identity: The Stories Behind Small Business Names

Behind the Brand: How 5 Small Businesses Chose Their Names

Choosing the right name is one of the most important decisions a small business owner can make. It’s your first introduction to the world and how customers find, connect with and remember you. A strong name captures your story, values and vision, while also being easy to recall and search online. Many of the entrepreneurs featured on the ICSC Small Business Center have shared the personal journeys behind their business names, along with insights on what makes a name truly resonate. Here are some of their stories — and the lessons they offer.

Inspired by Family Legacy and Resilience: Boom’s Pizza

Fueled by personal history and a deep respect for perseverance, Boom’s Pizza draws its name, and its spirit, from founder chef Ben Bebenroth’s grandfather, whose life story helped shape the Cleveland restaurant’s identity.

“After COVID and the closure of my first restaurant, I was wondering why I busted my ass all these years and what I was going to do now,” Bebenroth recalled. “I was thinking about my grandpa — his nickname was Boom. He was born during the Great Depression, dropped out of high school to join the [U.S.] Army Air Corps in World War II. He was frugal, smart, just an amazing dude. Raised four kids in a 1,000-square-foot house in Parma [Ohio,] with my grandma while working as a union electrician.

The phrase ‘Born of Hard Times’ came up in a conversation with my brother. I’m always really conscious that my grandfather’s money is running through my business. When he passed, he left the family a million dollars in FirstEnergy stock. I think about that a lot.

“How did Boom do all he did in life? He was born of such hard times. ‘Get back on your feet, kid.’ That was the message I heard from beyond the grave.”

MORE FROM BEBENROTH: Ben Bebenroth on Building a Business That Works

Shaped by Faith, Identity and New Beginnings: Genesis

A clothing store owner partnered with a marketing agency to choose a new name for the business that reflected his and his wife’s identity and values.

“They asked us a bunch of questions about who we were, what was important to us, and they gave us a dozen names to choose from,” said Lenny Johnson, who owns Genesis in Williston Square — a growing mixed-use development in the North Dakota town — along with his wife, Miranda.

“The evolution of the name was several things. We’re churchgoers. And Genesis is kind of the hope within the Bible. It’s the beginning of creation. We were transitioning from the old name to a new name, and it embodied that.”

Driven by Clarity and Local Pride: Baltimore Pickleball Club

Bonny Gothier and her business partner Alex Guerriere wanted a name for their indoor pickleball club that was both intuitive and local, while avoiding the pickle puns many others gravitated toward.

“I actually had a marketing person from New York come up with a bunch of names. In my opinion and Alex’s, they sounded corny. They all had something to do with pickles,” Gothier said. “We just really didn’t want the name to be cheesy. The vision was always to be more high-end, and I said to Alex: ‘Every time I go to a new town and I want to play pickleball, the first thing I do is Google pickleball in that town, so I would go to California and say: “OK, Google, where can I play pickleball?”’”

“Also, I love my city. We were both born and raised here and it was important that the city was in the name, so we decided on the name the Baltimore Pickleball Club. Marketing-wise, it’s been kind of brilliant.”

A Rebrand for Fresh Identity and Distinction: Wildflower

Christine Guenther, co-owner of Wildflower, rebranded her flower shop after realizing the original name, Petal Pusher, no longer fit—particularly with a similarly named bike shop located near the second location she was opening in the Annapolis, Maryland, area.

“I had my eye on a space about 20 minutes away from the original Petal Pusher,” Guenther explained. “I visited the center a lot because our pediatrician was in the building. It had a lot of businesses where people were in and out really quick. I thought it would be a great place for a flower shop. One of reasons for the original rebrand was that there was a bike shop close to the location called Pedal Pushers bike store. I thought: ‘We can’t have the Petal Pusher florist and then a few miles down the road, there’s the Pedal Pushers bike shop.’ And to me Petal Pusher was an effeminate, older, dated flower-shop brand. When we incorporated in 2016, we incorporated as Wildflower LLC because I just loved the word and the name. Maybe it was just subconscious that I was going to have a shop called Wildflower one day.”

Rooted in Nostalgia, Warmth and Tribute: Maman

Elisa Marshall and her husband Benjamin Sormonte launched their French-inspired bakery‑cafe in New York’s SoHo in 2014 — and chose the name Maman, French for “mother,” as a heartfelt tribute to their own moms.

“The name reflects the idea of ‘your mother’s house,’ and many elements of the restaurant are designed to evoke childhood memories,” Marshall said.

“I am not at all a professionally trained chef, nor is my husband. We are mom-trained chefs. We just wanted to create a warm and welcoming space that really felt like home. Especially being in a city like New York that is not home for so many, we wanted to create a space that kind of embodied that warm, intimate atmosphere of your childhood, a place with a dining room table, for instance, where you could host 10 friends for a baby shower or where you could meet for brunch on a weekend at a place that wasn’t trying too hard to be cool. At that time in New York, a lot of the hip cafes were industrial and super sterile.”

Before You Name Your Business: Legal and Digital Tips From a Trademark Attorney

Before choosing a name, consider how it will stand up both legally and digitally. Trademark attorney Suzann Moskowitz offers key tips, including:

“You want a name that’s easy to pronounce and easy to remember.” You also, as Moskowitz said, “don’t want to go with some crazy spelling that’s going to be really hard to put in a domain name or limits people from finding you. Things like dashes or colons can be awkward. Honestly, it’s a tough balance.”

MORE FROM MOSKOWITZ: 9 Tips for Naming and Trademarking Your Small Business