Naming & Branding Expert
Table of Contents
The Ultimate 8-Step Guide To Naming a Bakery
To achieve a good bakery name, the first step is to brainstorm a list of possible names for your bakery. Your bread brand names should be catchy, yet simple and easy to remember. For great bakery name ideas, try out our free cake business name generator. It makes this naming process so easy for you.
Below is a list of 20 possible cake shop names for a fictitious bakery.
- Sweet Tooth
- Cake Haven
- Sugar N’ Spice
- Freshly Baked
- Didi’s Bakery
- Twice as Sweet
- Nana’s Smalltown Pastries
- The Baker’s
- Breadcrumbs
- Wake and Bake
- Baked Goods
- The Pastry Den
- The Buttercup
- Crusty Cookies
- Cake Fiesta
- Croissant City
- Sugar and Banter
- Breadlovers
- The Batter Squad
- Chow Cake
Once you have made a list of your possible bakery names, the next step would be to cut down and create a shortlist of the best names. In this selection, four to five names are ideal.
The five names selected from your brainstorm of ideas will go through the additional steps in the naming process, until you have decided on the best name for your cake shop.
Step 1: Outline What the Name Should Represent
When trying to come up with good bakery name ideas, it’s important that you first think of them in relation to your brand.
What is in a bakery name? A lot is in a name, but what really stands out in any name is what it represents. It is what your baking business names ultimately stands for. You want the name to explain to the target audience who you are and how your services can be of use. That will make the business easier to find and more appealing to potential users.
At this stage of your naming process, here is a list of questions you can ask yourself and the people around you to figure out what exactly your cake business represents.
Before you go ahead, take some time to question yourself. If you are confused, there are short questions curated for you below. The answers you get will guide you in your choice of catchy cake shop names.
- How relevant is the name to your business?
- Who is your target customer?
- How do you want them to feel when they hear the name of your bakery?
- Is the name easy to recall?
- Do you want location to factor in your cake shop name?
Bottom line: There is no magic formula for explaining what your bakery name represents. What’s important is to identify your target market and then focus on making positive and meaningful emotional connections with them. Find names that cannot in any way jeopardize that objective.
Step 2: Competitive Analysis
Your task in this step is to analyze local or international companies from same field and figure out what inspired their name. Then you can come up with strategies to do it better.
The big question is, “how exactly did they get their naming on point?”
An easy way to do this is to find a number of bakeries or cakes shops on the internet, evaluate their logo and positioning. This will tell you a lot about how each one derived its name and established a brand.
An exhaustive competitive analysis will give you an objective understanding of the competition’s strengths and weaknesses. That information will help you position your bakery in a unique way that outshines the competition.
How to Do a Competitive Name Analysis
How do you analyze competitors’ bakery names and logo designs? Follow our simple template:
- Pick a few competitors (preferably industry leaders).
- Check out their name. What does the name say, and how does it relate to what they do?
- Analyze the logo. What does it represent?
- How do their name and logo contribute to their success?
To give you an idea of what we mean, please check out our analysis of these three leading businesses:
B.Patisserie: The name of this bakery is simple to understand. When broken down, it means “B’s Patisserie”. B represents the founder of the bakery, Belinda Leong, while patisserie simply means a shop where pastries are sold.
Baker Miller: The Baker Miller name is something of a legacy. It was founded by an American couple, The Millers. They also mill their grains by themselves, such that only flour of the best quality is used in baking. Thus, the name represents a team of bakers and millers.
Standard Baking Co.: This name suggests a bakery that only serves baked goods of the best quality. The name ‘Standard Baking’ shows that they have a standard to live up to, and nothing short of that is accepted.
Du Pains et Des Idees: This name of this French bakery is literally translated to English as “Breads and Ideas”. On hearing the bakery’s name, a French-speaking person would understand that they serve bread in different varieties.
Bottom line: You can tell from the four examples that it’s by no coincidence that some bakery names become so relatable and memorable. The feel in the logo and the messaging in the name help the business stand out from the crowd.
Step 3: Gather a List of Your Name Ideas (Brainstorm)
The next step for you is to brainstorm possible bakery or cake shop name ideas. Write them down as they come; do the weeding later.
When you have 20-40 names that fit your niche and vision, and that can compete successfully with existing competitors.
Next, split your list of names into the 4 categories listed below. Bakery business names fall into 4 categories. They are either descriptive, suggestive, legacy or abstract names. In this section, I’ll be giving you name ideas for each category to inspire you.
Descriptive names: In this approach, the name should describe the service or product of your business at first glance.
- Here are 5 descriptive names we brainstormed for the purpose of this article:
- Cake Haven
- The Baker’s
- Baked Goods
- Freshly Baked
- Breadlovers
- Suggestive names: Suggestive names create a vivid image that resonates with the prospective user. Suggestive bakery names hint at an underlying meaning to the name, instead of just putting it out there. You can go with this category if you’re trying to get creative.
Good examples for suggestive names are:- The Pastry Den
- Twice as Sweet
- Sugar N’ Spice
- Croissant City
- Breadcrumbs.
- Abstract names: Abstract names are memorable and catchy, but they don’t have any apparent connection with their services or products. The names are purely made up, so they easily establish dominance in the market. Google, Yahoo, Nike, and Skype are examples of abstract names.
Some abstract name ideas for cake business are;- Communion
- The Last Dessert
- The Buttercup
- Grub Hut
- La Fourchette
- Legacy names: naming your bakery with legacy in mind means that you want it to outlive you. If this is what you prefer, you can just name it after yourself or an organization you founded. The luxury sports car Ferrari, for example, is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari.
We brainstormed these examples:- Didi’s Bakery
- Nana’s Smalltown Pastries
- Baker Miller
- B.Patisserie
- Kai’s Cakes
Step 4: Generating Names
Are you still stuck on a bakery name to go with? Try our bakery name generator.
This bakery name generator will get you name ideas using AI algorithm match. It’s unique, it’s fresh and it was made for you.
All you have to do is type your keyword (focus of the bakery or cake shop/your name) in the search bar. In a matter of seconds, you get good baking business names ideas. Our algorithm is designed to learn your preferred keywords over time and consequently recommend the most suitable options for you.
Once you find the names you like, instant domain zone availability checker will show you what zones are available for registration. This AI based bakery name generator will also get you some logo recommendations based on the name of your bakery. This tool saves you a lot of time and the best part? It is totally free!
Ready to find your business name?
Step 5: Shortlisting your name ideas
It’s weeding time! This is where you prune and pick only the best names for your bakery. Your shortlist should have about 3-5 names off your initial list.
Picking your favorite baking business name may be tough (Not if you used our bakery name generator!). There are a few things you need to consider when creating a shortlist.
- Keep it simple. Good bakery names should be unique, but mostly simple. Simple names are easily remembered.
- Check for linguistics and context. Do a quick google search of your names to find out what they mean in other languages- especially your target countries. If any of them has an offensive meaning in another language, it’s best to go with a different name.
- Sometimes owners choose names that later become controversial especially in overseas markets. Don’t make that mistake. Eliminate any chances of the name being misinterpreted as sexist, homophobic, racist, or offensive in any way to any community.
- Tagline check. If you haven’t come up with a tagline at this point, take a pause and do that. It’s important that your chosen baking business name aligns with your tagline, which is also your slogan.
It is your prerogative to decide the elimination criteria, but this checklist should help you shorten your list:
- Is the name culturally sensitive?
- Does the name capture the values and vision of your brand?
- Does the name align with your tagline? If you don’t have a tagline ready, you need to create it at this point and align it with your preferred app name.
- How relatable is the name to the target audience?
- Of the most relatable names, which ones are the easiest to remember?
- Can your target audience pronounce the name easily and accurately?
- How original does the name sound? You don’t want clichés and plagiarized names.
Reduce your list from the original 20-40 names to about 3-5 names.
Now, back to the bakery name ideas generated above, I’ll be listing the best 5- with reasons as to why they stand out from the rest.
For this purpose, the following names have been selected;
- Cake Haven: this name portrays an image of a place where cakes are in abundance- which would be true, as it is a bakery. Attaching “haven” to the name also subtly passes the message that only the best cakes are found in this bakery.
- The Baker’s: On hearing the word ‘baker’, one’s imagination runs wild, and said person anticipates the abundance of baked goods he can find in this company. This name is especially suited to a community where bakeries are not so common.
- Breadlovers: this name is great because it targets the demographic of people who simply love bread. The name in itself is a marketing strategy that says, ‘if you love bread, then this is where you have to be’.
- Nana’s Smalltown Pastries: first off, this name idea has a legacy feel to it- because of the name attached (probably the owner’s). Therefore, the bakery is attached to the reputation of its owner who is likely the only baker, supplying a small town with pastries.
- Sugar and Banter: this name conveys a feeling of relaxation. ‘Sugar and Banter’ depicts a dual image- you can find sweet food, and relax with friends while enjoying your treat.
Step 6: Background Check
Once you have shortlisted the best bakery names, background checks are necessary. A background check might just save you from future legal battles and cases of misinterpretation. Here are a few things to do in a background check.
- Research Legality: You do not want to get in trouble with the law because you’re starting a baking business.
So, find out if your intended bakery names and taglines are in accordance with the law of your home country. Do this for each name on the shortlist. If any of them does not pass the test, drop that name and move on with the others.
- Trademark Check: to avoid cases of trademark infringement down the line, find out if your bakery name or logo is already trademarked by another organization. If it’s not, you have the go-ahead to register it as your own trademark.
- Readability: is your cake business name easy to read and understand? You can get an external opinion on the readability of your cake business name and tagline. If it’s not, you have the opportunity to fix that because you’re not creating it for yourself alone.
Step 7: Get some Feedback
You have narrowed down your 20-40 name list to 2-3 names at this point.
Simple step: It’s great to have the opinion of a third-party when you’re done with the primary checks. Their opinion may differ from yours, but it’s mostly objective criticism so that’s okay. You can show a list of your final 2 club names to;
- People who run bakery or cakes business.
- Your target audience.
If you’re asking your ideal audience, ask the first thing they thought of on hearing that name. Ask a bakery owner how they think an audience would interpret your bakery name.
Once you get feedback, go back and figure out if their response was in favor of your bakery name or not. Ask yourself if the name evoked the thoughts, you had imagined it would.
Pro Step: If you want to go deeper with the feedback step you can reach out to opinion shapers, industry leaders, your ideal customers, linguists, and tech futurists for their opinions.
- Tech futurists will help you predict and reshape the future prospects of your new baking business within the global tech space.
- Linguists will advise on the name’s readability and lingual appropriateness.
- Opinion shapers and industry leaders will help you predict the baking business’s probable reception in the real world.
- Ideal customers will tell you whether the bakery name represents a need they would purchase.
Pro tip: Don’t rely too much on feedback from biased people, especially fans, friends, family members, and colleagues. Seek the opinion of brutally honest critics.
Step 8: Check if the name is available
You have come a long way in trying to name your bakery. Now, the final step is to check if your new bakery name and extension of choice are available for domain registration. You can use our name availability checker to run a quick check after you have generated name ideas for your bakery. Our free tool shows you which domain extensions are available, and will recommend logo ideas that correspond with your new business name. Or you can Google the shortlisted names to ensure that they aren’t plagiarized. Looking up the names will also give you an idea of what each name might mean to different internet users.
The bakery name generator and availability checker are highly recommended, to make your bakery stand out from the rest.
Ready to find your business name?
7 Things to Avoid While Naming your bakery
- Complex Names. In a bid to come off as creative or different, a lot of people come up with names they shouldn’t be using for a bakery or any establishment at all. You can get creative, but don’t complicate things for yourself and your audience by using names that are difficult to read and spell.
- Copying a Competitor’s Style. The competitive analysis is for you to study the marketplace, and get inspired with ideas that are original to your brand. Copying the style, name or logo of another cake business takes away the originality from your project.
- Skipping Background Checks. Do not for any reason, skip the background checks detailed in Step 6. That is, if you hate the discomfort of legal battles and run-ins with the law enforcement.
- Shortcuts. There are no shortcuts to success. Even when naming your bakery, you have to follow through with the recommended steps. Cutting corners may cost you more in the long run.
- Don’t limit the name to a specific language or geographical location. That will in most cases minimize the future growth prospects.
- Don’t use words that are too plain or cliché to outstand from a crowd. In the same breath, don’t choose names that too obscure, technical, or difficult.
- Don’t be too stubborn or biased that you cannot accept negative feedback for the names you like.
To save time, you can use our bakery name generator to quickly find good names. Name ideas from the name generator are catchy, simple and unique to you.
Try out our bakery name generator for free today!