Magazine Names Generator
Discover names for your newspaper using this magazine business name generator
Libby A.
Naming & Branding Expert
Table of Contents
The Ultimate 8-Step Guide To Naming Newspaper or Magazine
For people starting a new magazine, the naming process can be tasking. The need to have catchy magazine titles, stand out from other magazine publishers and attract readers does take its toll. If you use our free magazine names generator, then you can have it easy all the way through.
Give it a try today.
To choose the best name for your magazine or newspaper business, first write down all the possible magazine name ideas you can think of.
I’ll demonstrate this step by writing a list of 20 possible newspaper name ideas.
- The X-Y Journal
- Outta Hollywood
- Chemical Students
- In The Loop
- Feminist Mag
- California’s Periscope
- Campus Digest
- The Startup
- Oregon Buzz
- Politic Press
- Late Night Tea
- Daybreak
- Edu-tainment
- Insider
- The Patriot
- Astro Gazette
- The Watchman
- Breaking!
- Tech Talk
- The Muzikal
Of course, you only need one winner. Which is it going to be?
To get to that point, you need to first make a shortlist of the 4 or 5 most suitable names for your newspaper from the initial draft. Follow the steps in this article to get your most suitable names.
Step 1: Outline What the Name Should Represent
When trying to come up with good magazine names, it’s important that you first think of them in relation to your brand.
What is in a newspaper? A lot is in a name, but what really stands out in any name is what it represents. It is what your magazine name idea 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 magazine stand out, easier to find and more appealing to potential users.
To decide on the best magazine or newspaper name, you need to question yourself, so that you can understand what your business will represent, and the values you intend to uphold.
For better understanding, use this list of questions as a guide.
- Who is your target reader? (Paint a mental picture of your ideal reader).
- What type of content do you intend to feature in your newspaper/magazine?
- How relevant is the chosen name to your business?
- Is the chosen name catchy and easy to remember?
- How often do you plan to release content?
Bottom line: There is no magic formula for explaining what your magazine 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 business name ideas. 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 magazines 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 newspaper or magazine in a unique way that outshines the competition.
How to Do a Competitive Name Analysis
How do you analyze competitors’ magazine 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 businesses:
National Geographic: this magazine name tells a random person that it’s all about adventure. True to its name, this magazine regularly updates its readers with news on geography, anthropology and exploration. Its logo is a simple yellow rectangular box, beside which the text, ‘National Geographic’ is placed. The yellow border is a distinct feature, used to identify all subsidiaries of the National Geographic Society.
USA Today: the name of this newspaper suggests to the average reader that it is concerned with putting out news concerning American citizens- on a daily basis. This newspaper logo is a plain blue circle- a sort of canvas, to paint the picture of events happening anywhere in the world. The name of the newspaper is strategically placed beside the blue icon, to establish a trademark.
The Economist: the word ‘economist’ portrays a person who is interested in all things economy- who is the target reader of this magazine. Thus, the magazine releases news on latest developments in the world economy. The logo of this magazine is plain ‘E’ on a red background. The first alphabet of the magazine name is used to represent the entire company.
Morning Call: this Pennsylvania based newspaper company promises to deliver the latest news in the area and America at large every morning. Hence the name, ‘Morning Call’. As with most newspaper companies, this company’s logo is a letter ‘M’ in white text and a black background. This logo is simple, catchy and the use of unique colors- black and white helps the newspaper company stand out.
Good Housekeeping: the name of this magazine is descriptive. It shows people (especially women), the latest cleaning, cooking and design tips. Basically, everything needed to keep the house in order. Its logo is an acronym of the magazine name- ‘GH’, inwhite text on pink background. The use of an acronym in the logo makes it easier for one to recall the magazine’s name.
Bottom line: You can tell from the five examples that it’s by no coincidence that some magazine business name 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 Business Name Ideas (Brainstorm)
The next step for you is to brainstorm possible magazines name ideas. Write them down as they come; do the weeding later.
When you have 20-40 business 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. Let’s see a quick demonstration assuming you’re trying to come up with cool magazine names centered on business.
- 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:- The X-Y Journal
- Feminist Mag
- California’s Periscope
- Campus Digest
- The Startup
- Suggestive names: Suggestive names create a vivid image that resonates with the prospective user. Suggestive magazine 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:- Outta Hollywood
- Chemical Students
- In The Loop
- Insider
- Breaking!
- 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 newspaper business are;- Late Night Tea
- Daybreak
- The Patriot
- The Watchman
- Echo
- Legacy names: naming your magazine 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:- The HuffPost
- Forbes
- Harvard Business Review
- Bloomberg BusinessWeek
- Harper’s Bazaar
Step 4: Generating Names
Are you still stuck on a newspaper name to go with? Try our newspaper name generator.
This magazine 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 word you want to include in the name in the search bar. In a matter of seconds, you will get magazine names ideas.
Our algorithm is designed to learn your preferred keywords over time and consequently recommend the most suitable options for you. Learn more how does it work, by clicking here.
Once you find the names you like, instant domain zone availability checker will show you what zones are available for registration. This AI based newspaper name generator will also get you some logo recommendations based on the name of your newspaper. 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 magazine. Your shortlist should have about 3-5 names off your initial list.
Picking your favorite magazine names may be tough, especially if you used our newspaper name generator. There are a few things you need to consider when creating a shortlist.
- Keep it simple. Good magazine 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 magazine 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.
After going through the questions, you should have a clearer image of what you hope to achieve with your magazine business. From the magazine name ideas listed above, I’ll be picking out the best 5 name ideas, as well as sharing the reasons they stand out from the crowd.
- Chemical Student: this magazine instantly connects with its target audience through the name. It represents people who are interested in science, major breakthroughs and discoveries.
- Campus Digest: this newspaper name suggests that its content is made for students.
- The Startup Mag: this name is great because the magazine obviously releases content for startup founders, and people who work for similar organizations.
- California’s Periscope: this newspaper name suggests a journal that updates the residents of California on recent happenings within the state.
- The Muzikal: evident from the name, this newspaper/magazine idea is one that will regularly put out content relating to the music industry.
Now its your turn, reduce your list from the original 20-40 names to about 3-5 names.
Step 6: Background Check
Once you have shortlisted the best magazine 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 newspaper business. So, find out if your intended magazine 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 newspaper 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 magazine name easy to read and understand? You can get an external opinion on the readability of your magazine 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 magazine or newspaper.
- Your target audience.
If you’re asking your ideal audience, ask the first thing they thought of on hearing that name. Ask a magazine owner how they think an audience would interpret your name ideas.
Once you get feedback, go back and figure out if their response was in favor of your newspaper 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 magazine name 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 newspaper’s probable reception in the real world.
- Ideal customers will tell you whether the business 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 newspaper. Now, the final step is to check if your magazine 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 newspaper. Our free tool shows you which domain extensions are available, and will recommend logo ideas that correspond with your 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 newspaper name generator and availability checker are highly recommended, to make your magazine stand out from the rest.
Ready to find your business name?
7 Things to Avoid While Naming Magazine
- 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 magazine 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 newspaper 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 newspaper, 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 magazine name generator to quickly find good club names. Name ideas from the name generator are catchy, simple and unique to you.
