App Name Ideas: How to Name an App People Find and Remember

In short: Name an app in two parts: a short, distinctive brand (ideally one invented or repurposed word that is easy to say and spell) plus a descriptive phrase that carries your main keyword, all within the 30 characters both stores allow. Generate many candidates, cut them with a checklist, check domains, usernames, App Store conflicts and trademarks, then claim the name in App Store Connect before you announce it.

Most naming advice stops at "make it short and memorable". For an app that is the easy part. The hard part is finding a short, memorable name that is also free in the App Store, still has a usable domain and social handles, does not collide with someone's trademark and leaves room for the words people actually search. This guide covers each constraint, gives you patterns to generate ideas and ends with a step-by-step way to choose.

Why your app name matters more than it looks

Apple puts it directly in its product page guidance: "Your app's name plays a critical role in how users discover it on the App Store. Choose a simple, memorable name that is easy to spell and hints at what your app does. Be distinctive. Avoid names that use generic terms or are too similar to existing app names."

The name does three jobs at once:

1. Search. Apple lists the title first among the fields it matches for text relevance, and Google Play reads the title too. Words in the name are the strongest keyword placement you have.
2. Conversion. In search results, the name sits next to your icon and decides whether someone taps.
3. Brand. People say it to friends, type it into search later and remember it in reviews. Word of mouth only works if the name survives being heard once.

Renaming later is possible but expensive: you lose recognition, brand searches and sometimes links and reviews that mention the old name. It pays to spend a week on this before launch.

The rules both stores enforce

The App Store rules come from Apple's App Review Guidelines. Guideline 2.3.7 also starts with a direct instruction: "Choose a unique app name". Guideline 5.2.1 adds that you should not use "protected third-party material such as trademarks" without permission, and 5.2.5 that apps must not appear confusingly similar to existing Apple products or apps. Google's store listing best practices ask that the title "accurately describes its functionality" and that it be "unique, accessible" and "avoid common terms."

Brand name vs store title

Your brand name and your store title are not the same thing. The common pattern is:

Brand + separator + descriptive phrase, for example Tendly: Plant Care Reminders (28 characters).

• The brand ("Tendly") is what people remember and what you trademark. Short is better: one word, two or three syllables.
• The descriptive phrase ("Plant Care Reminders") tells new users what the app does and carries your most important search phrase.

On the App Store you also get a 30-character subtitle, which Apple suggests using "rather than your app's name, to explain the value of your app in greater detail." So you can keep the name shorter and put the description in the subtitle, or use both for different keywords. Our App Store keywords guide shows how name, subtitle and keyword field combine into phrases. On Google Play there is no subtitle, so the title and short description do that work; see the Google Play ASO guide.

Name styles and how protectable they are

The US Patent and Trademark Office ranks marks by strength. Fanciful (invented) and arbitrary marks are the strongest; descriptive marks "merely describe some aspect of your goods or services" and are registrable only in certain circumstances; generic terms "aren't even trademarks." That scale maps neatly onto naming styles:

A practical rule: make the brand suggestive or invented, and let the descriptive phrase after it do the explaining.

Eight patterns for app name ideas

Use these to generate a long list. The examples are invented for illustration; check any name before you use it.

1. Verb + suffix. Take the core action and add -ly, -io, -ify or -r: "Tend" becomes "Tendly", "Sort" becomes "Sortr".
2. Blend. Merge two relevant words where they share sounds: "focus" and "cocoon" become "Focoon".
3. Borrowed word. A word from another language that fits the feeling of the app. Check its meaning with native speakers in your main markets.
4. Metaphor. Name the outcome, not the feature: a budgeting app as "Harbor", a sleep app as "Driftwell".
5. Truncation. Cut a long word to its memorable part: "Meditation" to "Medi", "Navigator" to "Navi". Many are taken; combine with another pattern.
6. Compound with a twist. Two short words, one unexpected: "Pocket" + "Fern" for a plant app.
7. Sound-first. Two syllables, a strong consonant, easy to say over the phone: test it by saying it to someone and asking them to spell it.
8. Mascot or character. Name the app after a friendly character that can also become the icon.

Aim for 50 to 100 raw candidates. Most will fail the checks below, and that is the point.

How the Searvia app name generator works

The free app name generator produces a first list in seconds. No account is needed.

You enter:

• What your app does, 10 to 500 characters. The more specific, the better: "A habit tracker that turns daily routines into a garden that grows" gives better names than "habit app".
• Who it is for (optional), for example "busy parents" or "students".
• Name style: any, invented word, two words joined, real word, playful or premium.

A large language model (Claude) then suggests up to 15 distinct names. It is instructed to keep names to roughly 4 to 12 letters, easy to say and spell in English and other major languages, without hyphens or numbers, to avoid existing well-known brands and apps, to avoid generic descriptive phrases (which cannot be trademarked) and to avoid negative meanings in major languages. Each name comes with a one-sentence reason in the language of the page and a style label.

Every name is then checked for .com availability in the official domain registry through RDAP, the protocol ICANN calls "the replacement for the WHOIS protocol". You see a badge per name: Available, Taken or Unknown.

Click Check on any name for the full availability check: seven domain extensions (a DNS check for .io and .co, which have no RDAP lookup), GitHub and Bluesky usernames, App Store name conflicts in the top 15 US results for iPhone, quick links to Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube and Google Play, and links to the USPTO, TMview and WIPO trademark databases, summed up in an availability score out of 100. The same check runs on its own in the free brand name checker for names you already have.

What the generator does not do: it does not search trademark databases and it cannot guarantee that a name is unused. The model avoids names it knows, but it does not know every app or company. Treat its output as a candidate list.

A short security check and a limit of five batches per hour per visitor keep the tool free.

How to read the results

• The reason tells you what idea the name carries. If the reason sounds forced, the name will need explaining forever.
• The style label helps you see whether one style dominates your favorites. If you keep liking playful names, run another batch in that style.
• The .com badge is a quick filter, not a verdict. "Taken" means the domain is registered, not necessarily used. "Unknown" means the registry did not give a clear answer in time; check by hand.
• The availability score in the full check weighs the .com most heavily, then the App Store result, then other domains and usernames. Unknown results are left out of the score. A high score means fewer obstacles, not a cleared name.

How to choose a name, step by step

Step 1: Generate in batches

Run the generator two or three times with different styles and a sharper description each time. Add your own ideas from the eight patterns. Put everything in one list.

Step 2: Cut with a checklist

Drop any name that fails one of these:

• Can someone spell it after hearing it once?
• Is it pronounceable in your main markets' languages?
• Does it mean something unfortunate in a major language? Ask native speakers.
• Does "Name: Main Keyword Phrase" fit in 30 characters?
• Is it clearly different from the big apps in your category? Apple asks you to avoid names "too similar to existing app names."

Step 3: Check availability

Run your remaining five to ten names through the brand name checker. Look at the App Store result first: a name already used by an app in your category is a dead end. It covers the US store only, and unreleased apps are not visible, so also search the store in each country you will launch in. Then domains and usernames.

Step 4: Search trademarks

Search the USPTO, TMview and WIPO databases for each finalist, including similar spellings. The USPTO notes that marks "don't have to be identical to be confusingly similar"; similarity in "sound, appearance, or meaning" matters when the goods or services are related (USPTO). A similar mark for software or apps is a serious warning; the same word for a bakery may not be.

Step 5: Test with people

Say each finalist to five people outside your team, wait a day and ask what they remember. Show the name next to a mock icon in a fake search result and ask what the app does. The name that is remembered and understood wins.

Step 6: Claim it before you announce it

In this order: register the domain, create the app record in App Store Connect (the name is then in use for that localization), reserve the social handles and, when ready, create the Google Play listing. Only then announce. Our App Store submission guide walks through creating the app record.

Naming for more than one country

If you plan to launch beyond one market, check the name in each of them before you commit:

• Meaning and sound. Ask a native speaker in each main market how the name sounds and whether it means anything. A neutral invented word in English can be a real, unfortunate word elsewhere.
• Pronunciation. Letters like "th", "w" or a final "r" are pronounced very differently across languages. Names built from simple syllables travel better.
• Store availability per market. App Store Connect describes the name as "the localized name of your app," and uniqueness applies per localization. A name that is free in the US localization can be in use in another one, so search the store in each country you will launch in.
• The descriptive part can change. Keep the brand the same everywhere and translate the phrase after it. "Tendly: Plant Care Reminders" can become "Tendly: Pflanzenpflege" in German, which also puts the local search phrase in the title. Our App Store localization guide explains how localizations add keyword space.

A brand that stays identical across markets is easier to recognize, search and protect. If you must change it for one market, decide that before launch, not after reviews pile up under the old name.

A worked example (hypothetical)

All names here are invented for illustration. A two-person team is building a plant care app for apartment dwellers.

1. Generate: three batches (invented, compound, playful) give 45 names. They add 15 of their own.
2. Cut: 60 names become 9 after the checklist. "Sproutr" goes because nobody could spell it after hearing it; "Phyllo" goes because it is a pastry.
3. Check: "Tendly" has a free .app and GitHub handle, the .com is taken by a parked page, and the App Store check shows no app with that name. "Fernhaus" has the .com free but a similar name in the App Store.
4. Trademarks: no live marks for "Tendly" in software classes in the US or EU searches; they note it for an attorney review before they file.
5. Test: four of five people remembered "Tendly" the next day.
6. Result: store title Tendly: Plant Care Reminders, domain tendly.app, the app record created the same week.

Common mistakes

• Falling for the first name. Generate many and kill most.
• Choosing a descriptive name. "Plant Care Reminders" is a great subtitle and a weak brand.
• Skipping the trademark search. A cease-and-desist letter after launch costs more than a week of checks.
• Using another brand's name. Apple rejects it, and it invites legal trouble.
• Spending the 30 characters on the brand alone. Leave room for a search phrase.
• Announcing before claiming. Someone can register the domain or handles once your name is public.

Next steps

Generate your first list with the free app name generator, check the finalists with the brand name checker, and test keyword phrases for your title in the App Store keyword checker. In a Searvia account, Brand Studio keeps your shortlist, checks each name and builds a starter brand kit (wordmark, icon, colors and an App Store title and subtitle) for the one you pick, with a launch checklist. See the pricing page for credits and plans.