How to name your Etsy shop

Choosing a perfect name for your Etsy shop might leave you stumped. Most business owners start their online store and choose their perfect business name, but what if that name is not available? It is possible to change your store name, but choosing the right Etsy shop name can affect your business’s success.

Whatever you are planning to sell in your new etsy store, digital products, handmade jewelry, or something else, Etsy is a great e-commerce platform to start selling – and having a great name is the first step. In this post, we will brainstorm ways to name your Etsy shop, how to change your Etsy shop name, and show ways to get your creative juices flowing in minutes.

If you are ready to start today – you will need to brainstorm some Etsy shop names.

You may find these posts helpful too –

Ways to make the most of your Etsy shop

Grab a free Daily planner

What makes a best seller on Etsy

How to choose a great Etsy shop name? (step-by-step guide)

Choosing a good Etsy shop name is not too difficult but could take a few brainstorming sessions before coming up with the perfect name.

You need customers to remember it consistently because research suggests that most buyers need to view something or be visually stimulated to see something seven times before they actually make a purchase.

If they purchase something from your shop, for example, a phone case, and their friends comment on it. Oh – that’s nice, where did you buy it? Oh – I bought it on Etsy. What’s the shop called? Oh, – I dunno!!

Not a great start. Your Etsy shop name must be memorable.

You want your buyer to feel something when they come to your shop. If your shop name is a bit tacky, or just doesn’t make sense, they will feel it.

1. Ask your friends and family

This might involve you and a friend over a notebook and just see what they can think of. A fresh set of eyes can work wonders.

2. Using your products in your Etsy name

Let’s say I’m selling handmade pots for succulents. The color of my items are soft pastels, they look bright and clear and include summer colors. Summer words might include Elegant, dreamy, and romantic. Look at your items and now write down at least 30 words associated with them

pots, pottery, planter, flora, funda, planting, bright, summer, handmade, homely, living, etc.

It might be helpful for some to close their eyes and describe your product to someone who can’t see. Describe it – cold, round, smooth, heavy, pot. The idea is just to get you thinking about words. Even if you think it is silly, just write it anyway.

3. Selling unique products?

Perhaps this could be a good shop name. For example, if you sell – Fishtank ornaments. This is a great advantage as you already have a good jumping-off point to complete a brainstorm.

4. Look for names in magazines

Grab your favorite magazine or even better a magazine in your niche and write all the words which jump out at you. Take a look at the titles they use for the article, and see if there are any words that might resonate easily with your audience.

Editors are paid a lot of money to come up with original, eye-catching, thought-provoking titles. Can you incorporate any into your Etsy shop name?

If you don’t have any pretty magazines, then jump right in with my best recommendation of Branding books. I also wrote a whole post on Branding for Etsy

If you don’t have any pretty magazines, then jump right in with my best recommendation of Branding books. I also wrote a whole post on Branding for Etsy

You can even find helpful tips and ideas for branding in a large section in this Mind your Business book.

5. Use your own name or rhyming name

Adding your Cristian or even surname to your Etsy shop name can add a personality to your shop. There are lots of shops that have used their children’s names to give their shop a branded feel. Or think of rhyming names to add.

A good example of this is Me & Orla.

6. Finding shop name ideas on Pinterest

If you are going to be on Etsy, you will already know the importance of Pinterest as a traffic driver to your shop. Go to Pinterest now and see if there are any board names you like in your target. In this example, we are selling Pots for succulents. So we can search on Pinterest for any accounts with the name Succulent. Are there any boards or accounts you like the name or – do they work for your Etsy shop?

Need help driving traffic to your Etsy shop? Pinterest is perfect for improving your views on EtsyFinally, pull your list of words together and use them to link up and create a shop name. If you are lucky enough to find a single word that sums up your shop – perfect, but for the most part, 2-3 words work well too.

A shortlist of Etsy shop names

• Bright summer pots
• Pots of bright
• The planter pot
• Clay berry pot
• Pottersue
• Pamerlypot

7. Look at your competitors’ Etsy shop names

You can find these either by searching Etsy for your keywords, in this example, it would be – planter, clay pot, or handmade decor. What names do you like? Why do you like them?. Often there is a theme, such as printables, or art, – do you want to stick strictly to this or move away entirely?

8. Use a descriptive name

In an ideal world, you should choose a name that reflects you and the result you are giving. Let’s say you are selling planners for kitchen cupboards and organizing. You really want to write down words that reflect the results or the action you are selling. In this example – a few words come to mind, kitchen, makeover, plans, planning, so you might also think about organizing, meals, menu, – and the result is organized, tidy, order, cooking, chaotic,

So you might call your to shop ChaoticKitchen, or StoreroomSorter, CookhousePlanner, CoordinatedKitchen, EfficientKitchen,

Basically, anything which appeals to your buyer and gives a good idea of what you are selling from the get-go.

Still stuck?

9. Use a name generator

Use an Etsy shop name generator, simply type in a few words and voila – up pops hundreds of names.

10. Use the Etsy shop forums for name ideas.

You can check out the Etsy forums for ideas but first, start with Etsy’s helpful article for more ways to choose a name.

Best practices for a great name for a shop?

I hope you have a least a few name ideas for your Etsy Shop. Please don’t overcomplicate it – often simple is best. Remember, this is a journey and it’s ok to go your own way. Here are a few more tips to help you choose a perfect name.

Make it a Memorable name

Potential customers remember it consistently because research suggests that most buyers need to view something or be visually stimulated to see something seven times before they actually make a purchase.

If they purchase something from your shop, for example, a phone case, and their friends comment on it. Oh – that’s nice, where did you buy it? Oh – I bought it on Etsy. What’s the shop called? Oh, – I dunno.

Not a great start.

Your Etsy shop name must be memorable. Your buyers want to feel something when they come to your shop. If your shop name is a bit tacky, or just doesn’t make sense, they will feel it.

Simple to spell

This means not creating new words only you understand.

Avoid using similar names to your competitors

Using a similar name to your competitors could hamper the growth of your business – simply because people are lazy and may not remember your name

Spelled correctly

Don’t use incorrect clever spelling in the name of your Etsy shop, if it doesn’t work for Apple, it won’t work for you.

Contains your Etsy Shop Keywords

This would be ideal, but might not always be possible. This may benefit search engine optimization but shouldn’t be a priority for your name. It’s more important to have the right name for you to enjoy and nourish. Search engines can find your description and the title of your product.

Can you include the word ” clay ” in your name if you are selling pots for plants? Maybe pot. This is nice and isn’t always possible. Don’t dwell on it too much.

I did look on Etsy for shop names with printables and there are over 1000 of them.

Available on External Websites

Check that your brilliant Etsy shop name is available on social media platforms. This makes life much simpler early on and when you build your online presence.

Not too long

Ideally, you want to send a clear message to your buyer that they have come to the right online shop. So don’t add unnecessary words to your name. Having a short name is an advantage since there is a character limit on Etsy.

Examples of creative Etsy shop names

One of my favorite shops is Lush cosmetics – I consistently buy impulse purchases because of the way the whole shop makes me feel. It’s not an Etsy shop, but still has an amazing name.

I love the name, I remember the name, it’s simple and specific. I love how the shop has consistent branding, simple and new. It has a smell of course, but the whole shop marketing makes the customer feel a certain way and thus ensuring you think it’s a self-gift and you’ve to go to have it.

Examples of good Etsy shop names

Strawberry Sticker Co – The name is easy if you can remember Strawberry and it has Sticker in it.

The Collective Knot – The name is interesting and gives a nod to the items being sold. Macrame has an associated word with Knot. Classy. Sadly not selling on Etsy any longer.

Choosing a name for your Etsy shop is not as difficult as you might think. Here are a few tips on choosing a name to get you started.

You can even find helpful tips and ideas for branding in a large section in this Mind your Business book.

What to avoid when choosing a good business name

Silly Names don’t work well.

Anything that just sounds a bit blah. Or boring. Use words like planetarium rather than a greenhouse.

Names with added bits

– shop, handmade, sale, business, sustainable. The worst thing you can do here is – if you find your perfect name and add Shop to the front or back.

Forgetful names

Your overall brand should be able to stand out in the crowd, and this includes your name.

Avoid non-words

I know it’s easy to ‘add a twist’ or make it look different, but if you change the spelling of flowers to flowors, it just doesn’t seem right, and no one will be able to spell it in search.

Very long shop names

Avoid any names which are too long. Stick to short, sharp, snappy names.

Names that are very close to your competitors.

Finding your main competitor and adding a basic word at the end or even a letter doesn’t look good either.

You can read how badly I named my shop here.

One day in the future the growth of your business might mean you need to start a website. Do a simple google search and make sure you are not violating any intellectual property rights.

Don’t rush it

Try to have 5 or 6 possibilities written down and leave them. Give yourself a bit of brain room and come back in a few days and see if they still sound sensible and reasonable to you.

How to check the availability of your Etsy shop name

Check if your cute Etsy shop name is available.

1. Select open shop from the Etsy menu.

2. Type in your preferred Etsy shop name and see if it’s available.

If it is not available – it could be that the name is already in use. It may also mean that the name has already been registered, but since then, the shop has closed or changed names again.

You might search for the shop on Etsy and find no other shops with this name – and believe it is available, then in fact it is not.

Each shop name that has been used can never be used by you or anyone else again. I’ve thought of several names I love, but they are not available because they are already in use or, most tragic, not being used, but you don’t have access to them.

Sadly lots of great names have been registered and subsequently abandoned on Etsy. No other shop owners may now use this name.

Keep searching until you find a name that you like and is available.

What can you do if you don’t like your Etsy shop name?

Ok – this is me. I’ve done this so many times because one day I read my shop name and think, I’ll spend all day dreaming up new names.

Don’t do this

When you do this, you are wasting precious time – when in fact you should be working within your shop. Ie. creating new products,

I repeat – CREATE NEW PRODUCTS

This is the only way we move the needle toward our goals.

You can repeat that if you like 🙂

Often we may wish to change the name of our Etsy shop. Perhaps the name no longer reflects your brand. Maybe after some time, you wish to concentrate on another product and change your name accordingly. You may wish to change your name on Etsy for several reasons.

Is it possible to change my Etsy shop name?

On Etsy, it is possible to change your shop name only once yourself. If you wish to change it a second time you will need to contact Etsy support.

How to change your Etsy shop name?

To change your name on Etsy, simply navigate to Settings, Info, and Appearance.

Type in your new shop name and check the availability.

If you are happy with your changes, select save.

Can I change my Etsy shop name twice?

If you wish to change it to your original name – you CANNOT. Once a shop name has been used, it can not be reused or brought back to life. It is now in Etsy shop name heaven.

This is why it’s so it’s important to get it right the first time.

Check your business name is available on other platforms as well

You should also check that the domain is free. You can do this by using a name search or even just Bluehost.
check Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest

Final thoughts on How to pick a great Etsy shop name.

Your Etsy shop name will be front and center of your weekly or daily activities. It does need to be something you can stand to say and look at all day.

If you aim to make Etsy your full-time job – you must love it wholeheartedly. This is a good time to think about your Etsy shop Branding. I hope you have found this post helpful for finding and choosing creative shop names for Etsy.

Don’t procrastinate too long

If you have found this process hard and challenging, it’s ok, because you are putting the effort in now will pay off later and you will be glad you took the time to do a good job.

Don’t get hung up on this task. Set yourself a deadline of a couple of days or even a month, while you work on other things to complete this. Just don’t wait forever – you must leap off at some point.

Creating a name for your Etsy shop can be exciting as well as daunting, for some this will be easy, for others a bit of a milestone.

Keep it simple, and don’t let the task run away with you. Keep all of those lists as you will need to them for when it comes to branding your shop later.

• Do your research first
• Find lots of ideas from different resources before thinking you are done
• Brainstorm ideas
• ensure your name is available on other platforms
• Ensure you love it
• Don’t take too long

If you haven’t yet opened your Etsy shop there are a few things you should do before opening a shop.

Now that you are ready to brainstorm your Etsy shop name, you can pull all your ideas together with this FREE printable.

If you have already chosen your perfect Etsy shop name – then it is time to Create your first listing

A super helpful PDF with even more helpful tips. It’s yours free simply sign up below for access.

If you enjoyed this post about how to choose an Etsy shop name or would like to share and save it for later – please pin it to your favorite Etsy shop board. Simply click on the image below.

If you would like to read more helpful posts for Etsy shop owners – see these below.

What is Flodesk, and why does everyone love it

Why you should use Pinterest for your Etsy shop

Have you found a great way to name your Etsy shop? – Let me know in the comments.