Wanting to come up with a username or domain name that stands out? Here’s some easy ways Have you found the perfect domain name, but it’s taken? Or are you trying to sell your domain?

Getting a domain name

Usually you’ll want to go for a .com domain name, but you don’t have to just use that. There’s also other ones such as .net, .guru, .ninja, even .io.

To find some services that are helpful, do search for Name Generators on DuckDuckGo.

Some that have been helpful in the past are:

  • Instant Domain Search - Adds prefixes and suffixes to your keywords.
  • Name.com - they give a lot of name suggestions, or names that are similar.
  • Lean Domain Search - Produces names from words.
  • Impossibility - A cool generator that adds adjectives to a given word.
  • I Want My Name - This one gives you all the different domain extensions, making it really nice if you really want the name you want and you’re willing to other extensions.

Make the domain user-friendly, relatable, and speak-able. Don’t obsess over the domain. You may never get a perfect domain, but one that’s good enough is, well, good enough.

Oh, and make sure you don’t accidentally have some unwanted phrase in you name. Break the word up, to see if it contains other words in it. That can be embarrassing.

Making a username

When making a username, the best way is to make is simple and easy to remember.

Search for a username generator.

Some I’ve found useful:

  • Namechk - A great site that will take a name and sees if the domain has been taken, or if the social media sites have the name available.
  • Bust a Name - Enter a start word and it will generate natural sounding names.
  • Company Name Generator - Gives you generated names. Useful if you haven’t come up with a name yet.
  • Jimpix - Gives random usernames.
  • SpinXO - Takes a name, hobbies, and things you like to come up with a name.

If you like command line programs, this one will check if the twitter user name is available, and then if the domain name is. And then will let you check the rest on Namechk.

#!/bin/bash

for each in whois dig curl ; do
        if [ -z "$(which $each)" ] ; then
                echo "Failed to find $each in your path. You'll need to install it."
                exit 1
        fi
done

while [ 1 ] ; do 
        echo -n "Enter name to check: "
        read RET
        if [ -z "$(curl -s -I https://twitter.com/$RET | grep 'status: 200 OK')" ] ; then
                echo " ✅ Twitter name is Available"
                if [ -z "$(dig $RET.com NS +short)" ] ; then
                        echo " ✅ $RET.com Available"
                        echo "    Now check on https://namechk.com/"
                else
                        echo " ❌ $RET.com Not available"
                fi
        else
                echo " ❌ Twitter name is not available"
        fi
        echo
done

Check for Trademarks

After you find a name you like, you’ll want to check to make sure there’s not a trademark on it. Head on over to the US Trademark site and make a search under ‘Basic Word Mark Search (New User)’. You can use ‘*’ to search within words. For example, with this site I searched for:

*super* *tech* *crew*

You can also drop off some words too. Of course this isn’t a total check. You’ll also want to do a web search to see if anything matches. And if you’re an up and coming company, well then you should apply for a trademark.

Conclusion

Coming up with a name can be fun. Yet keep it simple. At the end of the day, most people don’t look at a domain name or username. They add you to their list, and can’t remember the name later. But it still helps to have a cool one. Even if it’s just for you.