Naming a Luxury Brand

Must-Know Elements of Naming a Luxury Brand in 2024

By: Frank DePino | March 15, 2024

Naming a luxury brand is core to your brand identity and business, but it’s not an easy choice, considering over 500,000 brands are already out there! Once you commit to a name, you should be ready to stick with it for the long haul, as rebranding is a difficult process.

Bearing that in mind, how do you go about naming a luxury brand that stands out?

Luxury brand names must adhere to specific principles: simplicity, ease of spelling, and, most importantly, uniqueness. These principles ensure originality, memorability, and simplicity in your luxury brand identity. Take Rolex, for instance; its founders opted for a name that’s easy to spell and pronounce across languages.

If you’re seeking further guidance and concrete rules for creating a distinguished luxury brand name, you’ve come to the right place. Explore the insights and resources ahead to craft a luxury brand name that will make you proud.

Start your journey to a prestigious brand identity now!

Close-up image of a transparent, circular bottle of CHANEL Eau de Parfum, revealing the luxury brand's name embossed on the glass, with a rippled reflection on the surface beneath

What Is a Luxury Brand?

Let’s begin with a brief refresher on what entails a luxury brand. 

A luxury brand epitomizes exclusivity, aesthetics, and uncompromising quality. While some emphasize the rarity of their offerings more than others, rarity remains a hallmark of these brands.

It is precisely these attributes that empower luxury brands to charge premium prices, as customers willingly invest more, recognizing that they are embarking on an exclusive and unparalleled luxury experience.

For customers, owning luxury brands is more than just a purchase; it’s a way to embody a lavish lifestyle and display their discerning tastes.

Let’s explore further to uncover how luxury branding can elevate your business to new heights of prestige and appeal:

A Gucci luxury brand belt with a gold double G buckle resting on a white shopping bag with 'GUCCI' in black letters, accompanied by a candle and flowers, suggesting upscale fashion

Why Is Your Luxury Brand Name Important?

Now, let’s refocus our attention on the importance of naming a luxury brand correctly.

Well, why is it crucial for any brand, including luxury ones, to have the perfect name?

Let’s delve into the key difference that a good name can make within the high-end market:

It’s Your First Impression

When making a first impression among potential customers, what do you think that impression is?

It’s not your website. It’s your name.

Upon hearing your luxury business name, consumers will make a snap judgment of your company. Perhaps that judgment is accurate or perhaps it isn’t, but regardless, that’s the opinion they’ve formulated. Changing it will be very difficult.

Every company wants to make a good first impression, and that’s true of the luxury market as well. If anything, it’s even more critical that your first impression is a good one. 

Your high-end goods command a higher price tag than the norm, so you have to give audiences a means of justifying that higher price tag.

Builds Trust

In creating that strong first impression, your luxury brand name also helps to generate trust among your audience

If we mention brands such as Adidas, Apple, and Amazon, even though those are companies outside of the luxury sphere, you instantly trust those brands, don’t you? Of course, you do, as they have each become household names.

According to marketing resource Oberlo, up to 46 percent of consumers are willing to pay more money when they feel they can trust a brand.

Brands conjure up powerful imagery. They promise quality and reliability. Lower-named or no-name brands cannot do the same, which leaves consumers wary despite that these smaller brands often have lower prices. 

Strengthens Your Brand

What is a brand without a name? Not much!

Naming a luxury brand allows all the other pieces to fall into place like assembling a puzzle. 

Once you have the name, you can very easily craft a logo, determine your color scheme, select your brand voice, and focus on the other elements that will build an impenetrable brand. 

Differentiation in the Market

With thousands of luxury brands across different markets (from eyewear to fashion, cars, jewelry, and more) raking in billions globally, your competition is steep.

Naming a luxury brand is your personal stamp or identifier. It’s how you differentiate yourself and position your services uniquely, incentivizing your audience to choose you over your competitors.

Perceived Value

While your luxury brand has a calculable value, there’s also your perceived value. This is determined by your customers and can affect their purchasing decisions, including whether they choose you or a competitor.

Consumer Aspirations and Lifestyle

When consumers purchase luxury goods, they’re also buying into a lifestyle. High-brand names gel with that classy lifestyle, confirming to consumers that if they buy your brand, they will achieve their aspirations and quality of life.

Commanding Premium Pricing

Another important element of luxury brand naming is in how you price your products or services. Your name is a part of your brand as much as your logo or tone. If it has an upscale air, you can charge accordingly.

A black and white image of a couple; the man is wearing a vest and the woman a hat and feathered dress, standing in front of a luxury brand Prada store, symbolizing high-end lifestyle

How to Come Up with a Luxury Brand Name

Now that you better understand the importance of luxury business names, how do you come up with your own? Here are some tips and suggestions to help you get started. 

Brainstorm from a List of Words

Certain words embody luxury, and those are the ones that you’ll want to focus on. 

Per this post on our blog, here is a list of words frequently used in the high-end market that could serve as the basis for your luxury brand name:

  • Unique
  • Precious
  • Tailor-made or tailored
  • Exceptional
  • Exclusive
  • Elegant
  • Classic
  • Whimsical
  • Timeless
  • Poised
  • Impeccable
  • Heritage
  • Extraordinary performance
  • Cutting edge
  • Craftsmanship 
A woman's hand holding a Louis Vuitton luxury brand round brown purse with the iconic LV monogram pattern, and a luggage tag with 'LV' logo, showcasing designer fashion

Create a Catchy Acronym

Acronyms roll off the tongue, so they check a lot of boxes for what naming a luxury brand should be. 

The acronym could be the names of your founders, a long word that makes sense to be shortened, or a series of words that mean a lot to your creators. 

Use a Locational Name

The heritage of luxury brands is often tied to specific locations and regions. Why not incorporate a beloved area into your luxury name? 

Translate a Preferred Word into Another Language

The classiness of luxury business names is often due to how exotic they sound, such as Hermes, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton

You shouldn’t translate a name just to do it, but only if a translation makes sense and sounds good. 

A word that might not sound great as a brand name in the English language, when translated, now has a new life and could just be your next business name!  

Look at Literature and Mythology

High-end goods and mythology are a match made in heaven. Going back to Hermes, the brand is named after the Greek god of travel, language, sleep, fertility, and trade.

Although not luxury brands, Pandora, Argos, Nike, and Marathon are other brands that used mythology as their naming inspiration.  

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Mash Up Several Names

Perhaps your stakeholders are in the midst of a staunch debate over several potential brand names for your luxury business. They like all the names and are having a hard time narrowing it down to just one.

In some instances, it’s appropriate to mash up one or two or possibly even three names into one. Just make sure that the mashed-up name still makes some semblance of sense and is easy to pronounce and spell.

If not, then it will be very difficult for prospective customers to do any research into your brand. They won’t want to talk about your brand either because they’ll be self-conscious about whether they’re pronouncing your name correctly. 

Use a Luxury Brand Name Generator

Are you still wrestling with naming a luxury brand? You can always rely on business name generators

How these generators work will vary from one to another, but the basic crux is that you input a series of keywords that embody your unique luxurious experience and then see what the name generator comes up with.

A business name generator can even check domains for availability, which is something you’ll have to do manually when coming up with names using any of the other methods we’ve outlined. 

Even if you don’t love any of the names the name generator has produced, seeing a list of names could get the gears turning and help you come up with your own luxury business name. 

A photo of two hardcover books stacked atop one another; the top book is white with 'coco CHANEL' in black and 'PARIS' in red, and the bottom book is black with 'Christian Dior' in white, representing luxury brands.

Famous Luxury Brand Names

So too might seeing a list of famous luxury brand names start those creative juices flowing. 

We cherry-picked high-end companies from our brand rankings list and included a series of other luxury brands as well to inspire you.

An elegant Rolex watch with a black face and rose gold casing, displayed on a green luxury brand box, representing the prestigious craftsmanship of the name

What Do Luxury Brand Names Have in Common?

If you look at the above luxury brand names, you’ll notice that they share some common threads. Since identifying those threads can help you in naming a luxury brand, let’s talk more about them now.

Short and Simple

Comb through that list above one more time. Most of those luxury brand names are two syllables such as Dior, Chanel, Rolex, Hermes, Prada, Moncler, and Gucci. 

Some such as Coach are a single syllable and many more are just three syllables like Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Tiffany

These names are both simple and short, which is beneficial for consumers. 

Easy to Remember

The short duration of the above luxury brand names also makes them easy to remember. 

If you have just heard of Chanel, since it’s a short enough name, it might stick with you more than a longer and more complex brand name. 

Meaningful

Another commonality you’ll see when naming luxury brands is how meaningful the brand names are. 

Many high-end companies name themselves after a founder such as Estee Lauder, Christian Louboutin, and Louis Vuitton.

The ones that don’t might use literature or mythology as the inspiration for their names as we discussed earlier. 

Luxury Brand Name Ideas

As promised, here are some luxury brand name ideas designed to spark your creativity.

  • Creed Fashion
  • Mourasche
  • The Cut Above
  • Red Square
  • Long Lost Luxury
  • Luxnest
  • Soma Fine
  • Fashomatic
  • Sardecia
  • Luxwind
  • Le Musket
  • Victoria Fashion
  • Crown Realty
  • Lotus Luxury 
  • Billionaire Bella
SaintLaurent black & white animated video gif

FAQs / Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Do I Name My Luxury Brand?

Opt for a sophisticated, memorable name that reflects exclusivity and elegance. It should be easy to pronounce, convey a meaningful story or emotion, undergo legal verification, and be tested among potential consumers for impact.

2. What Makes a Name Sound Expensive?

A name exudes luxury through simplicity, unique word combinations, evocative imagery, and smooth sonic qualities. Utilizing elements from languages synonymous with luxury, such as French or Italian, can enhance its perceived value.

3. Why Is a Brand Story Important for Luxury Brands?

A compelling brand story is crucial, highlighting heritage, craftsmanship, and exclusivity. It creates an emotional connection, differentiates the brand, and elevates its perceived value in a competitive market.

4. How Can Luxury Brands Maintain Exclusivity in the Digital Age?

Maintain exclusivity through selective distribution, offering limited editions, high-quality content creation, and premium experiences. Digital strategies should preserve the brand’s unique allure and exclusivity.

5. What Role Does Sustainability Play in Luxury Branding?

Sustainability is essential, aligning with eco-conscious consumer values. Adopting sustainable practices in production, sourcing, and packaging enhances the brand’s image, meets ethical expectations, and ensures a positive societal impact.

Have More Questions?

If you have more questions or need further insights into naming your luxury brand, maintaining its exclusivity, or integrating sustainability into your luxury branding strategy, feel free to reach out. Our expertise in luxury branding can help guide you through the nuances of creating a brand that not only stands out but also resonates deeply with your target audience, ensuring your brand’s legacy and success in the competitive luxury market.

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Naming a luxury brand goes beyond mere identification; it is a strategic choice that weaves the narrative of your brand. It plays a pivotal role in shaping consumer expectations and positioning you effectively in the fiercely competitive luxury market.

If you’re facing challenges beyond naming your luxury brand and seeking comprehensive branding solutions, it’s the perfect time to harness the expertise of a luxury marketing agency, like Mediaboom: we’re here to streamline the entire branding journey, from crafting a distinctive and impactful brand identity to aligning it seamlessly with your business goals.

Explore our comprehensive services today or contact us for a consultation.

Your brand is your story, and we’re here to add a touch of luxury to every part of it!

By: Frank DePino

Frank DePino is Principal and Founder of Mediaboom. Since 2002, Frank has led Mediaboom’s award-winning staff of creative and technical professionals, building the most effective marketing and advertising solutions for its clients.

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