Picking a website name that works
A website name is read far more often than it is spoken, but it still has to survive being recommended out loud. The names that last are easy to say, easy to spell from hearing, and short enough to sit in a header, a social handle and a browser tab without being cut off.
Leave room for the site to grow
A name tied to one article, one city or one product becomes a constraint the moment the site widens. Name the territory rather than the first thing you published in it.
Write for the reader you want
The same name can read as authoritative to one audience and twee to another. Say it next to the sites you would like to be mentioned alongside and see whether it belongs there.
The name and the domain are separate questions
A good website name is not automatically a good domain — a two-word name may already be registered, or may only work with an extension that does not suit your readers. Check the matching domain with the domain checker before you commit, and check trademark registers for anything you intend to build a brand on. If you want ideas shaped around the domain rather than the site, the domain name generator starts from a keyword instead.
DomainsMesh does not provide legal advice and cannot confirm that a name is free of existing rights.