Naming Your Newsletter (or anything else) 😍

15 Ways To Come Up With a Name You Love + 150 Examples To Inspire Your Brainstorming

This inspiration-laced lesson on naming things true to YOUR personality is the bear hug I wish I could give my paid subscribers. 🤗🌭 Please brainstorm responsibly!

One of the first things I noticed about Substack when I got on here in August was all the brilliant newsletter + community names people have come up with here.

I’m so used to boring AF “internet marketing names” – see #2 below for examples – that I prematurely heart eyed all over the place… on multiple occasions… in people’s DM’s and all over the chat threads I joined.

There are more interesting, memorable, and buzzworthy names on this platform than there were at every Diddy party combined.

Unlike name-dropping celebrities, naming your business… newsletter… community… system… products… services… systems… podcast… and events… is a personal experience that looks different for all of us.

• For some, it’s an idea that lands at 4 a.m. when they get up to pee.

• For some, it’s born during a random conversation with a stranger in line at the grocery store.

• For some, it’s something that took lots of spreadsheets + brainstorming.

• For some, a friend or loved one comes up with it.

• For some, it’s inspired by their favorite [insert their guilty pleasure].

Unfortunately, there's no one size fits all formula – not matter what the gurus want to say – but there are some super fun brainstorming approaches that can help the process along.

In this inspiration-laced lesson, I’m sharing 15 approaches for coming up with a name you love + 150 Substack examples to inspire your brainstorming.

But first…

To all the writers, creators, and gloriously real humans who I’ve featured in this lesson… thank you, truly, from the bottom of my margarita-filled heart.

Not only for bravely sharing your SELF + your work with us, but for giving yourself a moniker so memorable that it inspires people to be who they really are.

Your names have given me a piece of my creative freedom back. A piece so big that the name “The Hot Dog Cart” spilled out.

Just, THANK YOU!!! I hope more people discover you because of this lesson. 🫶🌭

Without further delay, or anymore references to that scu-bag Diddy, here are some of my favorite brainstorming approaches for coming up with a name that fits like your favorite jeans. 

P.S. Please enjoy the names I came up with for each approach. They feel like the perfect dose of weird to lace this bear hug with.

1. The Madonna

If a one-word moniker worked for her and Prince, it can work for YOU!

If there’s a word that’s so deeply ingrained in your heart + soul that you couldn’t shut up about it if you tried… don’t tattoo it on your forehead… name something in your business after it.

Give yourself the gift of getting to say it… type it… and live it OUT LOUD every damn day.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Madonna” vibes…

2. The YOU-shaped Twist

Use what your mama parents gave you – your name – because it was probably a soap opera getting it to you.

All the baby naming books they scoured, all the family-name vetoing they did, all the rounds of negotiations they went through.

Your name is its own origin story, which might be the perfect way to put more of your SELF in your business.

Just please, for the love of all foster kittens, don’t just tack on your profession to the end of your name. — unless you want to be invisible. Anything that’s even kissing cousins with “

Dre Beltrami

Strategy,” or “

💎 Jaime Buckley

Fiction,” or “

Kristie Alers

Wellness”, or “

Becky Webster

Finance” is out.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “YOU-Shaped” vibes…

3. The 2 for 1 Special

Is there a more intoxicating phenomenon than getting two of something for the price of one?

Certainly not if we’re talking tacos or margaritas.

If there are two “sides” to YOU or your work, let those ooey-gooey contradictions fly high! That might be exactly where you find the perfect name.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “2 for 1” vibes…

4. The Stacktastic

If you’re in for the long haul and looking to be the go-to spot for something specific on Substack, lean into all that platform love.

Ditch the need to wordsmith your heart out and be the “STACK” your kindreds are looking for.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Stacktastic” vibes…

5. The Foodie

I don’t know a single concept on this planet that can’t be explained (figuratively speaking, of course) through food.

You don’t even have to eat the food you use for your name… you’ll see zombies take over the world before you see me eat a hot dog.

It’s not about the food… it’s about what it means to YOU.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Foodie” vibes…

6. The Mic Drop

You know that “thing” you’re all about?

Not the professional one, but the personal one that drives everything you think about when you think about changing the world?

That might be exactly what you’re looking for in your name – one that says it all. No interpretation, needed.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Mic Drop” vibes…

7. The Everloving Of

Create your very own niche without leaving your genius — all it takes is one simple word.

“Of” can bridge just about any gap you’re falling into with your naming.

Let this tiny two-letter word fill the space between any what, why, where, who, or how relationship you’re trying to merge to come up with a name that has all the depth you’re craving.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Everloving Of” vibes…

8. The Label

I’ll give you a label, internet!

You know that nifty title you fancy your SELF?

Not the one that requires you to wear pantyhose or a sport coat, but the really “Yup, I’m a nerd like that” one that you tell all your friends about?

That’s a great place to find the name tag you’re after.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Label” vibes…

9. The Question

Ask the right question, and you won’t be able to step out of your digital doorway without being inundated with curious kindreds.

I mean, we’re all still asking, “Where’s the beef?” all these years later.

If you’ve got a question, you can’t stop asking your SELF + your kindreds… don’t turn it into a questionnaire… name something after it.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Question” vibes…

10. The Hello

All I can hear in my head right now is the track Hello from Poe (one of my favorite bands in high school).

[Chorus]

Hello, hello (Hello)

Are you out there?

Hmm, hmm, hmm

Don’t limit your hello to a welcome mat (or email)... name something after it. Hello, Kindred! could be the name of my podcast. Hmmm… there’s an idea.

Thanks, Poe! 🥰

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Hello” vibes…

11. The Magazine

There’s something about the name of a magazine publication that feels so… sexy.

It’s like, ok, ok, let me thumb through your beautiful pages + devour your brilliant articles + stories.

If you’re feeling like your work is magazine-worthy… don’t drool over coffee table books… name something like it’s YOUR magazine.

P.S. To start brainstorming ideas, make a list of nouns + adjectives… and then start matchmaking your heart out.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Magazine” vibes…

12. The Movement

You know that movement you’re leading the charge on?

The one that feels so important that you’re finally doing the personal work you need to to change the world the way you want?

There’s a name in there.

A name that’s going to feel like putting on your glass slippers.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Movement” vibes…

13. The Idiom

Literal is so 1999.

There’s a lightness (an often humorous undertone) about idioms.

They paint a picture without the paint by numbers.

They’re like an inside joke between people, which is part of what makes them a perfect place to land on a name.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Idiom” vibes…

14. The First + Last

If your “thing” that desperately needs a memorable name (whether that’s your business, newsletter, system, product, service, event, or podcast) had a first + last name… what would it be?

Instead of scouring baby-naming books, think about the traits, topics, and truths that describe you + your work… there’s a first name + last name in there… that together is the name you’re looking for.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “First + Last” vibes…

15. The Pun

Wordplay is like foreplay for naming.

If you fancy yourself a word-slingin’ connoisseur or you’re sitting on some wordplay that doesn’t have anywhere to live right now… don’t bury it in your Evernote… name something after it.  

Your favorite show… there’s a name there.

Your favorite song… there’s a name there.

Your favorite food… there’s a name there.

Your favorite saying… there’s a name there.

You just gotta clear all the old baby clothes, workout gear, and other mental baggage off of it, so you can repurpose it into the perfect name.

Here are a few Substack creators who are giving off fierce “Pun” vibes…

If that doesn’t get the creative juices pumping through your heart + soul… it might just not be time to land on the perfect name.

Give yourself time… you don’t need a forever name to start making a difference.

Can I ask you something?

If you found this inspiration-laced lesson valuable, would you do me a HUGE favor and recommend The Hot Dog Cart to YOUR kindreds? Your recommendation helps me get all these cart-sized lessons I create into the hands + hearts who need it.

YOU + your acts of kindness mean the world to this tired mom trying to change the world. 🫶

And hey, if you’re already holding to an instantly memorable name that fits like your favorite pair of jeans…

Share that shit with us! Drop the name + it’s origin story in the comments so we can all hot dog clink YOU something fierce. Maybe I’ll even add it to this lesson. Who knows. Let’s get wild and see what happens. 🌭

This publication is NOT like the newsletters you’re used to.

The Hot Dog Cart is hosted on a gloriously human platform called Substack that has its own app + built-in social community. I highly recommend downloading the app — It’s ads-free, creator-friendly, & human AF. It’s the top shelf of safe places!

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Plus, if you love a good binge, you can read all my past editions right here.