Get the name wrong and in the long run your channel might just not be as successful as it could’ve been, even if you create binge-worthy content. So, it’s best to take your time and reflect on a few possibilities before you pick a name. After all, it’s like your baby and we hope that you’ll stick to a name that everyone (not just your immediate following) will be able to remember, pronounce, and spell. To help you with the naming process, we briefly describe nine strategies that you can use to name your channel. We also include some tips for what to avoid and if you scroll all the way to the end, we’ve included a list of 50 channel name ideas to get your own creative juices flowing.
YouTube Channel Name Ideas & Tips:
What’s a YouTube Channel Name?
To put it simply, your YouTube channel name will be the official name for your channel. It will show up in YouTube’s search results, on your channel page as well as on your videos. Not only is it necessary for identification purposes, but potential subscribers will also use it to figure out what your videos are about at a glance. This means that if you don’t plan on using your own first name or business name, it’s best practice to select something that relates to your content or niche.
9 Strategies for Choosing a Channel Name
1. Use your own first and last name
Needless to say, if you already have a substantial following on other platforms, using your own first name and last name as your YouTube channel name will make the most sense. Alternatively, if you don’t have many followers yet but have aspirations to become an internet personality, you can still use this approach if you plan on using your actual name as your brand name and you’ll mainly be the face that subscribers come to associate with your channel. Also, another advantage of using this approach is that it’s not too restrictive. So, if you’re not entirely sure what type of content you’ll create in the future or you plan on covering a wide range of topics, this can work well. While this approach is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory, if your name is not that unique, you might have to think of ways that you can set it apart slightly. You could, for example, include the initial of your second name or add another word like “TV”, “world”, “life”, etc. at the end.
2. Use a stage name
While having a unique name can be a blessing when you’re searching for names for your channel, a name that’s too unique (for example, one that’s difficult to pronounce or just too long), won’t work either. In this case, you can try to create a stage name for yourself. Think Freddy Mercury (aka Farrokh Bulsara), Bob Dylan (aka Robert Allen Zimmerman), Vin Diesel (aka Mark Sinclair)… There are many celebrities who have successfully traded their real name for a stage name.
3. Use your brand or business name
If you already have an established brand or business, there’s nothing stopping you from using this name for your YouTube channel too. The advantage of using this method is that it’s very searchable and recognizable. Plus, if your business or brand has already built a name for itself, your channel will enjoy the same status. The only potential issue is to double-check that this channel name will be exactly the same as your other social media accounts. Ideally, you want your channel name to match your domain name. This consistency just makes it much easier to create a memorable brand in the long run.
4. Relate it to your content
If the main focus of your content will not be on you – the host –, but rather, for example, epic fails of others, it can confuse your viewers if you named the channel after yourself. In this case, another approach is to try and see if there’s a specific term that relates to your content or niche that you can include in your channel name. For example, if your video content will be about cooking, you can try to include a cooking term or if your content is aimed at kids you can include phrases like “family-friendly” and “for kids”. In short, by just looking at the name of your channel, viewers should be able to identify your niche, the type of content you’ll share and what’s in it for them. As a matter of fact, the best YouTube channel names are linked to the theme of your channel and its content. Though, the challenge will be to think of a creative way that you can link it back to your content otherwise you run the risk of coming across as too general and just plain uninteresting.
5. Make it self-explanatory
Similarly to relating it back to your content, you can also opt for a descriptive name that will communicate to viewers what your channel is about. Perhaps you’ll be sharing investment strategies for millennials, DIY projects for teenagers, or three-ingredient meal ideas? In this case, you can use a name that will make it easy for your audience to know immediately what content you’ll be covering.
6. Include a personal trait
Your YouTube channel name will also impact how you’ll be portrayed to your audience. If you have a personal trait that you want to emphasize, it can work in your favor to include that in your name. To do this, you’ll essentially be creating two lists of descriptive words. First, you’ll make a list of possible characteristics that you can include. Then, you’ll list words that are linked with your type of content or goal of your channel. You can then create potential names by combining words from both these lists.
7. Merge words
The fancy word for this strategy is “concatenations”. Basically, it’s to combine your first name, last name, or simply the initials with other words to create a unique name. The advantage of going this route is that you’re bound to come up with something that’s unique.
8. Model the formula of others
Chances are that you’ve probably subscribed to a number of YouTube channels yourself. What are the names of some of your favorite channels? Did they perhaps use some sort of formula that you can use to create your own unique name? While the approach might be the same, the end result can still be completely different.
9. Use a tool
If all else fails, there are also a number of YouTube tools that you can use to generate possible channel names automatically. We, for example, have a free YouTube Title Generator that’s powered by AI. All you have to do is add the subject of your video and our tool will suggest a few optimized titles that you can use as is or adapt. Now, a YouTube name generator works pretty much the same. Depending on the tool that you use, you’ll be asked to enter details like your hobbies, key words, nickname, etc. Sure, some of the suggestions that it shares might be a bit random, but sometimes it can still be a source of possible names. If you don’t want to use the suggestions as is, there might be just a part that you can include. Here are two tools that you can check out:
SpinXO
SpinXO is very straightforward to use. Perhaps the names that it generates are also on the elementary side, but it can still be a useful place to start at least. All you do is fill in the six fields and it will generate 30 possible channel names in a matter of seconds. If you don’t like any of the suggestions, you can click on the “Spin” button again and it will generate another 30 names for you.
Kparser
If SEO is important to you, you can also check out a tool like Kparser. Unlike SpinXO that basically just asks you for a bunch of adjectives, with Kparser you also need to add seed keywords.
7 Tips for Picking a Channel Name
1. Check that it’s available
Once you’ve come up with a few possibilities, your first step should be to check that it’s available. There’s no need to continue with a name if another creator already uses it. Don’t limit your search to only YouTube, but be sure to check on the web and social media if the URL and name are still available. Also, you’ll want to double-check that there aren’t any brand names that are too close to your channel name. You might not have any aspiration to expand your reach to other digital mediums like a website now, but in the future it can change in which case you’ll be only too grateful that you did your due diligence.
2. Keep it clean
Profanity or vulgarity might discourage some users from subscribing to your channel. Perhaps they might not take offense, but they know of others in their network that will and for this reason they won’t share your videos with others. Whichever the case, it’s best to keep it clean. Plus, down the line, you might want your videos to appeal to a bigger audience. If your channel name doesn’t appeal to everyone’s sense of humour, you’re ultimately limiting your target audience. Also, you’ll probably violate YouTube’s Community Guidelines. If a user comes across a channel name that violates the platform’s policies, they can report you even if your video content is fine.
3. Make it catchy
In short, you want your name to be creative, unique and memorable so that it can stand out from the other millions of channels on the platform. To do this, you can, for example, include a pun or alliterations or choose words that rhyme. Alternatively, if you have a funny or interesting stage name or nickname, you can just use that for your channel name. As a matter of fact, it’s against the platform’s Ts and Cs to impersonate any other YouTube creator even if it was unintentional. So, it’s important that whatever you pick is completely unique. At the end of the day, you want to pick a name that people will have no trouble at all to remember. So, it should be unique, but not overly complex which brings us to our next tip.
4. Make it simple to spell and pronounce
While it can be a good idea to include jargon related to your niche, whichever words you decide to include should be easy to spell. At the end of the day, your target audience must be able to find your channel among the millions of other channels and if they don’t know how to spell your channel name, you essentially won’t be searchable. Also, it’s easier for subscribers to refer friends and family to a name that’s easy to pronounce. Basically, people should be able to find your channel name without you having to write it down or spell it out for them.
5. Keep it short
Just like it’s best to stick words that are easy to spell, it’s best practice to keep it short. Not only are longer names harder to remember, but they’re also more difficult to search. Ideally, it should be three words or 30 characters at the most. Also, it’s better to use a few shorter words (no more than five syllables) than one long, complex word.
6. Avoid including numbers
There are two reasons why it’s best to avoid numbers. Firstly, it can make it sound as if it were generated by a free online tool. While there’s nothing wrong with YouTube tools, you want to hide the fact that you did. Also, if you add a random number, like 42, at the end of your channel’s name, your audience might wonder why you’re not number one. Does that mean that there are 41 other similar channels already? Secondly, a number can make your channel name less searchable. For the simple reason that people might not know if they should use the numerical value or write it out.
7. Capitalize the words
Another way to improve the readability of your channel name is to capitalize the different words. This is even more important if you plan on combining different words as one.
50 YouTube Channel Name Ideas
To give you a better idea of how you can implement these strategies and tips, here are 50 examples of channel names. Many of them are already taken, while some of them are simply examples of how you can go about naming your channel.
Daily Dose of … Thrifty [Nickname or First Name] [Nickname or First Name] and The City Yoga With [Nickname or First Name] Bark Throttle House The Cooking Squad Game On Guys Surfer Life Reel Weddings Game Guru Car Corner Classic Cooking Smart Saving Motivation Nation Fearless Soul Strong Mind Strong Life MotivationHub Let’s Learn Something Live Smarter Pawn Stars Success Chasers Pretty Things I Love Mind Over Munch Fit Men Cook Good Simple Living Life as a Young Mom Unbox Therapy Dope or Nope Mommyhood Moments House of Decorating Tips A Dad’s Life with [Nickname or First Name] Behind the Brand Blokes Playing Roblox Backyard Camping Two-minute Toy Reviews Music Club Kids Rock ‘N Learn Crypto Community Tech Reviews with [Nickname or First Name] [Nickname or First Name] Goes Fishing [Nickname or First Name] Does Pilates Gardening Unearthed Drive With Me First We Feast Beauty Insider Practical Psychology 5-minute Crafts Monday Match Review with [Nickname or First Name] Fearless & Far
Wrapping Things Up
With over 500 hours of video content getting uploaded to YouTube per minute, according to the platform’s own stats, you really need to let every element stand out. So, it’s not good enough just to focus on your video content. To make sure that your target audience finds the content that you poured your heart and soul into, it all starts with your channel name. Even if you’re going to rely on word of mouth, if your channel name is too complex people won’t find you among all the millions of other channels. Depending on the type of content that you’ll be sharing, using your own name or the name of your brand might be the best approach. In that case, don’t overthink it.
