Don’t Settle on a Coaching Name Until You’ve Read This

Words have power, and that goes double for names – especially life coaching business names.

Starting your life coaching business involves a lot of pressure, and yet so many coaches feel the most anxious about finding that perfect life coach business name. Some people spend longer on their name than their business plan!

Granted, naming your coaching business is about more than just branding. It’s about creating an identity that people resonate with – that they feel they can really trust.

Finding those perfect life coach name ideas isn’t always a quick process. Sadly, not everyone wakes up in the middle of the night with their dream name on their mind.

But finding it shouldn’t take a lifetime, either. In fact, it’s a process that can be approached like any other business planning method: with a set method and some helpful creative exercises, designed to leave you with some solid options.

First thing’s first: understand the makings of great (and terrible!) coaching name suggestions, so you can apply the same principles to your own business.

Types of Life Coaching Business Names

From acronyms to fruit, there are no rules when it comes to finding inspiration for your coaching company name.

To start the thinking process and find your coaching company name, it helps to understand some of the different kinds of names commonly used by successful businesses – and coaches.

Literal Names

You’re the coach, so why not own it? Not every life coaching name needs to be outside the box. Something as simple as “John Smith Life Coach” can still leave an impression.

As a coach, this option has the added benefit of adding to your personal credibility. It’s affirming that “coach” is part of your identity.

It doesn’t just help clients remember your business – it helps them remember you.

One factor to consider here is that there may already be an established coach with the same name. This could hinder your chances of potential clients finding you through Google and social media – or worse yet, send their business to the other John Smith Life Coach!

Descriptive Names

Want potential clients to really understand what you’re about? Drive the message (and your offering) home by including a descriptor in your coaching business name.

Let’s say you specialize in coaching new businesses through their first five years of growth. How about a name that really spells it out, like “First Five Years Business Coaching”?

It seems simple, but sometimes the simplest solutions are also the most effective.

Utilizing a descriptive name can help to affirm your niche, as well as set you apart from your competitors. Are you a nutrition coach who loathes diet culture? Something like “Beyond the Calories Nutrition Coaching” could help potential clients understand what you’re not about.

Referential Names

Whether it’s a mantra that got you through a cataclysmic life event, the name of an admired historic figure, or an in-joke with your business partner, referential names can be anchors that remind you of why you do what you do – even if the client isn’t privy to the origins story.

Abstract Names

Sometimes a name is just that – a title that doesn’t hold any meaning or purpose beyond a series of random sounds that read nicely on paper. And that’s okay!

But be warned: many people starting a new business can get far too hung up on trying to create a completely original name that’s never been used before.

Let’s be real: you’re probably wasting your time. There’s no use trying to literally re-invent the English language. Instead, focus that energy on making your coaching offering the best it can be.

How to Generate a Great Life Coaching Name

Best Practices for Life Coaching Names

Want a simple way to generate a winning coaching company name? Try this easy process to get the ideas flowing.

Step 1: Write Out Your Values

While this practice is generally part of a larger brand strategy, it’s important to first outline what your business stands for and why you do what you do. What are your motivations? What sets you apart?

Remember: your values, just like your coaching name, are what make you uniquely you.

Step 2: Think About Your Story

Whether it’s your personal journey or the story of how your business began, pretend you’re telling an epic story and write it all down. What were the defining moments? The key turning points? The pivotal characters? Lessons learned along the way?

Whatever comes to mind, this narrative process can be a gamechanger in terms of identifying elements of your business that you want to tie into your identity.

Step 3: List Your Power Words

Now you’ve likely got a good few pages of notes to reference, you can start creating a mindmap of all the words that jump out at you. This can include words you feel are important to your story, adjectives that describe your coaching model, or just anything that you can’t get off your mind.

This should end up looking like a list of potential words that can be mixed and matched to create some powerful life coaching business name ideas.

Creative Methods to Find Your Business Coaching Name

If you’re really stuck, it might be time to utilize some creative methods to find your perfect name. These can include:

Etymology: Explore the history of words you feel drawn to and see if you can break them down even further. For instance, their Latin roots, or the original words they grew from.
Different languages: Run your favorite power words through a translator and see what comes up. Exercise caution here – you don’t want to end up with an accidentally offensive or hilarious coaching company name in a language you don’t speak!
History and mythology: Feel yourself drawn to a particular subject? Take a deep dive into its history and see if there are any great figures or related tales you can take inspiration from. Greek gods are an amazing (and fascinating) source of creative material for coaching business names!

Things to Consider When Choosing Your Coaching Name: The Dos and Don’ts

There’s more to a name than how it sounds. Make sure you’re covering your bases by considering the consequences that may come with making your coaching business name official.

The Do's and Don'ts of Choosing a Coaching Name

Do Your Research

Go down the Google rabbit hole and make sure there isn’t anything conflicting or suspect that you may be unintentionally aligning yourself with. You don’t want to accidentally name your coaching business after an infamous cult from the 1970s.

Don’t Rely on Trends

Whether it’s trending slang or pop culture references, you want a life coach name that lasts. Is this name still going to be relevant in five years?

Do Keep Your Ideal Client in Mind

It’s easy to get caught up in how much you love your coaching name. But what about your ideal client? After all, they’re the one you’re trying to connect with.

No matter how much you love your coaching name, it’s not a viable option unless it resonates with them.

Do Leave Room to Scale

You might want to leave no room for guessing with life coach names, but it may be a smarter option to choose a more versatile name to plan for any future rebrands or pivots.

Sure, today you might be a nutrition coach. But what if you really want to expand into the broader health coaching realm, or holistic wellbeing focusing on meditation?

Or maybe you start out as a life coach, then realize your true passion lies in helping young women find career success. A vaguely referential or abstract name may serve you (and your future coaching business) far better.

Registering Your Coaching Name

The process of registering your coaching business name will really depend on where you live. You may be required to register with a national business registry or wish to file for an international trademark.

The exact type of registration you’ll need and want may also depend on your tax circumstances, so make sure you consult with your government’s national tax and business registration information first.

Keep in mind that it isn’t always necessary to register everything for the sake of ticking boxes. You may very well not need to register a trademark (which can be expensive), but you’ll probably want to nab that domain name and social media handles while they’re available!

Examples of Coaching Business Names

Let’s take a look at an imaginary case study to see how someone might come up with a brilliant life coaching name – or a terrible one.

Bruce is starting a fitness coaching business for athletes with a strong focus on mindset and success in spite of unfavorable circumstances.

Bruce was once an athlete himself in his younger years, during which he defied the odds and won many championships after managing to recover from an unexpected injury. This challenging time was a huge catalyst for Bruce’s success and desire to help others, and plays a huge part in his own coaching methodology.

Bruce has gone through the aforementioned exercise and come up with some options:

Option 1: Green Street Coaching – This was the name of the street he lived on when he was at the worst point of his injury recovery. Bruce remembers sitting in that apartment and making the decision to recover and win again. Green Street is the place where it all started.
Option 2: Burning Heart Coaching – Bruce feels that his desire to help other athletes is like a burning passion that lives in his heart.
Option 3: Phoenix Athlete Coaching – The phoenix is a mythological creature that rises from ashes, much like Bruce did with his injury and athletic career.
Option 4: Bruce Samson Coaching – This option simply uses his name, nothing more.

Option one is catchy, but may cause confusion with clients who think Bruce’s coaching practice is located on Green Street. It also doesn’t say a whole lot about what his coaching business is actually about.

Option two might be great for a relationship coach, but it doesn’t align with fitness coaching or athletes.

Options three and four are the strongest contenders. The phoenix metaphor tells a story and can connect with potential clients, while also referencing the athletic aspect.

Given Bruce’s early career, he may already have a reputation he can leverage through his name, so he might not need to implement a more creative option. Avoiding any reference of “athlete” also gives him room to pivot in the future if he so wishes – for instance, if he were to focus on life coaching rather than simply fitness.

25 Real Coaching Names

Want some real-life examples? Here are some coaching names from some of our own Paperbell customers! Let’s see if any of these provide some ideas for your own coaching name:

Final Tips

Behind every great brand is a success-generating name, right? Well, no – except for the names of the people responsible for building that brand.

After all, there was never anything groundbreaking about “Apple” – and the same importance should be given to your coaching name, too.

So don’t get too hung up on the name. After all, that time could probably be far better spent utilizing the best coaching platform to deliver some real value to your clients (no matter how cringe-worthy your business name may be!).