All in the name . . .

[mckayinutah]

oh, "Stacked" is awesome.. wish I'd thought of that.

Unfortunately, if you are a heterosexual man or a lesbian, " stacked " probably isn't going to make you think of cakes or food, but something else.

An even worse name is what the soda fountain where I work was called for about 2 years - "Chubby's"

Jason

[jgarner53]

Katie's Cakery

mmmm.... (all lower case, with "Custom Cakes and Confections" underneath)

[JSkilling]

You have to think through how that name is going to be used: business cards, web site, internet address, invoices, press ads, answering the telephone. Take some of these ideas and practice answering the phone with "Katie takes the cake, may I help you". "KatieKate, may I help you". How hard is it to enunciate the syllables and can the other person understand what you are staying. Say it really fast like a teenager answering your phone is going to do!

Marry your logo design with your name to create a brand, which will have a distinctive design feel. Do you want it to be elegant or whimsical? Depending on how you see yourself presented you might have different ideas about names. You can also search for domain name registrations to see if the various ideas you have are available for use. For $35 per year, you can reserve your name so even if you don't do anything with it, you've retained the rights to it, especially if you create something very unique and brand specific.

The lowercase one word is very distinctive, so with a fun tag line it would work well. You have something easy to say but you'd have more to play with in print. Using cake... as the example:

cake...

because life's short

[little ms foodie]

Cake Walk

Sweets in Store

sugar

Patisserie Katie

slice

Craving Cakes

The Cake Box

Pastry Please

ok, sorry!! I got carried away!

[chefpeon]

Katie's Creative Cuisine

This tells clients that:

A) Your name is Katie

B) You're creative

C) You do cuisine....and that pretty much covers it all.....appetizers, pastries, cakes, general catering....etc.

One comment about "Kakes".

When I look at that word it looks like "kah-kess" to me. Like a Greek surname or something.

I bet a lot of people might look at it the same way.

[NVNVGirl]

oh, "Stacked" is awesome.. wish I'd thought of that.

Unfortunately, if you are a heterosexual man or a lesbian, " stacked " probably isn't going to make you think of cakes or food, but something else.

An even worse name is what the soda fountain where I work was called for about 2 years - "Chubby's"

Jason

←

Yeah, Jason....you got it

[NVNVGirl]

I like the one word in lower case too...that's cool....simple and elegant

So....... stacked

Sorry, I had to do it But I was serious about the lowercase and one word; I like it!

[JeanneCake]

I've been in business for almost four years. For me, naming my business wasn't as hard - my grandfather always used to sing "I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair" so the name of my business became I Dream of Jeanne Cakes (spelled that way because a restaurant business - now defunct - was operating as I Dream of Jeannie and the state where I live wouldn't let me incorporate as I Dream of Jeanne. So adding Cakes was an easy enough decision. I answer the phone as "Jeannie Cakes, may I help you?")

Look online at ICES or TheKnot.com or weddingchannel.com for links specifically to bakeries because that way, you'll get to see a whole list at once and it might help you with brainstorming.

Katie Cooks or A piece of cake by Katie is all I could come up with, sorry.

Is there a fond memory or nickname from your childhood that might inspire a name? Or your name (or a pastry-related word) in your ancestor's native language (hopefully easily pronounce-able!). Maybe use your last name instead of your first?

Something else to consider is what happens when or if you sell your business.... a name like "cake" or "Cooper St Bakery" doesn't have a direct link to a specific person....

Good luck and keep us posted on what you choose!

[JSkilling]

How about this then:

stacked...

tortes, that is

Sort of bond like....

As a heterosexual female, I get it and think it's quirky and fun.

[KatieM]

Whoa! 32 replies since yesterday! I really hadn't anticipated such a response! Thanks so much for all your suggestions, everyone!

Ok, so I've gone through all of them, and here's what sticks out for me:

I really like the simplicity of Kakes or any other one word name, and I know that my graphic designer can do really cool things with my logo. He's awesome, and best of all, I can pay him in trade! However, I know my mom would heartily disapprove of the mispelled word thing.

Ditto stacked. I actually really like that, but this being a fairly conservative area, I think it might offend more people than it attracts.

Sinclair, thanks for the suggestion about the word custom in the name. I do want to convey that I do customized work, but I don't want people to be scared of it either. I may use chefpeon's suggestion of using creative instead.

As far as using a location in the name, I don't have a shop (yet ) so I can't really use a street name, although I did grow up on Mayfair Rd, so I suppose I could use that in the name somewhere. I don't especially want to use Chicago in the name, though. It would work if I lived up in the suburbs, but down here people sometimes are put off by something that has Chicago in the name because it implies that where they live isn't as good as Chicago (they're a little touchy about that down here).

There are quite a few other suggestions here, and a lot of them are really excellent, but I think I'd really like to go with a one word name if possible, with an explanation underneath. My last name is Malone, but I REALLY don't want to use that! I know, I probably should, but I just don't think it sounds "pretty" enough or something. It would be easy to bring my brother in that way, but I just don't really like my last name that much I guess!

My brother and I are Danish, though (I know, the last name is Irish, but we're actually only like 5% Irish). I would use something in Danish, but a lot of Danish is quite difficult to pronounce. I did always wish I could open a real Danish patisserie in the U.S. though!

What if I used something completely unrelated, like

Heliotrope

or

Morning Glory?

Those are two of my favorite flowers. Kind of like Magnolia in NY? I actually worked at a bakery in Baltimore that is based on Magnolia. I also really like K8Memphis' suggestion of Ambrosia. Actually, I LOVE that one, but it's probably been done before. What do you all think?

Too many choices?

Thanks again for the help guys, I really do appreciate it!

Katie

[chefpeon]

Oooooohhhh....

kinda funny, because

A) the most popular muffin I bake here in Port Townsend is the "Morning Glory" muffin,

and one of my competitors in town is called.......

B)"Heliotrope Mirthful Baking"

What could this all mean????

[KatieM]

Oooooohhhh....

kinda funny, because

A) the most popular muffin I bake here in Port Townsend is the "Morning Glory" muffin,

and one of my competitors in town is called.......

B)"Heliotrope Mirthful Baking"

What could this all mean???? 

Incredulous look at the screen, sputtering, but how? I thought Heliotrope would be a completely original name! Who knows about heliotropes? They're kind of obscure, aren't they? Actually, they're kind of sexy, too. Some poem I read in high school had a line about "prurient heliotropes". Hmm, would it be a little too sexy a name for this little town? But they smell like vanilla, and that's so perfect.

I adore morning glories, but it may make the name sound like I only do breakfast things. Grrrr.... this is so hard!

[ruthcooks]

What about one word used twice?

I kinda like SugarSugar

Lots of tag lines you could use.

[ludja]

Here are a few phrases; words. I was thinking "sweet" but I don't know if that will fulfill your requrements...

sweetness and light

honeysuckle

honeycomb

sweet shop

glaze

dulcinea

ganache

[K8memphis]

Wull, another name I was crazy about is Filigree - oooh I love Filigree. But people thought it was too femmy, feminine

Check around about Ambrosia. In TN the secretary of state's office runs a search - it's probably been used but may not currently be being used.

Ambrosia is a great name. C'mon, food of the gods?? Ya' gotta' be kidding! Go for it!!

Edited November 19, 2004 by K8memphis (log)

[fou de Bassan]

I like Ambrosia, but breaking with the one word mantra I can't seem to get

baba malone's

out of my head. There are a couple of interpretations and it sounds cool. IMHO

[chefpeon]

Cakes 'n Stuff

Incredulous look at the screen, sputtering, but how? I thought Heliotrope would be a completely original name!

I know, that's why I was going, "Whoa!" Who'd in a million years also think of that for a bakery sort of name???

Like I said, "what does it all mean, man???"

Hee hee. Good luck with choosing your name!

You sure opened Pandora's box!

[KatieLoeb]

My little grey and white kitten's name is Dulcita, or Little Sweetie in Spanish. It could make a great name for a bakery. Or Dulcita's.

How about Bonne Bouche? Or if you really like alliteration, Bonne Bouche Bakery.

Indulgence?

Yummies?

Goodies?

[aidensnd2]

I really like the simplicity of Kakes or any other one word name, and I know that my graphic designer can do really cool things with my logo. He's awesome, and best of all, I can pay him in trade! biggrin.gif However, I know my mom would heartily disapprove of the mispelled word thing.

Just explain to her that it's not simply a misspelled word it's a combination of Kate and cakes.

trust me, Kakes, it's brilliant

[Toliver]

I don't think I would go with a name that's unrelated to what you do. If you want name recognition, something as simple as kakes says it all, it says what you make and, thanks to the varied spelling, makes it stand out immediately as something different, ergo, not your run-of-the-mill cakes.

Keep It Simple, Silly.

[crouching tyler]

Some of the suggested names here that I really like:

sweetness and light

sugar sugar (reminds me of old song, "hey sugar sugar,... you are my candy girl and you've got me loving you....)

Kate's Creative Cakes

Names that have less positive connotations to me:

morning glory & heliotrope ( I could be wrong, but I think that both of these plants are poisonous ?)

kakes - this may seem weird, but this reminds me an ethnic slur.

Something that occured to me:

Kate Bakes (sort of like pattycakes?) or Katie Bakes (if you go by Katie, that is)

~good luck!

[FistFullaRoux]

FEBS - (stands for flour, eggs, butter, and sugar)

Toot Sweet (I know, a bit cheesy, but fun)

Katie's Dream Cakes (instead of using "custom", which always makes me think of a pickup truck)

[mkfradin]

I have no idea how liberal Illinois is....but I still think Stacked is a good name for a cake business

←

I love it! I was seriously thinking about naming my bakery (only sweets) "Happy Endings," but my husband discouraged me, telling me that I'd get unwanted attention! I think that people who get it would be amused, and people who don't would be clueless. If you want to convey a kind of hip edginess and irreverence, a name like that would be great.

We actually used "Happy Endings" as a subheading on our menu and the girls from the shoe store down the street huddled and giggled in front of it till one came in and said, "you know, it has another meaning....." Duh.

If you're in Champaign, I think the population would be a little more receptive to a name like this than if you were thirty more miles downstate.

Marjorie

P.S. My favorite name was Bake O Rama. It evoked that revolving display case of desserts that was at the entrance of every restaurant I went to with my grandparents in the early seventies. I wanted my store to have that feel of everything wonderful being within one's reach. But it didn't fly.

[NVNVGirl]

OK...along Katie's idea:

dolce

Which if you don't know, is Italian for "sweet"

And maybe you could put underneath

Sweet endings

[judiu]

<snip>

There are quite a few other suggestions here, and a lot of them are really excellent, but I think I'd really like to go with a one word name if possible, with an explanation underneath.  My last name is Malone, but I REALLY don't want to use that!  I know, I probably should, but I just don't think it sounds "pretty" enough or something.  It would be easy to bring my brother in that way, but I just don't really like my last name that much I guess!

</snip>

Katie

←

KatieM,

It's not that Malone is not a "pretty" name, but it conjures up a vision of "cockles and mussles, alive alive-o" rather than cakes! (ducks and covers)