How to choose a restaurant name: the method and the checks

How do you find a good restaurant name?

The name is often underestimated, because it costs nothing. Yet it is what customers will type into Google, tell their friends and look for on Instagram. A name that is hard to spell loses customers online; a name too close to a competitor’s creates confusion, or a dispute.

The name comes after the concept, not before: it should express what you want customers to remember. If your concept is not clear yet, read making your restaurant stand out first. For the big picture, see opening a restaurant in France.

Where do you find name ideas?

Take a sheet of paper and half an hour. Write down at least 30 ideas without censoring yourself: bad ideas lead to good ones. Here are the routes that work best, with fictional examples.

Also think about how customers will talk about you: “we’re going to…”. If the sentence sounds right, that is a good sign. Finally, picture the name on your sign, at the top of your menu and as a small icon on a phone screen: a name that works in all three places will serve you for years.

Which criteria help you choose between names?

Run each idea through these criteria. Keep those that tick the most boxes.

• Easy to say: understood on the phone at the first try.
• Easy to spell: no tricky spelling, unexpected double letters or accents that change everything.
• Short: it fits on a sign, in an Instagram handle, in a web address.
• Consistent with the concept: people can guess the type of place or atmosphere.
• Lasting: it still works if the menu changes (avoid a name tied to one dish or a trend).
• Different: it does not resemble a nearby restaurant’s name.
• Free: nobody already uses it for the same activity (see below).

The dictation test

Say the name to 5 people who do not know it and ask them to write it down. If 3 out of 5 spell it differently, your future customers will struggle to find you on Google. Add a memory test: the next day, ask them if they remember it.

How do you check a restaurant name is free?

This is the step not to skip. A name already protected by someone else can force you to change your sign, menu and website after opening. Run these checks on your 2 or 3 finalists.

1. The trademark database

In France, the INPI (the national intellectual property office) recommends a prior-rights search in its trademark database: a name may not reproduce or imitate a trademark already protected for identical or similar goods or services. Search your name (and close variants) on the Data INPI website, looking especially at trademarks covering restaurant services. If in doubt, an intellectual property attorney can run a deeper search.

2. Google Maps and Google

Search the name on Google Maps in your town and nearby towns, then on Google. A restaurant with the same name two streets away would cause confusion, even if it never registered a trademark.

3. The domain name

Check that the .com (or .fr in France) address is free, or that a simple variant is (with the town, for example). The guide choosing a domain name for a small business explains how.

4. Social media

Check whether the handle is available on Instagram and Facebook. A handle identical to the restaurant’s name helps customers find you.

5. The business register

A search in the business directory shows whether a company in your area already uses the name for a similar activity.

Should you register your restaurant name as a trademark?

It is not required to open, but it is the strongest way to protect your name. According to the INPI, a registered trademark gives an exclusive right of use in France for 10 years, renewable indefinitely.

The steps described by the INPI:

1. Define the goods and services covered, using the international classification (45 classes): for a restaurant, restaurant services, and possibly products if you sell deli items or sauces. Nothing can be added after filing.
2. Check availability (prior-rights search) and validity: the name must be neither purely descriptive (“French Cuisine Restaurant”) nor misleading.
3. File online on the INPI portal and pay the fees (the rates are on the INPI website).
4. The filing is published about 6 weeks later; third parties have 2 months to oppose it.
5. With no opposition or objection, the trademark is registered, at the earliest 5 months after filing.

Since registration takes months, file as soon as the name is chosen, before ordering the sign and printing menus. If you set up a company, the company’s legal name can differ from the restaurant’s trading name (the sign): see legal structures for a restaurant in France.

Which name should go on your Google listing?

Exactly the name on your sign, nothing more. Google’s guidelines are clear: the name must match the real name customers know, the same as on your shopfront, website and documents.

According to these guidelines, do not add:

• keywords or descriptions (“wood-fired pizzeria”);
• a town or neighbourhood (“city centre”);
• a slogan, promotion or opening hours;
• a legal form (“Ltd”, “SARL”), unless it appears everywhere, on the sign and invoices;
• words in capitals or symbols such as ® and ™.

Breaking these rules can get the listing suspended. And if you change the name significantly later, Google says you must close the old listing and create a new one: you then start again with no reviews. One more reason to choose well from the start. The rest of the listing (category, description, photos) is covered in the Google Business Profile guide.

Mistakes to avoid

Once the name is chosen and checked, it will be used everywhere: sign, menu, website, social media, Google listing, opening campaign. For the next steps, see permits to open a restaurant in France.

The restaurant owner’s guide

Open, run, grow: each stage has its full guide and detailed guides, with their reading time.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurants
• Bars and cafés
• Restaurant website

Go further

• How to open a restaurant in France
• Choosing a domain name for a small business
• Google Business Profile: the complete guide
• Making your restaurant stand out
• Marketing a new business opening