How to name your car: Naming expert’s 7 top tips

If you’re among the millions of motorists who like the idea of giving your car a name or nickname but are unsure what to name it, help is at hand. 

We've teamed up with a professional naming expert – who calls himself the world’s first “Car-Naming Consultant” – to provide seven pro tips on how to name your car in time for National Name Your Car Day on 2 October. 

We've done this after finding that 26% of motorists surveyed in a national poll – equivalent to nearly 13 million Brits – said it could be helpful to get feedback from a naming expert or consultant if they weren’t sure what to name their car. 

Over a third (36%) of British drivers have given their car a name or nickname, according to the same poll of 1,707 British drivers, conducted for Carmoola by market researchers Censuswide.

“Millions of motorists give their car a name”, says Aidan Rushby, CEO of Carmoola. “For most, it’s just a bit of fun but some owners may overthink their choice and even about how it could affect their relationship with their car.” 

That’s why Carmoola has asked Joel Stein, a naming and branding expert, and now car-naming consultant – to provide these professional tips on how to name your car.

How to name your car: Naming expert’s 7 top tips 

Stein has drawn on his expertise in naming products and brands – plus his own car and the occasional baby – to offer the following seven top tips for naming your car. 

Choose a name that reflects the car’s personality or the feelings it evokes. So a sports car might suit a name suggesting speed or sleekness, while a compact, friendly car might suit something playful or cute. The key is to match the car’s personality with yours. 

Look at your car’s colour, make, model, size or special features for inspiration. A red car might suggest names like "Ruby", “Scarlet” or "Red Baron," while the latest new electric car might inspire more eco-themed, futuristic or even sci-fi inspired names, like Ripley [from Alien], Neo [The Matrix] or Car2-D2 [Star Wars].

Stein has named his own car, a Dacia Duster, “BIG ’OL Car” – both because it’s bigger and older than his previous car (a Mazda) and because his numberplate starts with “BG” and ends with “AUL”

Alliteration or rhyming can make the name more fun and memorable, like “Yoda the Skoda”, “Solo the Polo”, “Neo the Clio” or “Betty the Beetle”.  

Repeat the name aloud to check that it feels natural and easy to say. A good car name should roll off the tongue and feel right when spoken.

Keep the process light-hearted. Don’t overthink it. Remember that naming your car should be fun not stressful. If a name feels right, trust your instincts. 

Incorporate something personally meaningful to you, such as a favourite TV or movie character, band, music or sports star; a place you love, or a name with sentimental value, like the name of a pet or family member.

So yes it’s fine to name your car after a celebrity but if you own a Smart Car, Reliant Robin or Fiat Panda, Stein advises against naming it “Taylor” – since respondents to another question in the same new Carmoola poll judged them the three cars “least suited” to the name Taylor. (Taylor, however, could be a good name for a trailer – as in “Taylor the Trailer”.)

Stein welcomes unusual or even weird names, such as the names that topped another new Carmoola poll – for the strangest car names: Juicy Maggot Wagon, Pookie Bubble Bear and Ponkyloulou. 

“Don’t be afraid of oddness”, says Stein. “It doesn’t get much more distinctive than ‘Juicy Maggot Wagon’, but it comes down to what suits you — and your car.”

Car-name tools, method and process 

There are already professional baby-naming consultants, mainly in America (where a recent survey found that one in 10 mothers regret the name they chose for their child). 

“Why not a car-naming consultant too?”, asks Stein. “There’s clear demand.” 

Stein has generated names for everything from startup businesses, online games and a new agricultural product for the drugs giant Bayer to his own car, a Dacia Duster. He’s also consulted for everyone from motoring brands like Bentley to – on an unpaid basis – friends who’ve asked his help naming their babies. 

Stein has drawn inspiration from some of the techniques baby-name consultants use in order to develop his own methods for helping drivers pick the perfect car name. 

His clients start by answering a questionnaire asking them everything from the make, model, colour and registration number of their car to their favourite letters, sounds, vibes, bands, songs, films, TV shows and celebrities. 

“The better the brief, the better I’m able to deliver the results clients want.” 

After studying their answers, Stein then generates a list of suggested names to meet the client’s preferences – a short list of three top names, from a long list of 15. 

“A good car name should be simple (to say and to spell), vivid, memorable, meaningful, maybe amusing and definitely something that you’re happy to say in front of others,” says Stein. “But the big aim is to match the owner’s personality with their car’s.” 

The final stage in the process is a 15-minute video call to talk through a combination of Stein’s suggestions and any the client may already have of their own.

Carmoola is bringing back its own in-app Car Name Generator by popular demand in time for Name Your Car Day on October 2^nd. 

Carmoola CEO Aidan Rusby has named his own car – a Mercedes C Class Convertible C43, bought on Carmoola finance – “Mila”, picking the name without any help from an external Car Name Consultant but with the considerable help of Carmoola’s in-app car name generator. 

He says his choice may have been subconsciously influenced by its link to the movie star Mila Kunis, who has not just owned a Mercedes camping vehicle of late herself but also shares the Ukrainian heritage of Carmoola, a UK/Ukrainian startup.