Yesterday was an exciting day. I came up with a project name and a few logo and slogan ideas. I also registered a couple of domains that might be useful to me down the road. It was no great accomplishment but it allowed me to get started on setting up some social media and networking accounts. I spent the bulk of the day on that.

Then today, as I was sorting through those accounts, I realized that an old abandoned start-up venture of mine might actually have a better name than the one I came up with yesterday. It’s definitely more catchy, it would save me some time and money, and coincidentally, it is appropriate to the project I would need it for.

So, which name do I use? I’ve set up a whole slew of online accounts under the new name, but I’m not sure I like it as much. For the old one, I already have a business entity registered in my state, an EIN, and a bank account. I have the domain for it also. The only drawback is that the old name is not available on the social media and networking platforms for which I’ve signed up using the new name. So, if I use it there would be inconsistencies in the name across the web.

What are the critical components of a good name? And how important is consistency?