What is a good startup name for a student search engine?

Starting a business is a risky venture – we all know that. It’s your job then as the founder of the company to mitigate as much of that risk as possible - and that job starts with your company name.   A powerful, memorable and intriguing brand name that sparks the curiosity of your customers will go a long way when you’re building your business. Picking the wrong name could be very expensive down the road, since you’ve invested so much time and money into making that name synonymous with your business (i.e. building your brand). The last thing you want is to choose the wrong company name, and have to change that name in the future after you’ve invested a ton of time and money into making that name known.   So let’s get it right from the get go – here’s some advice on how to choose a powerful, memorable and lasting company name.   Consider your company’s vision "Wait a minute ... what the ... is that my wife?" It’s always best to have an encompassing business name that leaves room for expansion. For example, let’s say you’ve developed a dog leash that has a GPS tracker, and anytime your dog gets lost, you can just pull out your smartphone and locate where you dog is. Now, you could name your company “Dog Tracker, Inc.”, but what if sometime down the line you want to expand your product line to also include a cat tracker, or even a tracker for young children?   Therefore it’s very important that you think through and consider your company’s vision when developing your business name. Yes, today you only have one product that locates lost dogs, but what about 5 years, or 10 years down the line? When considering your company’s vision, a better business name in this scenario could be “Never Lost, Inc.”   Amazon initially sold books on its online platform – but the site wasn’t called BookBuy .com – and for a good reason. Jeff Bezos had a vision for the company that extended past selling only books. He wanted his online store to be the biggest in the world, and so he named his company after the largest river in the world, the Amazon River. Jeff also considered intricate details, such as having the name start with an “A” so in business directory listings his company would show up first.   There is a fine balance though – you want your company name to be broad enough to include future product lines, but if it is too broad, you might run the risk of confusing your customers. Differentiate within your industry and competitive landscape Once you’ve clearly thought your company’s vision through, then it’s time to consider your competitors. Look at the top 5 players with competing products and examine their names. Since they are your strongest competitors, they must have done something right.   If your product is new and innovative, and you don’t have any direct competitors, consider the business names of the players in your overall industry. Analyze the names and find the reasoning behind why they were chosen, and why they work.   When developing your business name, it’s important that you stand out from your competitors.  Don’t be averse to considering the most outlandish options for your company name – weird and out of the box names are often the most memorable (although I wouldn’t recommend the below example).   You can actually buy these.   Hint at your USP A great business name hints at the company’s unique selling proposition (USP) without outright giving it away. You want your company’s name to intrigue your customers enough to investigate further – provoking curiosity is a powerful way to bring customers in through the door.   Consider the case of 99designs, which is a website where you can host design contests. When you hear the name 99designs, you get intrigued – “99designs? Really? I get 99designs?” and so you investigate further. Then once you get to their site, you learn their full USP, which is the ability for customers to host design contests. K.I.S.S. Keep your business name as simple as possible. The more simple your business name, the more memorable it will be. Think about how simple the name Facebook is, and how it hints at its USP without outright giving away what the website is all about.   For example, think about two different girls – the first is named Magdelena, while the second is named Maggie. Which one will you remember 6 months from now?  Fortunately, unlike the name given by your parents, you get to choose this one, so go for Maggie overMagdelena. Nobody wants to date Magdelena.   Don't drop the ball - keep it catchy He's had better days. Catchy names are the most powerful and memorable. I’m talking about names that stay on your mind after the first time you hear them. Consider our company’s name, CopyShoppy. The first time most people hear the name, they laugh a bit, because it sounds funny when you say it out loud – but that fact alone keeps it memorable. It also rhymes, which adds to the catchiness factor.   Test out how catchy a business name option is by bouncing it off your friends and family. The first time I told my family and friends about CopyShoppy, they giggled a bit at the name. The next time I called them, they would ask, “How is CopyShoppy doing?” Bingo. Let’s get it now. Let your personality splash over into your company’s name If you really want a unique company name, don’t be afraid to let your personality shape it. After all, there is only one you! Are you a playful, adventurous person? Let that reflect in your company name.   Sir Richard Branson named his company Virgin – he obviously put a bit of his playful, light-hearted attitude, and adventurous spirit into his business name. He obviously thought about the controversy that would surround such a name, and how it would bring curious minds to his business’s door. It's ... it's an online business. Check trademark availability If you’ve considered all the above points when developing your company name, you may be surprised to find that the name has not been trademarked or used before, since you’ve subtly inserted your unique personality and unique selling proposition into the brand name. If the name you settled on is already trademarked in your industry, don't get frustrated, it's all part of the game. The name wasn't right for you anyway, so go back to the drawing board.   To check trademark availability, click http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/ if you're in the U.S. and http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr03082.htmlif you’re in Canada. It’s actually best to check both no matter where you’re located in case you want to expand geographically in the future.   When checking for trademarks, you must be thorough. For example, there was an app called “Bang With Friends” (no, seriously). Zynga then disputed their name because they have a trademark for “With Friends”, since they have many apps that end with “With Friends” (such as “Words With Friends”). The company http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/25/bang-with-friends-down/, which is a painful process for any startup company that has gained some traction. Check availability of Internet Assets Now that you’ve checked for trademark availability, check the http://www.godaddy.com/, Twitter account, Facebook account, and other social media accounts.   If you’re really settled on your name, and the domain name or social media accounts are not available, that isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. For example, if your business isn’t an online business, then you can always alter the domain name slightly to one that is available. For example, if your company name is Live Chat, and livechat .com is taken, see whether livechatinc .com is taken.   The same goes with social media accounts. Say you’ve decided on the name CreativEngine, and the CreativEngine Twitter account is taken. Check the already registered CreativEngine Twitter account page and see why it was registered in the first place. Is the account actively posting tweets? Is the account a business in your same industry? If the answers are no, go ahead and register CreativEngine_, or something along those lines.   Register the company name, domain name, and create social media accounts Warren Buffet at age 5. Once you’ve found the perfect company name for your business, be sure to register it right away by forming a legal business entity so another company can’t register the same name down the road once you start marketing your business. Then, once you are financially willing and able, register your company trademark to protect your business name. Register your domain name through a .com registrar, and create all your social media accounts. If you need help coming up with a company name, consider taking the help of our talented copywriting community and https://www.copyshoppy.com/en/step_one_launch_contest.php.

I agree with , CourseUp is the best on there.  It is very punchy. Concentrate on how good it sounds and how easy it is to pronounce and spell. You might try something like crib sheet, because it is a "concise set of notes used for quick reference" according to Wikipedia.

Go to the Namepros forum. Go to the Wanted Section of the forum. Tell the people you have a $500 - $1000 budget for the best 4-5 letter .com domain name that you can get. See what offers you get and go for the best. You can go for a cheap $10 domain name but the chances are if you are not willing to pay much for a name that people have already paid for, it is probably not that great. If you want to go the cheap route, Use GoDaddys bulk domain name search function. Generate a list of 1000 - 3000 potential names and see which ones are available. (Don't go too generic or nothing will be available.) Look at the list and slowly and systematically narrow the list down to a favourite. This process if done properly should take you more than 7 hours and should give you a very good impression of a well thought out name. If you are too lazy to invest time into a name with that sort of strategy, go to instantdomainsearch(.)com and randomly get a list of 5-10 names that are available and just go with your gut and pick one and start working on your website service as the name will be worth nothing unless you have a good website. Alternatively, you could pay somebody with naming skills to find a name for you. People would do a huge amount of work trying to identify the best name for you for $50 - $100 if they genuinely take their work seriously and have the rights skills for the job and there is a good chance they can do a better job than most people. However, it is difficult to identify the right people for this as most people think they are good at naming and in reality it is an art that requires a lot of work to refine. Don't waste too much time on the name as it sounds like your project is very much dependent on the quality of your service and you can always rebrand down the track if you pick a bad name in the early days but it does save money in the long term if you get it right the first time.

I agree that Studyily sounds a bit off, or is at least difficult to pronounce.  Same for Studily. There's something about the "stud" +suffix formula that makes me think they sound like they could be trying to evoke studs like stud horses, rather than studying. Of the ones you've listed, I like Study Templar the best (assuming it's available/not too similar to a mark that's already in use). What's the thinking behind Corulate? That seems like it would have some potential. Same for Note99? If I think of any other names to throw into the mix, I'll let you know.

I have no suggestion for you, bur rather a comment that I hope you will find interesting and maybe gives you more ideas: Do you know the first name that Google (the search engine) had was actually : BACKRUB. Yes, Backrub... don't ask me what do backrubs have to do with search. But my point is that if you can get a "lousy" name  like that  and sell it, to later on become Google... then for sure is hope for many other good names that can  be used or just plainly  "built" or "invented". Goog luck in your name search.