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Are you looking for YouTube name ideas for your brand new channel? You’ll want to choose carefully.
When done right, your YouTube channel name should reflect the show’s content, brand, and spirit. There are several approaches to choosing a channel name—from using an established brand or show name, using the host’s first and last name, and using creative names that describe the show’s topic.
In this post, we’ll walk you through a few tips for choosing a name for your own YouTube channel—along with 50+ creative ideas to help get you started.
How Do You Pick the Best YouTube Channel Name?
Choosing a YouTube channel name isn’t something you should slack on. The name of your channel appears on every single piece of content you publish. It’s the primary way users find you and refer to your content.
You can have the best recording equipment, the best recording software, and the best marketing strategy around. But if you don’t have a catchy YouTube name or it doesn’t fit your show, you may be turning potential viewers away before they can even experience your quality content.
Follow these steps to find a YouTube channel name that fits your show and subscribers:
Find Your Channel’s Vibe
First, take stock of your channel. What kind of content are you creating? There are three primary types of YouTube channel names:
- Brand name
- Person’s name
- Topical
Perhaps you’re building a YouTube channel for an already-established business. In this case, you may want to capitalize on the brand recognition you already have by naming your YouTube channel after your brand.
Or you can always use your own first and last name as a channel name. This approach is best for content creators who want to build a brand around their personal identity.
The third option leaves room for creativity. If your channel has a specific topic—like car maintenance or lip-sync parodies—you can use a name that fits your subject matter.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
Next, consider your primary audience for the channel and what they would relate to. Basing your name on a 1980’s pop culture reference probably isn’t the best idea if your target audience is Gen-Z kids.
Take your channel’s tone into account, too. A practical channel with helpful how-to’s would probably have a less wacky name than a channel with comedians taking turns trying to make each other laugh.
Make Sure It’s Available
If you’ve come up with a good name idea, the odds are good that someone else has beat you to it. To see if any channels already exist that match your idea, type it into YouTube’s search bar and set the filter type to channel.
Then, just to be sure, do a quick Google search to ensure there aren’t any other websites or brands already using your name. You’ll probably want to purchase the same domain name eventually, too, so check that all your bases are clear before pulling the trigger and choosing a YouTube channel title.
It’s not illegal to have the same name as another brand, but not having a unique name can get a little confusing if you want to build a big audience.
Social Media Connections
Similarly, check the major social media channels to see if your name is available as a username or handle. It’s best to use a consistent name across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so that your audience can find and follow you easily.
Namecheckr is a great way to check a username’s availability across most of the popular platforms quickly.
Suppose your chosen name isn’t available on social media. In that case, you may want to rethink using it as a YouTube channel name.
50+ Youtube Name Ideas
As you might expect, the name you choose for your YouTube channel depends on your niche, brand personality, and individual audience. It’s a highly personal choice.
That said, it can help to see a few examples to get your creative juices flowing. Below, we’ve brainstormed some YouTube channel name ideas for four of the most popular niches: Gaming, Food and Drink, Health and Fitness, and Music.
Gaming Channel YouTube Names
- GameNerds
- HotGamers
- BigBang Gaming
- Bravo Gaming
- Minecraft Scout
- OffGrid Skyrim
- Couple of Players
- Retro Game Club
- Game Horizon
- Matching Joysticks
- Press Triangle!
- Ground Game
- Heroes’ Journey
- Xbox Professor
- PlayStation Addicts
Food and Drink YouTube Names
- Spoonful of Chocolate
- Let’s Grab a Pint
- Dessert Consultants
- Queen of the Kitchen
- King of the Kitchen
- Scoop of Joy
- Southern Skillet
- Emir’s Kitchen
- Mealtime Adventures
- Bourbonistas
- A Hint of Lime
- Millennial Desserts
- How to Bake That
- Second Breakfast
- Dinner Insider
Health and Fitness YouTube Names
- Health Code
- NoBull Health
- LevelUp Healthy
- Counting Macros
- Nutrition Hacker
- Runner Republic
- SmallTown Biker
- Just Keep Swimming
- Runnerpedia
- Lazy Runner
- Biking Nation
- Vital Living
- Meditate with Me
- Mindful Yoga
- YogaBrothers
Music Channel YouTube Names
- Coffeehouse Vibes
- Andrew’s Guitar
- Listen to This
- Rapper Lightning
- MusicMates
- Clubhouse Jazz
- Rock Against the Machine
- Music Delivery
- Streetwise Listen
- Rock Rhino
- Just Sick Beats
- Piano Brain
- Listen Anywhere
- In the Club
- Dance Addict
YouTube Channel Name Generator
One way to come up with name ideas is to use a YouTube name generator. These websites work by letting you plug in a keyword or keywords, and then it generates a list of names to choose from.
The purpose of a YouTube name generator is—shockingly—to generate names for businesses. Still, you can use them to come up with names for your YouTube channel, too. Some of the most popular name generators for YouTubers include:
- Riverside.fm’s YouTube Name Generator
- Shopify
- Kparser
- SpinXo
Play around with one (or more) of these name generators to get a random list of name ideas. You’d be surprised how an automated generator like the ones listed above can spark the perfect idea for you!
10 Tips for Naming a Youtube Channel
Now that you have a good idea of the methods YouTube creators use to come up with their channel names, let’s go over some last tips for making sure your chosen name perfectly suits your goals.
Make It Easy to Spell
You need a catchy name, and one that’s easy to remember. Avoid anything hard to spell or difficult to pronounce—you want your audience to be able to share your channel with their friends without getting tongue-tied or misspelling it in their text threads.
Consider How It Translates
It’s all too easy to make a linguistic faux-pas if you have an international audience.
Don’t sweat it; even the biggest brands have made translation gaffes over the years. But it’s best to do a bit of research and ensure that global users won’t read your name as something you don’t mean.
Remember Capital Letters
YouTube names are case-sensitive, so be intentional about how many capital letters you use.
It’s best to capitalize the first letter of each word in your channel. This practice helps you send the message that you take yourself seriously as a content creator rather than a hobbyist.
Also, if your name is multiple words put together, capitalizing the beginning of each word will help make your channel name more readable. For example, BettyCooks is easier to read than bettycooks or Bettycooks, right?
Avoid Numbers
The goal of your YouTube channel name is to make it memorable and easy to share—so a name like BettyCooks92 is probably not a great idea. Users won’t remember numbers as quickly as words, so nix numbers if you can.
Inform
What’s your content going to be about? When in doubt, try to make your channel name informative so that the casual observer has a good idea of what to expect just by reading the title.
Evoke Emotion
Whether it’s humor, curiosity, or excitement, try to choose a title that strikes an emotional chord with viewers. The more emotional response the viewer feels, the more likely they are to remember and subscribe to your channel.
Think About Word Play
Some of the best channel names are punny or use creative wordplay to stick in viewers’ minds. For instance, can you think of a way to turn your name into a pun like Jen from JenerationDIY did?
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Leave Room for Growth
While you may have a solid idea of your chosen niche, that doesn’t mean your content won’t expand or go through slight changes over time. You’ll want a name that can grow and change with you.
The easiest way to do this is to use your own first and last name as your channel title. But you can leave room for growth even with a topical or descriptive channel name—just choose a name that conveys more of a brand identity rather than a very narrow topic.
Keep It Short
Because your goal is to make your YouTube channel name easy to remember: the shorter, the better. YouTube allows channel names of up to 60 characters—but try to keep it more concise than that!
Something concise and catchy lets visitors commit it to memory much more effortless.
Make It Personal
Finally, make sure the name speaks to you personally. Does it reflect your personality and appeal to your style? This name will be the face of your brand on YouTube for a long time to come, so if it doesn’t feel like a good fit right away, that’s a sign that you should keep looking.
We hope these tips and channel name ideas have helped inspiration strike for you! For more resources on creating high-quality audio and video content that attracts a large audience, check out Riverside’s Learning Hub!
If you feel to create your channel, start recording on Riverside for seamless studio-quality YouTube videos.
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