How to Choose a Catchy Podcast Name

You are going to come up with the best podcast name, trust us! 🤩

In this blog post we are going to help you by walking you through, step-by-step, how to create a name that perfectly fits your show, your brand, and your dreams.

Are you ready to make some magic? Let’s goooooo! 👏

Step One: Consider Content

This step might sound simple, but it is important to think through. What is your content going to be? What topics do you plan on covering? How specific do you plan to be? How broad? You can use a podcast planner to help you plan all steps of creating and promoting your show.

Do Not Outgrow Your Name 🌱

You do not want end up outgrowing your name. If you cover everything in your narrow topic after a handful of episodes and then pivot to broader topics, the narrow name you started with is not going to fit any more.

Do Not Have an Overly General Name 😴

At the same time, you do not want an overly generalized name because then potential listeners will not be able to quickly tell if what you are covering is unique or fits their interests.

Think about 100 Episodes 🕰️

So plan ahead a little. Think about what you can make one hundred episodes about. Think about what your core content will be, both in terms of topics and format. Then think about how your content may grow from that core. Do you anticipate diving deeper into the details of your topic as your podcast continues or do you anticipate becoming broader and broader?

Once you have thought through that aspect, you can go on to step two.

Step Two: Know Your Target Audience

Figure out who your target audience is. What do they value? What do they want to get out of your podcast? What kind of language are they comfortable with?

Create Listener Personas 🕺

It helps to start by creating some listener personas. A listener persona is a (pretend) individual who would be in your target audience. You can even give them a name. Visualize what their average day looks like. This helps you think through how they may initially come in contact with your podcast, what material they would be drawn to, and yes– what title would attract their attention!

Put Together for Target Audience 🕺💃🕺

Once you have a handful of listener personas, compare them to each other. What do they have in common. What are their differences. If your target audience is pretty niche, then your title can be pretty niche too.

Example: Dungeons and Dragons 🐉

For example, if your target audience is only made up of people who play Dungeons and Dragons, your title can be a play on words that Dungeons and Dragons fans would get, but other people may not understand completely.

On the flip side, if your target audience includes listener personas who are not Dungeons and Dragons fans then you should not create a podcast name that is a play on words that only Dungeons and Dragons fans would get.

Step Three: Think Branding

Once you have a general idea of your content and your audience, the next step in picking a good podcast name is to think about your branding.

Your Podcast’s Identity 😎

Branding is all about creating an identity for your podcast. Is it funny or serious? Is it traditional or more out-of-the-box? Is its focused on sharing information or is more focused on entertainment?

Fitting with Visual and Audio Elements 🧑‍🎨

Podcast branding includes a lot of creative visual and audio elements. Everything from cover art and color palette to intro music and slogans. Your title needs to fit in with these branding pieces, both literally and figuratively.

Think about how it will fit on your cover art. What font will it have? What color?

If you plan on utilizing video in your branding or even in the creation of your episodes, how will your title work with your video assets?

Imagine your host saying the name in the introduction, as the intro music fades. Will the title fit well with the type of music you are planning on using? Will it sound right coming out of your host’s mouth?

This step is all about figuring out the vibe of your show and translating that vibe into a title of your choosing.

Podcast Listener finding a podcast with a catchy name

Step Four: Key in on Keywords

As much as the above steps were about feelings and overall concepts, this step in picking the right podcast name is pretty concrete.

Make a List 📋

Make a list of keywords for your podcast. The best way to do this is to think about what people would search if they wanted to find content like your show. Try some out if you want– search some keywords in Apple Podcasts, for example.

Do Not Stuff ✋

Now, you do not want to stuff a bunch of keywords into your title just for the sake of having as many of them as possible. Remember, you have an opportunity to put keywords in other sections of the podcasting metadata, like the show description, episode notes, etc.

At Least One is Probably Best ☝️

In fact, you do not absolutely have to use any keywords in your title at all. But to play it safe, you probably want to include one.

Once you have made yourself a list of keywords related to your podcast topics, you are ready for the next step: Use the free Ausha name generator!

Step Five: Use the FREE Ausha Name Generator

Now that you have your list of keywords, plug each one, one at a time, into our free podcast name generator! We trained the generator on hundreds of real podcast names. Once you put in one keyword, the generator will create a list of over one hundred original suggestions for you!

No Liking Some is Good! 😈

You are going to hate some of the names that it creates and that’s a good thing! That helps you narrow down all thousands of ideas out there. It helps you identify your likes and dislikes. It gives you concrete examples of what fits your brand and what does not.

Skip Step Six if… 💫

You may find your perfect podcast name in the list that our podcast name generator creates. If that is the case, yay, you can move on the Step Seven. If not, never fear, just move on to Step Six.

Step Six: Generate off the Generator

Ok, so you did not find your dream name on the automated, free podcast name generator. Not a problem!

The generator is an invaluable tool for brainstorming:

It spits out names that are nice and short, helping your brain think in these terms.
The generator puts concrete words in front of your eyes so you can start to play around with what is practical.
It gives you examples that you can imagine your target audience of listener personas reacting to, either positively or negatively.

Try Synonyms and Puns 😆

Pick some of your favorite ideas that the generator came up with. Think about what you like about them. Are there synonyms that could replace a word that you do not like? Are there puns that incorporate a feature you like of one of the names generated?

If you need some inspiration, check out our blog post with 300+ podcast name ideas!

Phone a Friend 📞

Send a list of names to friends and see what they like and do not like, and why. Include some names that you have developed after using the generator list to brainstorm, without telling them which is which. Their feedback will let you know if you are heading in the right direction from the generated list or if you need to go in a different, better direction.

Make a Short List, Not Just One 🥇🥈🥉

Although the goal is to find the one, shining, perfect name for your podcast, you do not have to come out of this stage with only one potential name. In fact, it helps if you develop a short list here of like your top three to five podcast name options.

The fact is, you may have your heart set on one name at this stage, but then it will not be available when you check in the next stage. So it is a good idea not to spend too much time in this step narrowing down your names to just one.

Step Seven: Check Availability

At this point you have your short list of perfect podcast names. They fit your content, they speak to your target audience, and they go with your brand.

Now for the last hurdle: Is one of them available?

You need to check if the title is being used by another podcast or media product (like a radio show), including if a business has trademarked it. You also need to check if it is being used already as a social media handle or website domain.

See if it is Trademarked 🏛️

If someone has trademarked the name you want to use, do not use it. It is not worth the legal hassle. If they have done the work to officially trademark it, they are pretty serious about it.

In the United States, this means checking the US Patent and Trademark website directory. If you are based in another country, you will want to check that country’s trademark authority’s website.

Search Podcast Directories 🔍

Next, you want to check podcast directories to see if anyone is already using your title. You can click in to each one of them to search, or you could save a lot of time and just check ListenNotes.com. Listen Notes is a search engine for all podcasts. It is super handy!

You Can Share, But… 🤔

Keep in mind that it is not against the rules to have the same podcast name as someone else. In fact, there are lots of now-defunct podcasts out there so there’s a decent chance that someone in the past used the same podcast name as you.

You just need to weigh the pros and cons. Is the podcast name you have picked so perfect that it is worth the risk of getting confused with another one? Usually the answer is no. Original is better than perfect. But it really depends on a case by case, podcaster by podcaster, basis.

Explore Social Media Handles 🔦

Remember how we talked about how important your title is to your overall branding? This is another instance of that. You will need to use social media to grow your show. That means you need to have an excellent, original social media handle that is consistent across social media platforms.

Namcheckr.com is a great site to use for checking if social media handles are already taken. It lists all kinds of platforms from Twitter to Twitch.

Your Title Does Not Have to Be Your Handle 🤷

Ideally, your exact podcast name is your exact social media handle across platforms. That keeps things super easy for your listeners and followers. However, it is ok if the two do not match. Again, this is one of those times where you have to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. In any case, just make sure whatever you choose is short, intuitive, and easy to spell.

Look at Website Domains 🖥️

The last thing you want to check in terms of availability is a website domain. Having a podcast website, even just a super simple one, is critical for boosting your search engine optimization and therefore your audience numbers. Here at Ausha, we make an optimized website for you. But whether your hosting platform makes you a website or you make your own, you can always attach a custom URL to it.

It Does Not Have to Be Identical to the Podcast Name 👯

Just like what we have talked about in the other sections, it is ok if you podcast name is not identical to the domain name you pick. However it needs still be the same general concept. Ideally, your podcast title, social media, and website is all the same, but it is ok to weigh the pros and cons involved.