How to Come Up with the Best Podcast Name Ideas

You’ve got a great idea for a podcast and can’t wait to get started — you just need to come up with a good name. The podcast title you choose will give every potential listener a first impression of your show. You want to strike the right tone and appeal to your target audience.

Giving your podcast the perfect name is simpler than you think. In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to come up with a podcast name that impresses your audience. We’ve also included examples of good podcast name ideas to help inspire you.

Why is a good podcast name important?

Choosing a good name for a podcast is important because you want to give your potential listeners an idea of what they can expect. If you’re not sure what your podcast is about, then you won’t come up with a good name.

A good podcast name also impacts discoverability. If you want to grow your audience, you need a name that is searchable, optimized, and easy to remember. Listeners will rely heavily on context clues from the podcast’s title and cover art to decide whether your show is worth their time.

Since the name of your podcast is so significant, it’s crucial that you choose a good one. But no worries; this guide will help you devise the most epic eponym for your podcast.

How to come up with a good podcast name

Here are ten tips and tactics to utilize when you want to come up with a killer podcast name.

1. Identify and research your target audience

Before you can think about names for your podcast, you need to identify who the podcast is for. Ideally, you already have a topic for your podcast and can start fine-tuning it to determine who you’re speaking to and why they should listen.

Try to imagine the person who listens to your podcast. What do they do for work or fun? How old are they? Where do they live? Some of these questions might not be relevant to your topic, but building a profile this way helps you visualize your target listener.

Now, think about what would attract that listener to your podcast.

An example of incorporating your target audience into your podcast’s name is Diary of a CEO by host Steven Bartlett. The title tells you who’s most likely to listen to the podcast (CEOs and business leaders).

2. Analyze the competition

It’s likely that a podcast covering the same topic as yours already exists, and that’s okay! There’s plenty of space for all of these shows, as long as you add personality or a unique perspective to yours. When naming your podcast, researching similar shows is a good method to scope out the creativity of others.

Take a look at what the competition has done with their podcast names — descriptive words, plays on words, branding, etc. — and try to see what works. What types of titles do the most popular podcasts in your niche have? If you notice a trend, you might have more success with that type as well.

For example, news podcast names tend to describe their frequency, such as The Daily, Today Explained, or Politics Weekly UK. If you’re planning to start a news podcast, you could consider a similar tactic.

3. Stick to your content

The name of your podcast should accurately reflect its content. That sounds obvious, but at this stage, many new podcasters are tempted to give their shows super-specific names, like Brewing the Perfect Matcha Latte.

Maybe your show will be all about matcha lattes at first, but at some point, you may want to expand your subject area to coffee in general, and you’ll be stuck with a name that no longer describes your content. A name like Thanks a Latte would fit better, as it still describes your content but also gives your show some room to expand.

A good example is Planet Money by National Public Radio (NPR). It’s a show about economics and finance, covering stories about individuals as well as global events. When you hear the show’s title, it’s easy to guess what it’s about.

4. Choose your main keywords

You want your podcast to appear on search engine results pages, so you’ll need to keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind when choosing a name. You should include one main keyword you want your podcast to rank for, so when people search for this keyword, your podcast comes up as one of the top results.

It’s not always easy to choose a creative title that also incorporates your keyword. If that’s the case with your podcast, you can add your keyword to the subtitle. If you have a baseball podcast called Stealing Home, for example, you could include the subtitle A Podcast for Baseball Lovers. That way, you can keep both the clever title and your chances of ranking for your keyword, “baseball.”

The podcast Crime Junkie incorporates its main topic keyword in its title: “crime.” It’s a podcast with true crime stories, which is a popular genre for podcasts. Potential listeners searching for a true crime podcast to listen to have better chances of stumbling on Crime Junkie because of its optimized title.

5. Make it easy to write, spell, and search

A cleverly written title doesn’t always translate well when spoken aloud. A pun or play on words with special symbols or characters isn’t a good option for a podcast name. Your listeners will primarily hear you say it, so make it easy to say and spell so they can look it up later. Also, word of mouth is a common way potential listeners learn about a new podcast.

One tip for choosing an easy-to-say podcast name is to speak any potential names to yourself and a few friends, over and over. Do you find it easy to say? Can others understand you well? You will repeat this name a lot.

If you can pronounce it easily and you’re well understood, it’s a good candidate for a podcast name.

One naming example of mixing wit with ease is the podcast Pod Save America. It plays on the original phrase and you know exactly how to spell it when you hear the host say it.

6. Keep it brief but relevant

Long podcast names can be descriptive, but they can also be a mouthful. Shorter is always better when it comes to podcast titles. Podcast production agency Pacific Content analyzed over 600,000 podcasts and found that 75% of all show names are fewer than 29 characters long.

Short names are easier to remember, fit on your cover art, and search for online. Your podcast hosting platform may give you up to 255 characters, but you don’t need to use them all. Keep your podcast’s ID punchy while still alluding to what your show is about.

Good examples are Armchair Expert, Indie Hackers, or The Stoop.

7. Be creative or clever

Clever podcast names are memorable, but only if they fit with the content of your podcast. A play on words could catch potential listeners’ attention, but they may also misunderstand your meaning. If your creative name doesn’t relate to your niche or topic area, listeners may dismiss it.

The history podcast The Rest Is History nails it with a clever title that also gives you an idea of what it’s about.

8. Incorporate your brand name

One idea for a podcast is simply using your brand name. You can only get away with this tactic if you already have a recognizable brand, though. In this case, your podcast is likely not your starting point but an addition to your existing content or digital presence.

Podcasts that discuss or recollect popular TV shows are good examples of incorporating brand names to build recognition and attract listeners. The Office Ladies, Parks and Recollection, and Seincast: A Seinfeld Podcast are just a few shows that took up this podcasting trend.

9. Plug your keywords into a title generator

If you’re really stuck when coming up with names for your podcast, you could plug your keywords into an AI title generator. You’ll get a lot of random results, but you may also get a few interesting titles. If anything, it’ll get your creative juices flowing and maybe inspire you to formulate a better name.

Here are some title generators to check out:

10. Test podcast name ideas with your niche community

If you’ve narrowed your podcast name down to a few ideas, test them out with friends or people in your niche community. See if they can guess what your podcast is about from the name alone. If not, you might need something more descriptive.

It’s also good to test names with people outside your niche. Those within your target audience might more easily discover the topic than someone who’s searching keywords online.

At this stage in the podcast naming process, you should also check to see if any of your potential names are already taken by another podcast. Check podcast apps and search on Google to see what comes up. If you find a show that already has the name, it’s time to move on to another idea. But if the same-name show stopped making episodes several years ago, you can ask the previous showrunner if they can give you the name or would be willing to sell it to you.

Avoid these podcast name mistakes

Bad examples of podcast names can be just as instructive as good ones. When you’re thinking of a name for your podcast, don’t make these mistakes.

1. Choosing a complex podcast name

This should be a no-brainer, but don’t pick a name that doesn’t make sense. Keep it short and simple. Remember, the title should be searchable so new audiences can discover it online.

2. Plagiarizing the podcast name

Don’t steal another podcast’s handle. This goes beyond podcasts, however. Avoid using names that are trademarks, copyrights, existing domain names, or any material that could legally belong to someone else. Even if your podcast includes your brand name, always search for it to see if someone else is using it.

3. Putting the word “podcast” in the title

Don’t call your show something like The Live Streaming Podcast. Try something like Dropped Frames instead. For most shows, adding the word “podcast” is redundant; people know they’re listening to a podcast. It also takes up characters in your podcast name without describing anything. The only exceptions are for well-known brand names and shows that are about podcasting, i.e. How to Start a Podcast.

4. Letting grammar mistakes slip by

One simple overlooked error can leave a poor first impression on your potential listeners, so use a dictionary or grammar-checker to be absolutely sure you’re correct. If the grammar rules are unclear or different depending on the context, consider choosing a different podcast name altogether. If you can’t make sense of it, your listeners won’t either.

5. Keyword stuffing

Trying to incorporate your keyword is good, but overusing it isn’t (e.g., The Baseball Podcast for Baseball Lovers). If it doesn’t fit naturally, don’t force it. Apple Podcasts may even reject your title if you try to stuff it full of your keyword.

6. Using offensive words or language

Don’t use harsh words in your handle. In fact, Apple Podcasts has started rejecting podcast names with expletives that use an asterisk (such as f*ck) because it detects that it might be offensive. You can still make your content edgy and impactful without using offensive language.

Examples of good podcast names

To help you start brainstorming your podcast name ideas, here are some examples of great podcast names.

Descriptive podcast names

Descriptive podcast names advertise exactly what the podcast will be about. They perform well in searches and are easy for your target audience to find.

Creative podcast names

Creative podcast show titles can grab a listener’s attention as they scroll through their podcast app. Just be sure you have a clear subtitle or description.

Podcasts with brand names

If your brand is established elsewhere, you can incorporate it into your podcast name. You could also add your name to the podcast, but the classic formula of “Podcast Name with Your Name” seems to be getting rejected more and more by Apple Podcasts. If you want to use your name, weave it into the title more creatively.

Short and sweet podcast names

You should always default to succinct podcast name ideas because shorter is usually better. Here are some great examples that still make an impact.

Audience-centric podcast names

Stating who your audience is or what benefits your show provides them can make for a good podcast name as well. With this approach, you can be descriptive or creative, as long as your target audience gets it.

Pro tip: Some of these podcasts also experiment with other ways to engage their audiences. About half of top podcasts (51%) in the U.S. produce a video to accompany most episodes. With Restream, you can easily create live video podcasts that you can download and edit for later.

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FAQs

Should I use a podcast name generator?

Using an AI generator can give you some ideas and help spark your creativity when choosing a podcast name. You don’t have to choose the exact name the generator comes up with, but it could inspire you to think of other, similar names. Name generators are best used as brainstorming tools.

How do I register a podcast name?

If you want to trademark your podcast name in the U.S., you should file a trademark application with the U.S. patent office. Once you’re registered, you can take legal action against any other podcaster or brand that tries to use your trademarked name as their own.

Should I use a podcast name checker?

If you want to see if your podcast name idea is already taken, you can search major podcast directories such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and even YouTube to see if a show with your name already exists.

Let’s wrap up

Naming your podcast doesn’t have to be hard. When you follow our tips and guidelines, it’s actually pretty easy. Take your time choosing a name; rushing it will force you to land on a podcast handle you don’t love, and you’ll be stuck with it long afterward. You should pick a name you’re excited about, and with these pointers, you can!

Podcast name ideas: How to name a podcast to attract listeners