Domain Name & Brand Name Scorer

A brand name is spoken, typed, remembered and misremembered, and each of those uses places demands on the name itself. This scorer looks at the shape of a domain or brand name against six simple checks and gives a score out of 100, with a table that explains every point. It is a quick way to compare candidates, not a judgement on whether a business will succeed.

What you enter

Type a domain such as brightwave.com, or just a name. A pasted web address is cleaned: the scheme, a leading www and any path are removed and capitals become lower case, so an address ending in BrightWave.com and a page path becomes brightwave.com. A second box lets you enter another name to compare. Only letters, digits and hyphens are accepted, and an empty entry is rejected with a message.

The six checks

Length gives 25 points for 4 to 10 characters, 15 for 11 to 14 or for 3 or fewer, and 5 for longer. Characters give 20 for letters only, 8 if there is a hyphen or a digit, and 0 if there are both. Syllables give 20 for two or three, 12 for one or four and 5 for five or more, from an estimate that counts groups of vowels and ignores a silent final e. Pronounceability gives 15 when there are no runs of five or more consonants and between 25% and 60% of letters are vowels, and 5 otherwise. Spelling risk gives 10 for no common traps, 6 for one and 2 for two or more, counting patterns such as ph, ck, kn, wr, gh, q, x between letters, z and doubled letters. Extension gives 10 for .com, 7 for well-known ones such as .io, .co, .app, .org, .net, .in, .ai, .dev, .me, .us and .uk, and 4 for less familiar ones; with no extension it gives 7.

Reading the result

The score line shows the points and the grade. A table lists each check with the points earned, the maximum and a sentence explaining the result, such as “A natural mix of vowels and consonants.” A note reminds you that availability, trademarks and meanings in other languages are not checked, and suggests saying the name aloud to three people and asking them to type what they heard.

Worked examples

The default name, brightwave.com, scores 96 (Excellent). Its label has 10 characters (25), letters only (20), about two syllables (20), a natural mix of vowels and consonants (15), one spelling trap, the “gh” in bright (6) and a .com extension (10). In the comparison sample, xtreme-tech-solutions24.net scores 42 (Weak): its 23 characters earn 5 for length, the hyphens and digits earn 0, about six syllables earn 5, the pronounceability check earns 15, no spelling traps earn 10 and the .net extension earns 7.

Beyond the score

Say the name aloud on a phone call and ask the listener to spell it back. Search for it to see who else uses it, in your country and others. Check social handles and trademark registers. Read it as a lower-case string to make sure it does not hide an unwanted word. Consider how it looks in a logo and in a short link.

Limits

The score judges form only. The syllable estimate can be off by one, the spelling-trap patterns are a rough list, and the grades are this tool’s own. It never contacts a registrar or any other service, so it cannot tell you whether a domain is free. It is a checklist, and good names sometimes break the rules.

Related tools

• Startup Idea Validator assesses the idea behind the name.
• Lean Canvas Maker captures the value proposition that the name should signal.
• Email Subject Line Tester applies a similar rubric approach to another short piece of text.
• Buyer Persona & Empathy Map Maker helps you picture who will say and type the name.