Tips & Ideas For Naming A Catering Business

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Last Updated on October 15, 2020

Considering there are more than 128,000 catering businesses in the United States alone, it’s no surprise settling on a unique name when starting a catering business can be challenging.

Picking the right name gives potential customers an idea about the services or food specialty your business provides, creates a good first impression, and helps you stand out from the competition.

What catering names are you allowed to use? How do you come up with something the represents your delicious food the best? And what about business name best practices?

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If you’re unsure how to answer those questions or are struggling with finding a good name, you’re in the right place. Keep reading to learn my top tips for choosing the perfect business name and how to make sure your favorite choices are available to register.

Let’s dive in!

Tips for Choosing the Perfect Catering Business Name

If you’re struggling to develop some business name ideas, one of the best things to do is just to start brainstorming. As you go through the tips outlined below, make a list of words, phrases, and terms associated with your business.

From there, you can narrow down the list and cross off ideas you don’t like.

Once you have several top considerations, we’ll walk through how to make sure you’re allowed to use them. This last step helps you narrow down your list even more so you can make a final decision.

1. Consider What you Plan to Offer

There are several types of services a catering business can offer, so it’s worth considering the services and food type you plan to offer when picking a brand name. Maybe you want to focus on corporate catering or weddings, or you bake sweet deserts.

Add the different types of services you want to offer to your brainstorming list.

Remember to avoid anything limiting your business’s future growth if you decide to go in another direction down the road.

2. Location-Specific Terms

Many catering businesses are specific to a geographic service area. So, if that’s true for your business, consider adding a location-specific term to your business name.

You can consider things like:

City nicknames
Neighborhoods
Regions or states
And descriptive terms

However, consider what happens if you expand outside your intended service area. Does the name become limiting? If so, it’s best to avoid it if you plan to expand or change directions later.

3. Avoid Business Names That Are Hard to Pronounce, Hear, or Spell

Despite the technological advances of voice search, assistants like Siri and Alexa struggle to understand slang and other confusing words.

This could limit how often your business shows up in voice (and text-based) search if your name is hard to spell, pronounce, or hear. Because of that, it’s important to avoid complicated words, industry jargon, and using numbers in place of letters. While having a unique catering company name is good, being too unique may not be so good.

Keep your business name as simple and easy to remember as possible so potential customers can easily find you.

4. Consider Alliterations and Rhyming Words

Alliterations and rhymes make for catchy names and easy to remember. Because of that, they make for small business names.

That said, it’s not always easy to come up with them. Start with choosing a few of your favorite words from your master brainstorm list.

Then, you can Google “words that start with C” to come up with a name like Classic Cuisine or G for Gourmet Grub or whatever letter you’re using to create an alliteration. Alternatively, you can search “words that rhyme with _____.”

It can be time-consuming, but it’s an excellent place to start.

And don’t forget to add any exciting finds to your brainstorm list while you’re at it. Try not to overthink the names you come up with. Just write them all down as some of the more interesting ones may spark better ideas later.

5. Steer Clear of Initials or Obscure Acronyms

Initials and unusual acronyms are hard to remember, so they typically don’t make great business names. They can also be challenging to pronounce and confusing for voice search as well.

Furthermore, there are 325 different two-letter combination possibilities in the English language. And the odds of your customers remembering the specific letters you chose are pretty small.

6. Imagery Words

Another consideration when brainstorming name ideas is whether there are industry-related words that could also lend themselves to be used in a logo. For instance, a catering business could use silverware or a chef’s hat and focus the name around the image.

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7. Still Struggling? Try the Owner’s Name

If you’ve made it this far and are still struggling to find the best name, you can always consider using the business owner’s name. Doing so works well if the owner also plans to be the face behind the business.

Something to keep in mind is that using the owner’s name as the business name can make it more challenging to sell the business in the future.

8. Look at the Names of Other Catering Businesses

Here is a list of existing catering business names that may help give you some creative ideas. While many of these names may be available for you to use, be sure to check first to be sure it can be used.

Tips on how to check business name availability are after the list of names!

7 Dreams Catering
805 Catering Co
A B C Catering Truck
A Better Way Catering & Events
A Caribbean Taste
A Fancy Fiesta Catering
A New Beginning Catering Service
A Quiet Cook Catering
A Taste Of Paradise Catering
A Touch Of Elegance Catering
All Seasons Catering
Anise Mediterranean Catering
Apple & Hickory Catering Co
Apple Spice Box Lunch Delivery
Armando’s Catering 4u
Around The World Catering
Authentic Fine Catering
Bachman’s Wholesome Catering
Back Bar Catering
Bad Ass Street Tacos Catering
Bad Piggy Catering
Basil Pizza Bar Catering
Bella Banquet Hall & Catering
Bert’s Fine Catering Co
Best Choice Catering
Best Express Catering
Beyond Catering
Big Country Kitchen
Big G’s BBQ Catering
Black Tie Catering
Blackwell’s Catering Co
Bless Your Heart Catering
Bliss Catering
Blossom Catering Co
Blue Crush Catering
Blue Star Catering Service
Bon Appetit Catering Co
Brothas’ & Sistas’ Catering
B’s & B’s Catering Service
Bulacan Bakeshop & Catering
Cali Caters
California’s Best Catering
Carlson Catering & Events
Cast Iron Catering
Catered By Diana
Catering Artists
Catering For All Occasions
Catering Truck
Celebration Catering
Chef Dave’s Catering
Chicken Taco Catering
Chloe’s French Catering Co
Classy Catering
Coast To Coast Catering
Cooked Clean Catering
Corner Cafe Catering
Cowboy Up Catering
Creative Catering Co
Creative Cravings Catering
Crystal’s Socal Catering
Cutting Edge Catering
Day Beak Gourmet Catering
Deb’s Personal Chef Catering
Delectables Catering
Deli Up
Delicious Dishes
Deluxe Catering
Effortless Moments
Eli’s Signature Peruvian Catering
Elite Catering
Excuse My French Catering
Exotic Gourmet Catering
Fancy To Fantasy Catered Affairs
Farmstead Catering Co
Favorite Foods Catering
Firehouse Fred’s Catering
First We Eat Catering
Floating Lotus Catering
Fly By Night Catering
Fresh Table Catering
Fruitfull Foodies Catering
Fuget About It Catering
Garden Of Heaven Catering
Go Express Catering
Golden Gate Catering & Events
Good & Plenty Catering
Gourmet Bites Catering & Events
Gourmet Catering
Guahan Grill Catering
High On The Hog Catering
Honey Blossoms Catering
Hope Catering Service
Ideal Custom Catering
Intentional Catering
Jersey Girl Catering
Jr’s Catering & BBQ
Juanita’s Catering Service
Just N Thyme Catering
K & K Bakery & Catering
Katering By Katie
Kelly’s Kitchen & Catering
Key Ingredients Catering
Kiss The Chef Catering
Let’s Eat Catering Group
Liquid Catering
Liquor Catering For Less
Love At First Bite Catering
Lunch Box Catering
Lunch Time Catering
Marvin Gardens Catering
Masterpiece Catering
Meadow Farms Catering
Mediterranean Catering
Mexican Salsa Catering
Mexico Bonito Catering Truck
Mon Cheri Catering
More Than Enough Catering
Napa Valley Catering
Oasis Catering
Off The Vine Catering
Ola Catering Service
Orange County Catering
Pacific Harvest Catering
Party In A Box Catering
Pink & Purple Catering
Posh Catering & Events
Prestige Catering
Prince Catering
Pro Caters
Ray’s Catering
Real Food Catering
Red Bicycle Catering
Remarkable Events Catering
Root Cellar Catering Co
Rosy & Sons Catering Service
San Diego Indian Food Catering
Sandcastle Catering
Scratch Catering
Signature Catering
Simply Lovely Catering
Simply Recipes
Sky Catering
Slice Of Life Catering
Smelly’s Creole Catering
Smokehouse Catering
So Cal Eats
Soul Fusion Catering
Southern Cafe Catering
Special Event Catering
The Great Spoon
Toast the Host Catering
What’s Fresh
Who’s Cookin’
Wildflour Catering & Design
WYLD Child Catering

Checking the Availability of Your Top Considerations

At this point, you should have several top considerations to choose from. And the best way to narrow it down further is to check each one for availability.

This step is vital because using a name that someone else is using could be very costly, time-consuming to rebrand your business, and possibly embarrassing. There are several places to look to check whether a name is available to use, so let’s walk through each one.

Trademark Search

Trademarks are the most critical, so we’ll start here.

If a name or phrase is trademarked, you’re not allowed to use it in a similar capacity. So, run a trademark search for each business name you’re considering and cross off those that aren’t available.

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Local Search

Just because there isn’t a federal trademark on a name doesn’t mean the name you want is available. That’s because there is a trademark known as a common law trademark. A common law trademark isn’t filed anywhere but provides someone who uses that name in commerce some limited rights in their geographical area to use the name. It can be hard to define how far geographically these rights extend as each industry is different. Still, at a basic level, someone can’t open a business and name it the same or similar name as a competing business in town. If you think the name could potentially create confusion with customers, it is usually best to just find another one to use to avoid potential legal issues down the road.

To do a local search, open up the phone book (if you still have one), and do a Google search to see if there are any local competitors with a similar business name to the one you want to use.

Cross off any similar names from your list and take the rest and let’s keep checking.

State Entity Search (If Applicable)

If you plan to register your catering business as a corporation or LLC, you must register with a unique business name. Each state requires every corporation or LLC to register a unique name for their entity. This doesn’t necessarily protect your name from anyone else using it, but nobody can register a corporation or LLC under the same name in your state.

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If you find the name is in use, cross it off your list and move on.

Domain Name Availability

Website addresses aren’t as critical as the first three searches, but it’s still worth doing. Typically, you want your domain name to be “yourbusinessname.com” without any numbers, dashes, etc.

It’s easiest for customers to remember, but these are hard to come by.

However, you can explore other configurations and extensions if your preferred domain name isn’t available. Just remember your customers may have a more difficult time finding you online.

You can start with . Type in the domain name you want to use to see if it’s available. The tool also returns other possibilities you may want to consider.

Social Media Profiles

Next, especially if you are stuck between a couple of names, check and see if anyone is already using your potential catering business names on social media. Consider which platforms such as Facebook or Pinterest you plan to use and start with those.

Keep in mind you may have to shorten your company name for some platforms. Twitter only allows 15 characters, for example.

Start with your preferred platforms and do a quick search for your name. If nothing pops up, that likely means no one is using it, and you’re good to go.

Example: Someone is using startingyourbusiness on Instagram, so I would have to choose a different handle, making it more difficult for customers to find me.

Vanity Phone Number

An inexpensive way to make your business stick out and is easier for your customers to remember is to get a custom phone number with your business name. How much more of a memorable name would you have if your phone number was 855-37C-ATER? Vanity phones are pretty affordable too, with pricing typically around $10-$25 per month, depending on the level of features you need.

Companies like and let you type in words to quickly see if a local or toll-free number is available.

Hopefully, you now have some good business name ideas for naming your catering business. Once you have this list narrowed down to just a few and researched that they are all available, start asking friends, family, and potential customers their thoughts to get feedback, and then pick your perfect catering business name!