Online Tool Store
· 4 min read
How to Name a Podcast People Can Find
Heshan Fernando
Co-founder & COO
You settle on a name, design the artwork, record eight episodes, and then discover three other shows have the same name and one of them has been running for four years.
Renaming after launch means losing whatever search history the old name accumulated, and re-explaining yourself to everyone who found you.
Length is a display constraint
Directory apps truncate long names in list views. How long is too long varies by app, and around 30 characters is where truncation starts becoming common.
That matters more for podcasts than for most content, because browsing in a directory is a primary discovery route. A name whose distinguishing part is at character 40 shows up in lists as its generic first half.
“The Weekly Roundup of Urban Beekeeping Practice” displays as “The Weekly Roundup of Urban…” — which is not the show, and is not distinguishable from four other weekly roundups.
Short names also work better spoken aloud, which matters when listeners recommend a show to each other.
Descriptive against evocative
Both work and they fail in different ways.
Descriptive — “Urban Beekeeping Weekly”. Immediately clear, searchable by topic, and forgettable. Someone searching the topic finds it; nobody remembers it unprompted.
Evocative — “Smoke and Frames”. Memorable, distinctive, and invisible to anyone searching for the subject.
The pattern that works for most shows is evocative with a descriptive subtitle, since directories display a subtitle or description alongside. “Smoke and Frames — urban beekeeping, fortnightly” gets both.
Purely evocative names work for shows with an existing audience to bring with them. For a new show relying on discovery, some descriptive element is doing real work.
| Style | Discovery | Memorability |
|---|---|---|
| Descriptive | Good | Weak |
| Evocative | Weak | Good |
| Evocative + subtitle | Good | Good |
Check before you commit
Three checks, all quick, all worth doing before any artwork is designed.
Search the name in two directories. A collision with an existing show costs you every search that should have found you, and confuses listeners who find the wrong one.
Check the domain and the social handles. Not essential, and much easier than changing later.
Check trade marks in your category and jurisdiction. Short names are frequently registered.
The cost of these checks is twenty minutes. The cost of skipping them is discovered after launch.
Names that cause practical problems
A few patterns worth avoiding for mechanical reasons:
Hard to spell — anything a listener would have to see written down to search for.
Hard to say — podcasts are recommended verbally more than most media.
Containing punctuation that behaves oddly in URLs and search.
Starting with “The” in a directory that sorts alphabetically, where it groups your show with every other one starting the same way.
A common phrase, which competes with every other use of it in search.
The subtitle carries the topic
Directories display a subtitle or short description alongside the name, and it does the work a purely evocative name cannot.
That gives you two fields with different jobs. The name is short, memorable and distinctive. The subtitle is descriptive, keyword-bearing and explanatory.
“Smoke and Frames” with the subtitle “urban beekeeping, fortnightly” gets discovery from one and memorability from the other. Either alone gives up half.
The subtitle is also easier to change than the name, since nothing is attached to it. Revising it as the show’s focus shifts costs nothing, while renaming the show costs the search history.
Write the name to be remembered and the subtitle to be found.
Common mistakes to avoid
- A name too long for list views, so the distinguishing part is truncated.
- Purely evocative naming for a new show with no existing audience.
- Skipping the directory search before committing.
- A name nobody can spell from hearing it.
- Renaming after launch, which discards accumulated search history.
How to do it with Podcast Name Generator
The Podcast Name Generator works to the display constraint.
- Describe the topic in the words a listener would use.
- Choose a style — evocative with a descriptive subtitle suits most new shows.
- Keep the name under about 30 characters.
- Search each shortlisted name in two directories before designing anything.
Other generators are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
Should the name describe the topic?
At least partly, for a new show. Podcast discovery leans heavily on search and browsing, and a purely evocative name gives a browsing listener nothing to go on.
How long can a podcast name be?
Technically long; practically under about 30 characters, because list views in most apps truncate. A name whose point is at the end loses it everywhere it matters.
What should I check before committing?
Search the name in two directories, check the domain and social handles, and check trade marks in your category. Renaming later means losing the search history attached to the old name.
Final thought
Search the name before you design the artwork. Twenty minutes at the start beats renaming a show that people have already subscribed to.