How to Name a FranchiseWhat's in a name? When it comes to franchising, a lot of goofy stuff.

So you've decided to start a franchise? Great! You'll need to contact a franchise attorney or consultant; get your Franchise Disclosure Document and operations manual in order; and top it all off with loads of research and other preparation. But before any of that, you've got one important question to answer: What will your franchise be called?

If you're stumped when it comes to conjuring up what you hope will become a household name, here are a few simple guidelines, courtesy of the franchises appearing in this year'sFranchise 500©.

Make It Male
Want to lend some instant authority to your operation? Just take whatever service you offer and add "Mr." to the front. This practice is especially popular among repair and maintenance services; see, for example,Mr. Transmission,Mr. Sandless,Mr. Handyman,Mr. Appliance,Mr. ElectricandMr. Rooter--all guys who by their very monikers sound like you can count on them to get the job done. Weed Man and Rooter-Man can be found on our list as well.

Apparently women don't carry the same weight in the world of franchising. You won't find a single Mrs., Miss or Ms. among the 824 franchises listed in our ranking--though there is one Auntie. (That would be Anne, purveyor of those ultra-fragrant mall-kiosk soft pretzels.)

Give It a Doctorate
Misters are nice, but for a real air of expertise, nothing beats a doctor. Once again, you'll find this word particularly popular among repair and maintenance franchises, likeGrout Doctor,Glass Doctor,Lawn Doctor,Duct DoctorandDent Doctor. But there's alsoTutor Doctor(which offers to heal children's grades?). And for a bit of a friendlier, country-doctor tone, you can always shorten it, as in the case of Doc Popcorn.

If doctors seem dull, you can knight your franchise instead. Grout-cleaning and printing may not be quite on par with dragon-slaying and maiden-saving, butSir GroutandSir Speedyare doing just fine all the same.

Militarize
The few, the proud, the franchisees. Franchising and the military have much in common: strict systems to follow; the need for members who can be both leaders of their own teams and followers of those above them; and, of course, the uniforms. So it only makes sense that some franchisors use a military theme in naming their companies. Among them:Lawn Army,Maid BrigadeandSqueegee Squad. All give the impression of highly trained teams ready and willing to make the world a better place by fighting the forces of weeds, dust and dirty windows, respectively.

And Today's Letter Is ...?
For a while, E and I were pretty hot when it came to letters, especially in their lowercase forms--for obvious reasons in our digital culture. But now youth sports franchisei9 Sports剩下的这一趋势。那么will be the next hot letter for franchise names? The submissions to this year's Franchise 500© provide a few clues.

The next heavy hitter may be D--ifD Pet HotelsandD-BAT Academiesare any indication. N seems popular as well, thanks to its ability to stand in for multiletter syllables like en and even end. Case in point:N-Hance,NRgize Lifestyle CafeandN Zone Sports. (Is there a new character limit for franchise names we haven't heard about, or is this all Twitter's doing?)

Then there's Z. You'll find it leading the way in zpizza and the brand-newZloop Computerand Electronics Recycling Centers. But more often it seems comfortable bringing up the rear, just like it does in the alphabet--often standing in when S just doesn't seem quite edgy enough. Unsurprisingly, this tactic is most popular among franchises that aim to appeal to kidz.

Count On It
But maybe the next big letter won't be a letter at all. Numbers have become quite popular in franchise names, too.

Actually, numbers have always been popular; established franchises likeMotel 6and7-Elevencling to their names despite the fact that those numbers no longer represent what they once did. (When Motel 6 started out, its room rate was $6 a night; and 7-Eleven was originally open--you guessed it--from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

追随他们的脚步是汉堡21,features 21 varieties of burgers. There's also the previously mentioned i9 Sports, as well as kickboxing franchise 9Round. (Apparently 9 is a particularly sporty number.) The number 1 is predictably popular; just askHonest-1 Auto Care,A-1 Concrete Leveling,Restoration 1and1st Inspection Services. But it looks like 2 is done playing second banana, thanks to its ability to stand in for to in names likeGames2U,Assist-2-SellandLive 2 B Healthy Senior Fitness.

Show Some Enthusiasm
You want your customers and potential franchisees to be excited about your business, right? Well, it just takes one simple ingredient to show them that they should be: an exclamation point!

Perhaps because dogs respond positively when their owners show enthusiasm (even if they're enthusiastically saying, "Time for a bath!" or "Let's go see the vet!"), the exclamation point seems especially popular among pet franchises, such as Fetch! Pet Care and Dogs Love Running!

But there are plenty of exclamatory franchise names aimed at humans as well, especially when the services or products they offer just aren't that exciting on their own. Tutoring serviceClub Z!appears to hope that an exclamation point (along with the ever-popular Z) will make kids think tutoring sounds less like extra schoolwork and more like fun. Zoup! (there's that Z again) and Juice It Up! use exclamation points to lend intrigue to foods that might otherwise seem mundane. "Like watching paint dry" is a popular way to describe something boring, so it's no surprise that1-888-Wow-1Day! Paintingfelt the need to spice things up a bit. And results, a fairly ho-hum word on its own, gains power through punctuation at Results! Travel.

Other punctuation marks aren't nearly as popular. You'll find only one question mark on this year's list, in the dare-to-be-different1-800-Got-Junk?

So, soon-to-be franchisor, we hope this look at some of the past and present trends in franchise names will inspire a few ideas for your own first important step in building a brand.

Just don't forget to pay as much attention to all the other steps that come after it. A bad name is probably the easiest mistake to correct when it comes to your franchising journey--dozens of companies change their names every year.

After all, a franchise by any other name would smell as sweet … especially one that sells soft-rolled pretzels.