We'd been building a domain naming tool for weeks. The irony wasn't lost on us: we had a working product that could generate and score hundreds of domain names, but we still hadn't named the product itself.
The spreadsheets were getting out of control. DomainBrain. Taken. NameForge. Taken. BrandBot. Sounds like a Telegram spam account. After three days of manual checking and second-guessing, we decided to do the obvious thing - use our own tool.
Why Naming a Naming Tool Is Harder Than It Sounds
Building a domain naming tool means your name becomes your first case study. If your product promises to find great names, but your name is forgettable or generic, you've already lost credibility.
The stakes felt higher than usual. According to 2025 domain market research, 68% of founders report losing users because of confusing URLs. And 73% of startups prefer .com even if it costs more - which tells you something about how seriously people take domain quality.
We needed a name that was:
- Memorable - People should remember it after hearing it once
- Relevant - It should clearly signal what the product does
- Professional - No "clever" misspellings that erode trust
- Available - Not just any TLD, but a good one
We'd already written about how to score domain ideas and the pitfalls of naming SaaS products. Time to practice what we preach.
The Brief We Used
We ran our own tool with this brief:
What we're building: A domain name generator that is super creative as it uses AI. It sends an army of AI agents out to brainstorm great ideas for business domain names and then checks them for availability, evaluates them, ranks them, and provides background risk searches.
Target audience: People starting up businesses, particularly SaaS vibe coders.
Target TLDs: .ai, .io, .com
Nothing fancy. Just a clear description of what we were building and who it was for.
The Results: Our Actual Top 10
Here's what came back. These are real scores from our production system.
| Rank | Domain | Score | .ai | .io | .com | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | urlgenie.ai | 98/100 | Available | Available | Premium ($995) | The term "Genie" perfectly captures magical one-shot generation. Combined with "URL," it's descriptive and memorable. |
| 2 | thenamewell.com | 94/100 | Available | Available | Available | Metaphorical name suggesting a deep source of naming inspiration. "Well" implies abundance and reliability. |
| 3 | domainfoundry.io | 91/100 | Available | Available | Taken | Evokes precision craftsmanship. "Foundry" suggests quality manufacturing. |
| 4 | neuralnames.ai | 91/100 | Available | Available | Premium ($9,888) | Captures the AI aspect perfectly. Sounds sophisticated and cutting-edge. |
| 5 | botbranding.ai | 90/100 | Available | Available | Taken | Directly communicates AI and branding. Clear, memorable. |
| 6 | brandingbots.io | 90/100 | Taken | Available | Taken | "Branding" is direct, "bots" implies automation. |
| 7 | brainybrand.ai | 89/100 | Available | Available | Taken | "Brainy" implies intelligence. Highly memorable. |
| 8 | promptnames.ai | 89/100 | Available | Available | Taken | Directly references AI interaction. Highly relevant. |
| 9 | agenticnames.ai | 88/100 | Available | Available | Premium ($9,888) | Clearly points to AI agents. Perfect for tech-savvy audience. |
| 10 | brandsynapse.ai | 86/100 | Available | Available | Taken | Sophisticated AI terminology. Sounds intelligent. |
Why URLGenie Won
The winning name scored 98/100. Here's how that breaks down across our five brand metrics:
Brand Fit & Clarity: 20/20 "URL" tells you exactly what the product deals with. "Genie" implies something magical that grants wishes - which is exactly what a naming tool should feel like. No guessing required.
Verbal Clarity: 20/20 Three syllables. No tricky spellings. Passes the radio test - if someone hears "URLGenie," they know how to spell it. Compare that to something like NeuralNames (is it "neural" or "nueral"?) or BrandSynapse (synapse? synopsis?).
SEO Potential: 20/20 Contains "URL" which signals domain-related content. The name is unique enough to rank for branded searches while staying relevant to the category.
Resale Value: 19/20 Short, memorable, and in a growing category (AI tools). The slight deduction: "URLGenie" is more category-specific than something like "Genie.ai" would be.
TLD Authority: 19/20 The .ai extension is perfect for an AI-powered tool. It reinforces the product's positioning while maintaining credibility. A .ai domain signals technology and innovation to our target audience.
The Risk Analysis Flagged Real Issues
Our system doesn't just score names - it scans for potential problems. Here's what it flagged in our top candidates:
- brandsynapse.ai: Conflicts with "SYNAPSE" trademark for software and an existing branding agency using the name.
- nameswarm.ai: Conflicts with "SWARM" trademark for business services.
- scoutnames.ai: High risk due to protected "Scout" trademark (Scouting America, Scout Motors).
- domainfoundry.io: Confusion risk with existing "DomainsFoundry" registration business.
URLGenie came back clean. No trademark conflicts, no confusingly similar businesses, no negative brand associations. That mattered as much as the high score.
What We Almost Chose
TheNameWell.com was tempting. It scored 94/100, had the .com available, and sounded elegant. But it felt too metaphorical for a technical tool. When your audience is developers and startup founders, clarity beats poetry.
DomainFoundry.io at 91/100 was another strong contender. The "foundry" metaphor - a workshop where things are crafted with precision - felt right for a naming tool. The .io TLD works well for tech products. But "foundry" felt slightly industrial for a creative tool, and the risk analysis flagged an existing "DomainsFoundry" business that could cause confusion.
We considered NeuralNames.ai briefly - it clearly signals AI technology. But the pronunciation ambiguity ("nueral" vs "neural") felt like unnecessary friction for word-of-mouth.
The Unexpected Decision: Register Multiple Names
Here's something we didn't expect to do: we registered the top three names.
- urlgenie.ai (primary)
- thenamewell.com (backup)
- domainfoundry.io (defensive)
Why? The quality was high enough across all three that it made sense to protect our options. Total cost was under $100. For context, the naming agency quotes we'd received ranged from $8,500 to $22,000.
This is the honest truth about how URLGenie got its name. We ran our own tool, reviewed the results, checked the risk analysis, and picked the top scorer. The whole process took about 5 minutes of active decision-making.
What This Experience Taught Us
Running our naming tool on itself revealed things we wouldn't have noticed otherwise:
Scores matter, but so does availability. A 98/100 name that's taken is worthless. The real value is seeing scores alongside availability status across multiple TLDs.
Risk analysis catches what you'd miss. We would have wasted time on BrandSynapse without the trademark flag. Manual research would have taken hours.
Having many options reduces attachment. When you have 50 scored candidates, you're less likely to force-fit a mediocre name because it was your first idea. You can be objective.
The process itself builds confidence. Seeing the scores and verdicts made the final decision feel less like gambling and more like analysis.
Try It Yourself
We built URLGenie because we needed it. We named URLGenie by using it. That felt like the most honest test we could run.
If you're stuck in the same loop we were - spreadsheets, manual checking, second-guessing - give systematic naming a try. Whether you end up with a 98/100 or something more modest, at least you'll know why you chose it.
That confidence is worth more than the name itself.