Naming Trends: What's Shaping Brands in 2026

Агентство LINII рассказало, как назвать свой бренд в 2026 году

Про тренды в нейминге нас спрашивают круглый год, но настоящие всплески интереса приходятся на сентябрь и декабрь. Сентябрь — это обновление и новые старты, декабрь — итоги и прогнозы.

В нейминге существуют и мода, и сезонность. Но имя бренда, который настроен играть в долгую, не должно от них зависеть, а вот тренды принимать во внимание необходимо.

Тренды в нейминге не возникают из ниоткуда и не исчезают за один сезон. Они накапливаются, крепнут и становятся новым «языком» бизнеса.

Если вы сейчас придумываете название для своего бизнеса, продукта или услуги — самостоятельно или вместе с агентством — вам будет полезно знать, какие подходы к неймингу сегодня можно считать устойчивыми трендами. Об актуальном нейминге рассказала директор неймингового направления LINII Елена Ильина.

Минимализм — не мода, а язык бизнеса

Лаконичные названия всегда ценились, но сейчас особенно. Краткость — не только сестра таланта (в нашем случае — таланта неймера), но и язык вежливости, на котором бренды общаются с аудиторией. Общественное внимание перегружено до предела. Соцсети и магазины приложений только усиливают этот тренд: имя должно легко помещаться в аватарку и быть читаемым даже в миниатюре.

Сегодня короткое название — это уже не «три-четыре буквы», а 7−8. Каждый год регистрировать торговые марки становится сложнее: свободных слов все меньше, а требования к охраноспособности выше.

Придумать вариант из 4−5 букв, чтобы он и звучал хорошо, и требованиям брифа соответствовал, и прошел проверки в нужных классах, — задача со звездочкой.

Наш кейс «В1» — пример решения такой задачи. Чтобы юридически защитить настолько короткое название для федеральной сети дискаунтеров группы компаний «Магнит», мы разработали расшифровку «Первый выбор» и на протяжении всего проекта тесно сотрудничали с юристами как со стороны агентства, так и со стороны заказчика.

Naming has its own seasons and fads. But a brand built to last shouldn't be dependent on them—it needs to be aware of them.

Naming trends don't appear out of nowhere or vanish after a single season. They build momentum, gain strength, and eventually become the new lingua franca of business.

If you're developing a name for your business, product, or service—whether on your own or with an agency—it helps to know which approaches have solidified into lasting trends. Elena Ilyina, Head of Naming at LINII, breaks down the current landscape.

Concise names have always been valued, but now they're essential. Brevity is more than a sign of a namer's skill—it's a form of respect for an audience with critically short attention spans. With social media and app stores, a name must fit neatly in a profile picture and remain legible even at a tiny scale.

Today, a "short" name isn't 3-4 letters, but 7-8. Securing a trademark gets harder every year, with fewer available words and higher legal bars for protection. Crafting a 4-5 letter name that sounds great, fits the brief, and clears trademark checks is a serious challenge.

Our project "B1" is a case in point. To legally protect such a short name for a federal discount chain owned by Magnit, we developed the tagline "Pervyy Vybor" ("First Choice") and worked side-by-side with lawyers from both our agency and the client throughout the process.

Minimalism in naming isn't just about word length—it's also about semantic load. The era of packing ten associations into a single name is over. Consumers don't have time to decode complex messages; clear, direct communication wins now.

It's fitting that a pioneer of this minimalist approach was the Japanese retailer MUJI. The name is an abbreviation of Mujirushi Ryōhin (無印良品), meaning "no-brand quality goods." It emerged in the early 1980s as a reaction to a market saturated with loud, overly branded packaging and advertising—a radical concept for its time.

Philosophy: Minimal design, no flashy logos, only functional, quality products.

The Name: A phrase shortened to two simple syllables.

Communication: A consistent "anti-brand" image: single-color packaging, minimalist stores, and advertising that sticks to the essentials.

Cultural Impact: MUJI became a cultural code. "Muji-style" remains a metaphor for purity, simplicity, and function.

Neologisms are newcomers to language but immortal classics in naming. Today, they're not just stylish—they're often the only viable way to secure a trademark, as many product categories in the Nice Classification are saturated with dictionary words.

While often associated with major corporations and tech startups, neologisms work brilliantly for fashion labels, service companies, and children's brands alike. "Smeshariki," "Rastishka," "Myasli," Lego, Mattel, Smiggle, and Infantino are all successful neologisms in the children's market.

The key advantage of a neologism is its lack of baggage. It has no past, only a future, allowing the brand to imbue it with its own meanings and emotions.

Authenticity and Meaning

Brands can no longer hide behind empty names. People can sense when there's nothing behind a name but a desire to sell.

In 2026, demand will continue to grow for names that communicate brand values, tell a story, and forge an emotional connection.

Examples:

• Seventh Generation: A cleaning products brand focused on sustainability. The name references a Native American principle of considering the impact on the seventh generation to come.
• Eat no Meat: A private-label plant-based meat line at Azbuka Vkusa. The name is a direct, honest statement of the brand's position.
• Beyond Meat: The name emphasizes moving "beyond" traditional meat, offering plant-based alternatives without compromising on taste.
• #WhenIGrowUp: A line of baby products from Pharmalakt. The name speaks directly from a child's perspective to their parents.

The trend toward Russian-language names began even before recent laws mandating the use of Russian in advertising. After decades of Anglicisms and pseudo-English names, consumers are tired of generic, "international"-sounding words. In a sea of sameness, standing out now requires either deliberately long, complex names like Wildberries (a risk few can take) or tapping into the richness of the native language.

Russian offers a powerful resource: rare words, potent metaphors, and clever plays on meaning. While familiar in traditional categories like food, drinks, and mid-to-low-tier cosmetics, it's a relatively new phenomenon in IT and tech. Today, such brands are perceived as modern, self-assured, and culturally rooted—a way to signal you're "not like the others."

For instance, the delivery service "Kuper" was known as Instamart until July 2024, then as SberMarket. The new name made the brand feel warmer and more human, and it's far more memorable for a Russian-speaking audience than its predecessor.

The Verba Mayr wellness clinic, a LINII case study, shows how a recognizable native word can be paired with a universal international element. The result is a name that feels organic to a Russian audience while also appealing to clients drawn to international practices (like the Mayr method itself).

Unambiguous Transliteration

This is less of a trend and more of an unspoken rule. In professional naming circles, suggesting names with complex or ambiguous transliteration is a major faux pas.

Avoiding Negative Connotations in Foreign Languages

The potential rebrand of Subway to "Subboy" is a perfect example of why borrowed word roots must be handled with extreme care.

Sometimes, a tiny tweak can turn a brand into a meme that goes viral for all the wrong reasons.

Any name using foreign elements must be vetted not just for sound, but for unintended associations in major languages. If a brand has global ambitions, this "multilingual stress test" is mandatory.

Storytelling Potential: The Name as a Launchpad

A great name is a comma, not a period. It doesn't end the brand's story; it starts it. This kind of naming creates space for future narratives because it:

• Extends into slogans: Every marketing message feels like part of a cohesive story.
• Works on merchandise: T-shirts, mugs, and stickers become brand assets, not just souvenirs.
• Scales across product lines: It seamlessly integrates into new categories and formats.

If a name only lives on a signboard and is otherwise silent, it's a wasted opportunity. Long-term winners are brands whose names work at every level of communication—from a business card to a viral meme.

Chitay-Gorod  is a prime example of a brand where the name is more than a sign—it's an invitation into a cultural space that unfolds through communication, service, and design. The chain positions itself as a cultural hub, hosting workshops, author meet-and-greets, and campaigns like "The Whole City is Reading" and "Total Dictation."

Uber became a global synonym for speed and service. Derived from the German über ("over," "super"), it's short, memorable, and instantly conveys a sense of "something more." The name naturally became a prefix in its own marketing: Uber-fast, Uber-easy, Uber-safe. Even without slogans, the name itself communicated "better, more convenient, faster."

It proved to be the perfect foundation for an ecosystem:

• Uber Eats: "Super-food," delivered with speed and convenience.
• Uber Freight: "Super-freight" for logistics.
• Uber for Business: The logic of a "super-convenient" corporate service.

The word "uber" has since entered everyday slang, and the brand made it even more ubiquitous. This eventually gave rise to the term "uberization," a metaphor for the digital transformation and rise of platform-based services—a concept now widely used in Russia and beyond.

What's on the Way Out

We've covered what's in. Now, for the approaches that are fading:

• Anglicisms for the sake of Anglicisms: Choosing an English word simply because it "sounds cool."
• Overly creative acronyms: Abbreviations that are impossible to remember and even harder to decipher.
• Name-puzzles: Trying to cram every possible meaning into a single, convoluted word.

Of course, there are no hard rules in creativity. There will always be exceptions. These techniques won't disappear entirely—they'll remain in the arsenal for brands where eccentricity, kitsch, or deliberate pretension is part of the strategy. The key difference is that now their use will be a conscious choice, not just a knee-jerk reaction to a passing trend.