Create a name that will draw people to your business. Using words that express what you business operation is all about, selling product; produce your product or create like candy, crafts, selling services like providing offices with equipment, Housing for rental apartments with elderly care unit, motel rooms, pet care, or professional services like accountant, internet consultant, or the new field of social media promotion.
Choose something that people will remember and can spell easily. Length of name is important for promotional purposes like advertising, and domain name for internet business are a couple. Always look for positive connotations for a visual picture. Positive is better than neutral and negative usually has people looking elsewhere. Beings the internet is international check for positive and negative in another language. If you plan to be in the service industry and do consulting work, and the internet is the way you are operating, try internet consultants and personalize it by add initials or first or last name. Does your name reinforce the elements of your business. Does the name allow for your business to grow into other lines.

After you have chosen a name, do an internet search through Google or Alta Vista to find if it is already in use on the internet. You should also check with your county clerk ask the clerk if the state has a fictitious name data base. To stay out of trouble, understand the basics of trademark law, which prevents a business from using a name that is likely to be confused with the name of a competing business. If you choose a business name that's too similar to a competitor's name, you might find yourself accused of violating the competitor's legal rights (called "trademark infringement" or "unfair competition"), and you could be forced to change your business name and possibly pay money damages. You may have to rearrange, change the name or initials used in order to have your own brand.
 

The depth of research necessary is depending on what type of business you plan on having. Are you operating as a DBA( doing business as allows you to operate a business without using your own personal name) sole proprietor, partnership or corporation. Corporation, LLC, or limited partnership, require an in depth search to be sure your name chosen is not the same or similar enough to be confusing to another business. A particularly useful (and free) resource for finding unregistered trademarks is the Thomas Register website at www.thomasregister.com. It's a cross-industry database that includes hundreds of thousands of trademarks and service marks. You can search for federally registered trademarks by using the free trademark database on the USPTO's website. To start, go to the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Business Center at http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm and choose "Search." Then follow the instructions you see on the screen. Check out Network solutions to see if the domain name is available. The sooner that you register your name the less chance you have of someone buying the domain name and then trying to sell it back to you for a big price