1. 71 Proof LLC

71 Proof is a bar catering firm based in Tallahassee. I started bartending because one of my sorority sisters asked me to bartend her birthday party. She and I were initiated at the same time in 2005 and I was #71!

LaTanya White, www.71proofllc.com/

2. Hug Wraps

In 1/09, during daily radiation treatments for breast cancer, I came up with a design for a kimono style wrap for myself to wear instead of that nasty hospital gown. After making this wrap, of flannel material, I tried it on and instantly said “This feels like a nice warm Hug” and switched around the words and called it my Hug Wrap.

Brenda Jones, www.hugwraps.org

3. Accidental Leader

I was again back conducting a conflict resolution with the 3 three executives of a billion dollar engineering co., and I thought “How did I get here?” It hadn’t been strategically intentional, it had well occurred by ACCIDENT!

Sue Porter, www.AccidentalLeader.com

4. Heidzillas

I’m a wedding planner, named Heidi, and the name of my business is Heidzillas. It was a joke/play on words with my bridesmaids when I got married and stuck when I started my business.

Heidi Baumgart, www.heidzillas.com

5. HEADS UP . EYES OPEN . INC

Our business is named headsup-eyesopen-inc because we learned to pray with our heads up and eyes open when traveling to countries that do not accept people praying in public. We make all natural soap and donate all profits to missions around the world.

Pat Harmeyer, www.formissions.com

6. Dog Hair Incredibles

We came up with this because as we were making collars and leashes dog hair floated everywhere causing us to say ” Its incredible how dog hair gets into all of our stuff.” We realized that our customers didn’t HAVE to buy for their pets, they LIKE buying more stuff for them because they think their dogs need more stuff.

Rachel Sentes, www.doghairinc.com

7. DCU

Digital Federal Credit Union, or DCU as it’s become known to most of our members, was organized by the now defunct Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1979. In 1999, DCU officially changed its name to Digital Federal Credit Union and by keeping the word digital, the credit union paid homage to its heritage for its long-time members, for newer members, it described the high-tech financial institution DCU has become.

Sure there a lot of people out there that think of comics or a soccer team when DCU pops up, but we’re the largest credit union in New England and among the top 30 nationwide. Even today, the legacy of DEC lives on through our name.

John LaHair, www.dcu.org

8. MWI

I owned the domain mwi.com, and seeing as how three letter .com domains are so rare and useful, I had to name my new company MWI. I figured I could come up with a name later, but its been eight years, we even had contests, and yet its still just MWI and it stands for nothing at all.

Joshua Steimle, www.mwi.com

9. Cutey Baby

When I had my daughter Zola in 2007, my husband and I always called her our little Cutie Baby. When I decided to start my own baby products company in 2009, I was thrilled to find cuteybaby.com was available – so that became the name of the site and company.

Ada Vaughan, www.cuteybaby.com

10. Monkey Toes

I had the idea for my business before the name – the name came after my daughter was born and I started calling her “Monkey Toes” – because of her long toes. After that, I thought what a perfect name for a shoe company!

Jenny Ford, www.monkey-toes.com

11. Doie Designs

Doie is named after designer Sara Kirsner’s grandmother, who well into her eighties is still Sara’s style icon. From vintage Calvin Klein coats to tee-shirts from the Gap, Doie is always put together in a chic, individual way.

Sara Kirsner, www.doiedesigns.com

12. Cold Sores Begone

In my kitchen, and for personal use, I developed a topical herbal remedy that instantly prevented my cold sore eruptions. Shortly before I lost my job, my closest friend, a pewter wizard collector, died, leaving me an inheritance, used to start marketing my remedy, Cold Sores Begone(tm), a name I chose to honor and memorialize my friend.

Robin Barr, www.coldsoresbegone.com

13. Jackboy’s Dog Bakery

I started the company after having great pleasure and knowing my dog is getting healthier treats than those out there with lots of chemicals, color dyes and fillers. I named the company after my dog, Jackboy. Jackboy is the brand, the face of the company customers recognize. We are into our 4th year in business, selling in over 20 stores locally and online to individuals nationwide.

Athena Yap, www.jackboydogbakery.com

14. Pearl Advisory Partners

My business consulting firm is named Pearl Advisory Partners after my aunt – who isn’t named Pearl. Her name was Patricia Rita Lamberti so her initials were PRL and I turned that into PeaRL.

She was the first career woman I ever knew and I always aspired to be like her. As an adult, my aunt was one of my key mentors through two career changes, including my dream to start my own consulting firm. Unfortunately, she died before I launched my firm, but she is with me all of the time – in name and spirit.

Jennifer Crews , www.pearladvisory.com

15. Therapy in Transition

I lost my dog, Tito, to bone cancer, and the experience changed my life. Ultimately, I found my purpose in life through that experience and started my own company called Therapy in Transition — or “TiTo” for short– to honor his memory and the life lessons I learned from him

Karen Kleinwort, www.therapyintransition.org

16. Lucky Eliza

My grandmother, Eliza, helped me sew the first prototypes for my patent and she passed away when I graduated from college. I didn’t have any kids to name after her so my business is named in her honor.

Shawnee Huie, luckyeliza.com

17. Forever Heart Publishing

My company name is “Forever Heart Publishing”. It is in memory of my son who will live forever in my heart.

Michelle Murray, www.foreverheart.ca

18. Jack The Donkey

JackTheDonkey.com was a URL I bought a few years ago as a “backhanded tribute” to a relative’s ex-husband. It sat dormant until I realized that thisassgivesapoop.com and made it my mission to spread the, “giving a poop freely, regularly, socially and musically (with the recent addition of iGiveapoop) for the charities we give a poop about” movement.

David Katz, jackthedonkey.com

19. Beagle Bay

Our business is called Beagle Bay, Inc because our dog barked incessantly. When our logo was designed, the creator stuck a bit of water in behind the dog to suggest “bay” meant a body of water.

Jacqueline C. Simonds, www.beaglebay.com

20. 3rd Eagle

My grandfather was a minister for the Arapahoe Indians in the 1930′s and his 3 sons were called: Little Shield, Yellow Eagle and Blue Eagle. I am the 3rd son of Blue Eagle.

George Tyler, www.3rdeagle.com

21. Walker Sands Communications

There wasn’t a founder named Walker or a founder named Sands. Rather, our name is derived from a favorite poem of ours by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “A Psalm of Life”. In this poem, Longfellow advocates that we never approach life passively, that we instead make our lives sublime and “leave footprints on the sands of time”.

Ken Gaebler, www.walkersands.com

22. Pretty Young Professional

My business is named after the 1983 Michael Jackson song, P.Y.T. Its a stereotype that is often applied to young women, and we wanted to turn it, tongue-in-cheek, back on the deliverer: Actually, its Pretty Young “Professional”. Our conviction? That being young and female does not compromise our confidence, talent, and drive to be taken seriously as professionals.

Kathryn Minshew, www.prettyyoungprofessional.com

23. iGenii

www.iGenii.com was inspired by 1001 Arabian Night’s Alladin we want it to convey the magic power of Omnipotent helper in Cyber Space Best.

Rafael, www.igenii.com

24. Never North

The name of my blog is Never North. It is a reference to Jack Sparrow’s (Pirate of the Caribbean) compass that never points north, but rather to your one truest desire in that moment. The purpose of my site is to inspire people to live life to the fullest.

Jenny Leonard, whereisjenny.com

25. Managed Mischief

My digital media company is called Managed Mischief, Inc. I named it after the magical phrase in the Harry Potter books that hides the Marauders’ Map from unwanted eyes: mischief managed. I picked this because I wanted to convey a sense of fun and show that I have something different to offer my clients.

Ashley Schwartau, www.managedmischiefinc.com

26. Barese

I speak a dying Italian dialect called “Barese” spoken by my father and grandfather – a home builder and a carpenter respectively, who immigrated to Canada 50 years ago. I called on both my woodworking past and my cultural heritage the year my grandfather passed away when I started my yurt-manufacturing business and named it Namasci Inc., a common expression in Barese which mean “let’s go”.

Patrick Ladisa, www.yurta.ca

27. CasaQ

My business name is CasaQ. The spanish translation for casa is home and the Q stands for querida or loving. CasaQ Querida means “loving home” and since people can’t spell querida correctly CasaQ.com is much easier to remember and easier to find on the internet.

Darlene Tenes, www.casaq.com

28. Intemeprantia

Our chocolates come from Switzerland that is comprised of 4 languages derived from Latin so our name is self indulgence in latin. Intemeprantia.

intemperantia.com

29. Chispa

Chispa means a spark in Spanish. Chispa is a spark of innovation in the Latino community.

Patricio Quezada, www.pquezada.com

30. Tallann Resources

Name of your business I started up a staffing, recruiting, and HR consulting company in early 2010 named Tallann Resources. Tallann is the Gaelic (Irish) word for “talent” and my heritage is Irish.

Thomas Erb, www.tallannresources.com

31. Tokii

Tokii comes from the concept of a unique language developed in Canada called Toki Pona, which is made up of 123 words and 14 sounds designed to express the most, using the least. “Toki” is defined as a transitive verb that means “to give and receive; to communicate,” and we couldn’t think of a better word to describe our core values.

Karla Tolstoy, www.tokii.com/

32. Upperline Financial Planning

My company is called Upperline Financial Planning. Upperline is the name of a street in New Orleans that I used to live near. It was local enough that people would recognize it, but without being too location-specific so clients in Chicago wouldn’t think anything of it!

Jude Boudreaux, www.upperlinefinancial.com

33. Teakwood Marketing

Needed to change the name of my company and set up 3 requirements that the name must meet to be acceptable.

After looking at hundreds of names, the only one that really met the requirements happened by circumstance because was then name of the street that I just move toTeakwood Marketing on Teakwood Avenue.

Drew Dinkelacker, www.teakwoodmarketing.com

34. Palavela Homes

Interior designer Ryan O’Meara (in Scottsdale, AZ) named his business Palavela Home when he created it in 2007. Prior to his design career, Ryan was a figure skater who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. The name of the arena where he skated for the U.S. was The Palavela.

Ryan O’Meara, www.palavelahome.com