Looking for a catchy bar name for your new business? Here are hundreds of classy bar names, clever cocktail bar names and unique wine bar names too! 

Branding experts report that the greatest bars in America have cool or funny names (check out my funny bar name ideas here) – ones that customers remember and tell their friends about.

Your bar’s name is an important part of your brand personality. Make it reflect your unique bar experience – relaxing or boisterous.

Funny Bar Names & Pub Puns

Everyone loves a good laugh especially your bar customers!

Puns are jokes that exploit the different possible meanings of words – a play on words. They can make funny and catchy business names.

Some examples of pub name puns;  Nobody’s Inn, The Half Pint, Make It a Double, or my favorite – The Ugly Mug!

Check out more funny name ideas for your new bar or pub.

Sports Bar Name Ideas

The best sports bar names utilize related words such as team, game, winning, champions, fans, players, gears, balls, bats, and club, etc.

Check out these winning name ideas for your sports bar.

Cocktail Bar Lounge Names

Create a unique name for your cocktail bar by mixing in related words such as lounge, speakeasy, tipsy, bitters, martini, shaker, champagne flute, dirty, flaming, zest, highball, liquor, booze, mixers, neat, shot glass, jigger, splash, spirit, shaken, stirred, straight up, on the rocks, and ice.

Check out these spirited name ideas for your cocktail bar.

Brewery Name Ideas

The best brewery bar names have words related to beer in their names such as; ale, malt, suds, head, hops, foam, barley, bottle, brew, craft beer, draught, on tap, keg, growler, mug, and lager.

Check out these creative name ideas for your brewery or craft beer bar.

Wine Bar Names Ideas

When brainstorming new wine bar names I like to include related terms to wine such as; winery, vineyard, grapes, cellar, barrel, red, rose, vintage, aged, bouquet, chateau, claret, crush, cuvee, decant, dry, elegant and grand cru.

Here is a list of elegant bar names for your winery or wine tasting bar.

Irish Bar & Pub Name Ideas

If you are opening an Irish Pub Bar then try using some of these related words in your bar name such as; public house, shamrock, luck of the Irish, Blarney Stone, Ireland, green, emerald, leprechaun, castle, isle, 0’Grady, Inn

Here are some lucky Irish Pub name ideas you can use – Click for instant name availability check:

Bar & Nightclub Naming Suggestions

Come up with an exciting name for your nightclub bar with these phrases as inspiration; dance, party, soiree (French for a party), soir (French for the evening), beats, tunes, lounge.

To get you started here are a list of jazzy nightclub name ideas you can use:

Beach & Pool Bars Name Ideas

Bars beachside or poolside are fun drinking spots. Create a memorable name that attracts customers using some of these words in your bar name; tropical, beach, sand, water, ocean, pool, blue, sun, sunshine, club, aloha, Hawaiian, tiki, sailing, boats, shack, tan, bikini, oasis, serenity, and island.

Here are some fresh pool or beach bar names you can use for your new bar:

Bar & Grill Restaurant Names

If you plan to open a bar and grill restaurant, here are some words and name ideas to get you started. The best bar names use related words in their naming such as; grill, tavern, kitchen, fire, smoke, bones, charbroiled, steak, chops, beer, and brewery.

Here are some tasty names for your bar grill restaurant that you can use – they are not taken!

PS: Get more of my hot name ideas for BBQ restaurants here

BONUS: More Great Bar Name Ideas

>> How to Name Your Restaurant in 6 Easy Steps

How to Name Your Bar in 3 Easy Steps

The name you choose for your bar business is one of the most important decisions you will make as a new entrepreneur. It’s because names have power and communicate your companies services and values. 

Powerful names can greatly impact your business perception in customers’ minds. We’ll help you come up with a catchy business name for the type of bar you want to open in three easy steps.  

Come let’s get busy naming your bar, pub, tavern, or cocktail lounge…

Step 1 – Determine The Unique Branding Position of Your Bar 

Before you can come up with a catchy business name you need to get clear on your branding position. What types of drinks are you serving? Who are your target customers? What makes your bar special and different?  

A strong branding position will attract good customers to your establishment.  And will make your marketing planning much easier because you will know what your unique benefits are. Come along as we develop your bar brand in two easy steps. 

Your Bar Difference vs Competitors

What “position” do you want to claim a stake in your customer’s minds as opposed to your competitors? 

Is your bar MORE friendly, hipper, comfortable, full of sports fans, serve the coolest cocktails, most interesting wines, best services or outdoor beachside vibe?   

How You Want Customers to Identify Your Bar

What qualities do you want your customers to be reminded of when your bar comes to mind? Are you their place to drink with their sport teams fans, or a place for romantic dates or to sample the newest local craft beers?  

Example of Bar Branding Position:

• A local sports bar with a big screen TV playing all the state and national league games from all sports with comfortable seating to meet friends, drink and watch the games together – cheering their teams to victory and celebrating high school team wins.

Please take a moment to think through these important questions and answer them by drafting your unique branding position as shown in the example above. Trust me having this statement will greatly assist you in the next step to naming your bar business and brainstorming catchy names. 

Step 2 – Brainstorm Name Ideas for Your Bar 

Armed with your branding position statement (discussed above) you are now ready to come up with a list of good name ideas using my pro brainstorming techniques below. Use some or all of the methods and create a long list of possible name ideas for your business. 

Then continue to the next step where we will review each of these naming ideas against the checklist below to determine which is the very best name for your new bar business. 

Check out my full list of 24 ways to brainstorm business name ideas here 

Review Business Name Lists

Read lists of business name ideas such as these below from my blog to get inspiration for your best company name:

Bar business name ideas

Restaurant name ideas list

PS: You can also check my guide on how to name your restaurant which will give you pro tips to name your bar business

Combine Two Words for One Business Name

Blend personal names of two or more owners into an interesting compound business name. Learn the many ways to combine names for your business name in my article here. 

Name Your Company With Your Personal Name  

Some business owners elect to use their own personal name as their business name. Generally, I do not recommend naming your business after yourself – except in a few instances – read more in my article about naming a business after yourself here

FYI: Avoid using business owner initials as a business name.

Some new entrepreneurs decide to use their initials as their company name. This is not a good idea, because names such as The LMI Bar (Larry, Mike and Ira) is boring, easy to forget, hard to spell and pronounce.

Together we can do much better keep reading to come up with your best bar name. 

Use Acronyms to Come Up Company Name

An acronym is different from a name made up of owner initials because it creates a new word. 

Some examples; IBM is an initial name (for International Business Machines) which is spoken as each letter separately – I -B- M.

An example acronym name is LEGO (short for Leg Godt – danish for “play well”) and is pronounced as one word.

Use this online tool to brainstorm some creative acronym business names.

Experiment with Wordplay and Funny Puns

Puns are jokes that exploit the different possible meanings of words – a play on words. They can make funny and catchy business names.

Some examples of pub name puns;  Nobody’s Inn, The Half Pint, Make It a Double or my favorite – The Ugly Mug!

Have fun and get business name inspiration with this free Pun Generator tool.

Try Rhymes for a Catchy Business Name

Using a rhyming name can make your brand more memorable such as StubHub and 7-Eleven. 

Business names that rhyme has a musical quality that helps them stand out in customers’ minds. I used this free online rhyme tool to come up with these names for bar companies:

• The Far Bar
• Star Bar
• Czar Bar
• Jar Bar
• The Bizarre Bar
• Bar Car
• Radar Bar
• Guitar Bar

Utilize Descriptive Word Phrases for Business Names

Use keywords that describe your products and services and their benefits to create interesting and powerful bar company business names.

Begin with your business type -“bar”. Then create a list of related words such as; pub, saloon, tavern, cocktail, nightclub, beer, speakeasy, Bartender, cafe, lounge. 

Check out this free online related words tool

Combine these related words with other words such as; your location, name or specialty drink menu. Here are some bar-related example of names:

• Team Tavern 
• Martini Michigan
• Beer Band
• Cafe Cocktail – Southside

>>Check out my full list of 24 pro ways to brainstorm business name ideas here 

Step 3 – Select Your Best Name Checklist  

By following my recommended steps above you will have come up with a long list of good bar names. Next comes, the critical phase of evaluating your pub name ideas and selecting your perfect name. Use my pro checklist below of important criteria to help you make the best choice.[/callout]

Checklist to Choose Your Best Bar Name- 9 Important Considerations

1. Communicates Your Product and Services – Is it relevant to your menu and offerings? Don’t be so clever that you confuse customers and they can’t figure out what you are selling.
   
   Good name for a bar = Westside Wine Tastings
   Bad name for a bar  = Funky Doings 
2. Manageable to pronounce – Be sure that your name can be spoken (and understood) easily. You want lots of customer referrals so make it easy for word of mouth advertising. People will remember names that are easy to say and forget companies with complex or unpronounceable names.
   
   Good name for a bar = Winners Sports Bar
   Bad name for a bar  = Inter Scholastic Team Sports Bar

3. Easy to spell – Aim for a name that is easy to spell so customers can easily find you in telephone directories and online search engines. Also, the best names are of a short to medium length so they are easier to write and type. 
   
   Good name for a bar = Pub & Grub
   Bad name for a bar  = Steak & Chicken Grill Tavern
4. Simple to remember – The easier it is for customers to remember your company names the more likely they are to refer you to their friends and family.
   
   Good name for a bar =  Boozy Bob’s
   Bad name for a bar  = Bobby Gilberts Joyous Gin Joint
5. Distinctive & Unique – Your best name choice is distinct and unlike your market competitors’ brand names to avoid customer confusion.  Unique names stand out positively. Verify that your name choice is not taken or trademarked in your State.  

6. Is Flexible and Expandable – Choose a name that is flexible enough to allow your business to grow and new products and services. Don’t limit yourself too much. Select a name that provides the ability to expand to other markets and locations also. 
7. Check for Rude or Negative Meanings – Take time to verify that what you think is funny your customers don’t view as rude! Plus research any negative meanings of the words you have in your company name. This is especially important if you serve foreign markets or ethnic customers. Speak to native speakers of their mother tongue to clear your name ideas. 
8. Search Domain Name Availability – Before you decide on your final bar company name check if the corresponding domain name URL is available and buy it if you like. This secures your right to use for your website. If your desired name is not available, don’t fret; here are my expert tips on how to find a matching domain name to your company name, even if your first choice is taken.

Check if Social Media Profiles are Taken – If your domain name is available, then go ahead and check if all the social media account profiles are available.
Check all of the most popular social media sites user names availability with one click at Knowem here.

FYI – If you are interested in opening a restaurant read my detailed list of restaurant startup costs for equipment, rent, food, and marketing here

EVEN MORE: Catchy Bar Business Name Ideas

Bar Business Name Generators: How to Use for Naming Ideas

If you have not found your perfect bar name from the list above of name ideas, then use these bar business name generators. 

Shopify business name generator

BNG Business Name Generator

Keep reading to get my very best tips on how to use these online tools to create truly unique names for your bar, cocktail lounge or Irish pub. 

Step 1: Create Bar Keyword List

To name your bar business start by brainstorming to create a list of keywords related to bars. These are the words that you will enter into the business name generator. 

Remember garbage in – garbage out. This means that the better, more focused, and creative, your keywords are the better – and more interesting – your name idea results will be.

Search Engine 

An easy way to brainstorm keywords is to use Google. Put in your business type ( Bar, tavern, pub, nightclub, wine bar) plus “keywords”. Example – “Irish pub + keywords”. Scroll through keyword pages such as this one and pick up related words.

I found these bar-related keywords =   drink, booze, bottles, beverage, brews, tavern, pub. 

Thesaurus

Also try using a thesaurus for your primary service word (bar) for synonyms (words that mean the same thing) I found  saloon, taproom, drinkery, canteen, bistro, inn, public house, beer garden and watering hole. 

Glossary

Another source of creative keywords is a glossary of bar terms like this one.  Here I discovered even more good keywords to input into the name generator including; collins, cooler, fizz, nightcap, highball, toddy and shooter.

Step 2: Generate Bar Business Names

Experiment by entering various keywords – single and multiple variations – into the bar business name generator tool to generate creative name ideas.

Check out the ones I created by using my keyword list I created using the prior steps.  

List of Bar business Name Ideas Created With Name Generator Tools

Fizz and Suds
Network Brews
Fizzilla Tokyo Bar
Squeeze Booze Bar
Cocktail Tribe
Beer Herd
Love Drinkery
Vineyard Canteen

Step 3: Review and Edit Names

Now let’s take those names you generated and customize them for your perfect bar business name by adding your personal name (Mary, Susie), nickname (Baby, Queenie) or town name/region (NYC, Tri-State, Southern).

Create a shortlist of ones you like. The next step is where we will pick your final name.

Step 4: Select Final Name

The final step in naming your bar business is to ask your customers, employees, friends, and family to give their opinions about your name ideas. 

Have a list of 3-4 choices and ask them which they like best and why. Try not to influence them so you get their true opinion. Ask them for any name ideas they can think of. Some of the best names have come about just this way.

Step 5: Trademark Your Bar business Name

Congratulations on creating your new business name! Now let’s protect it from your competitors. Register your business name by trademarking it, if you like.

Step 6: Reserve Your business Domain Name

Check to see if your intended name is available as an internet domain name for your website. Use a domain search tool because if your exact name is not available, it will offer many suggested names that are not taken.

>> How to Name Your Restaurant in 6 Easy Steps

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