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Names and taglines that survive Polish

The name works in English, German and Spanish. Then someone in the Polish team says it out loud in a meeting, and there’s a pause. Or you need a name for a Polish product line, and the working title is still a code from the ERP. Either way, it starts with a brief.

€360 excl. VAT per naming round · usually 10 working days

Send a brief What the availability check covers

A projecting lightbox sign on a tenement façade

Druga Zmiana – mieszanka na po czternastej

Second Shift – a blend for after 2 pm

Sample
lightbox_druga-zmiana_03.jpg · version A

Thirty in, one out

  • 1

    About 30 candidates.

    Descriptive, associative, coined words, compounds. You don’t see this list. I cut anything a Polish shopper can’t say or spell after hearing it once, anything that means something unfortunate in Polish or English, and anything a domain or trademark search rules out straight away.

  • 2

    A shortlist of 8,

    each with two or three sentences of reasoning, the name used in a sentence, and its Polish case forms. Polish grammar will put your name in “from X”, “at X” and “with X”, so it has to cope with endings.

  • 3

    Your pick and one refinement round.

    Shorten it, merge two, find a variant with a free domain.

  • 4

    None of them right?

    Another shortlist of 8 costs €220 and usually takes 7 working days. What you rejected the first time sharpens the second.

    • What the availability check is, and isn’t

    It covers

    • whether the .pl and .com domains are free on the day I check;
    • the public trademark databases of the Polish Patent Office and the EUIPO, for the same or an obviously similar name in your field;
    • whether someone in your trade in Poland is already using it, in search results and company registers;
    • how a Polish speaker will say it, and whether Polish letters (ą, ł, ż…) cause trouble in the web address.

    It isn’t

    • Legal clearance. Trademark similarity is judged far more broadly than “is it the same word”.
    • A promise that the name can be registered or that nobody will object.
    • Permanent. A domain that’s free today can be bought tomorrow, so register it as soon as you decide.

    Before anything goes to print, take the chosen name to a trademark attorney. In Poland that’s a rzecznik patentowy. Filing and its cost are on your side.

    Just a tagline

    Keeping your name but need a Polish line under it? About 15 candidates, 3 recommended, each with a note on where it works: shop sign, packaging, email footer, radio. €170, usually 5 working days, one revision round.

    €360 per round

    Scope
    a brand or product name: about 30 candidates, a shortlist of 8 with reasons, a basic domain and trademark-database check
    First draft
    the shortlist, usually in 10 working days
    Revisions
    1 refinement round
    Another round
    €220, usually 7 working days
    Tagline on its own
    €170, usually 5 working days, 1 round
    Naming in English instead
    €500 per round · another round €300 · tagline €240

    Costs more if

    • the name has to work in more languages than Polish and English
    • you need it in half the usual time (+50%, if my calendar allows)

    Not included

    • logo or visual identity
    • trademark clearance searches or filing
    • buying domains

    Naming on the price list

    Working days, counted from an approved brief and a paid deposit. The binding date is in your quote.

    Copyright passes to you once the invoice is paid in full, under a short agreement we sign at the start.

    Prices are shown net of VAT. I’ll add a VAT line once that’s settled on my side.

    How much room a name really has

    The jar label from the invented honey producer in the samples has room for five or six words, the name included. Worth a look before you fall for a long name.

    See the honey producer sample

    A jar of dark honey with a blank paper label on a kitchen table, a window and grey daylight behind it.

    Gryczany. Ciemny, gorzkawy, nie dla każdego.

    Buckwheat. Dark, a bit bitter, not for everyone.

    Sample
    etykieta_sloik_gryczany_02.jpg · version A

    Once the name is settled

    Naming questions

    What happens to a name in Polish grammar?

    It gets endings. A name ending in a consonant usually takes them easily; some names ending in vowels, or in letters Polish doesn’t pronounce the English way, sound odd once declined. Many brands simply leave the name undeclined in Polish. I’ll show you both and say which reads better.

    Who’s responsible for trademark clearance?

    You, ideally with a trademark attorney. Names are filed with the Polish Patent Office or, for the whole EU, with the EUIPO. My check catches the obvious conflicts before you get attached to a name. It doesn’t replace a proper search before filing.

    Should the tagline be in Polish or stay in English?

    It depends on who reads it and where. An English tagline can stay if it’s short and your Polish audience already reads English on your packaging; anything that has to explain or persuade usually needs Polish. I’ll write the Polish options either way, so you can compare.

    What if none of the eight works?

    We talk about why first, then, if you want, I write another shortlist for €220. You’re never pushed into picking one.

    What’s it called right now?

    Put the working name in your brief, even if you hate it, and say where the name will appear first. I usually reply within 2 working days (Mon–Fri, CET).

    Send a naming brief +48 61 856 73 91office@splendidcopywriting.com