Treat every candidate as a hypothesis: creatively promising, practically unverified and ready for a documented review.
01 / NOTE
Let the creative stage stay creative.
Early naming work should make room for contrast. Explore different tones, structures and associations before narrowing everything to the safest familiar word.
That freedom is useful because it reveals the character the business could carry. It is also why the result must remain a direction until the practical checks are complete.
02 / NOTE
Check the layers separately.
A promising name needs several different kinds of review. Look at meaning and pronunciation, relevant company registers, current domain status and the trademark landscape in the places and categories that matter.
One positive result does not settle the others. A domain can be available while a similar registered mark creates a different concern. A company name search can also answer a narrower question than a trademark review.
03 / NOTE
Keep a decision record.
Write down what was searched, where, when and by whom. Record the versions and spellings considered, the evidence found and any questions that need qualified advice.
The goal is not to turn founders into lawyers. It is to keep a creative preference from quietly becoming an unsupported legal assumption.