Pie Company Names: 30 Ideas and a Label Fit Check

On this page

1. What should a pie company name do before anything else?
2. 30 pie company names to start from
3. How do you test a name in five minutes?
4. What does one pie earn once ingredients, labor, and overhead are paid?
5. What should you check before you print labels or cards?
6. Which naming mistakes cost home pie sellers the most?

Choosing among pie company names comes down to three small decisions: what you want to be known for, what fits on a sticker, and what you can use in your state. Below are 30 starting points, a five minute test, and the checks to run before you pay for printing. If you want more wordplay built around the word pie, see names with pie.

What should a pie company name do before anything else?

Your name has three jobs. It has to be easy to say when a customer asks who made the pie. It has to be easy to read on a label about the size of a business card, and it has to be easy to find when someone searches for you. A clever name that fails the phone test loses orders you never hear about.

30 pie company names to start from

Here are 30 pie company names, grouped by the feeling they give. These are starting points, not cleared names. Run any one you like through the checks below before you print a single label.

By the pie itself: Peach Window Pie Co., Sour Cherry Sunday, Buttermilk Sky Pie, Brown Butter Pie Works, Double Crust Dear, Lattice and Linen, Hand Pie Hut, Rhubarb Post.

By the porch and the kitchen table: Front Porch Pie, Kitchen Table Pie Co., Second Slice Pie, Porch Light Pies, Blue Dish Pie Co., Warm Shelf Pie, Sunday Cool Pie, Back Door Pie Co.

By the sound of the words: Pans and Petals Pie, Crumb and Copper, Rolled Edge Pie, Pie and Preserves, Tin and Thyme Pie Co., Sugar Maple Pie Co., Post Road Pie.

By the road you live on: Mill Street Pie Co., Orchard Row Pie, County Line Pie, North Field Pie, Oak Hill Pie Co., Main Street Pie, Maple Corner Pie Co.

Mix and match if none of these fit. Take one word that says what you bake, like crust, slice, or lattice, and one word that says where you bake, like a street, a tree, or a porch. Two plain words beat one clever word nobody can spell. For fruit specific options, see apple pie name ideas.

How do you test a name in five minutes?

Run every name you shortlist through the same five steps. Do them in order, because the first two are free and the last three take a little digging.

1. 1

   Say it out loud on the phone

   Call one friend and use the name in a sentence. If she repeats it back wrong or asks you to spell it, that is your answer.

2. 2

   Shrink it to a sticker

   Write the name inside a box two inches wide. If it needs three lines or a tiny font, it will not read on a lid sticker.

3. 3

   Search the trademark database

   Look the name up in the USPTO trademark search. Save a screenshot and the date, even when you find nothing.

4. 4

   Check your state and your handle

   Look at your state business name records, then check the social handle and web address you want.

5. 5

   Sell it out loud for a day

   Use the name with three real customers before you order anything. Watch their faces, not their compliments.

What does one pie earn once ingredients, labor, and overhead are paid?

Take a nine inch apple pie sold for $36. Ingredients come to $7.20. A box and a printed label add $1.40. You spend 75 minutes on it and pay yourself $15 an hour, which is $18.75. Your shop costs $20 a month, so across 20 pies that is $1.00 a pie. Total cost is $28.35, and the margin is $7.65, about 21 percent.

At 20 pies a month, that $7.65 margin adds up to $153. A reprint of labels and cards comes straight out of it. That is the real reason to run the name checks first: the name is free to change today and costly to change after 250 stickers arrive.

What should you check before you print labels or cards?

Start with the USPTO trademark search, then your state business name records and any local registration your county asks for. Write down what you searched and the date. A name that is clear in one place may not be clear in another, and your notes are what you show if a question comes up later.

Measure before you design. A long name can shrink to unreadable on a 2 inch lid sticker, and a short one leaves room for the flavor and your price. If you sell at a market, stand three feet back from a printed sample and see what you can still read.

Which naming mistakes cost home pie sellers the most?

The first is falling for a name before searching it. The second is copying a name you saw on a market table, which invites a complaint you do not need. The third is choosing a name you have to spell every single time you take an order.

Then there is the long name. It looks lovely on a page and disappears on a lid sticker. And the quiet one: changing your name after repeat customers learned the old one. Each of these wastes printing money you already spent.

• Funny pie names: 20 ideas and a 4 step sign test
• Different pie names: 32 ideas that help pies sell
• Baked goods company names: 4 checks before you commit

Common questions

Can I use my own name as a pie company name?

You can, and many home sellers do. Your own name is easy to remember and hard to copy. The catch is that it is also hard to sell later, and it tells a customer nothing about pie. Pair it with a pie word, like a surname plus Pie Co., so the label still explains itself.

Do I need an LLC before I pick a name?

Not always. Choosing a name and forming a business entity are two separate steps, and the state filing usually comes after you settle the name. Pick a name you can search and print, then talk to a tax professional about whether an LLC fits your income and your risk.

How do I know if a pie company name is already taken?

Start with the USPTO trademark search and your state business name records. Write down what you find and the date. A name can be free in your state and still conflict with a registered trademark, so do both searches before you order labels, cards, or a sign.

Should the name say what kind of pie I make?

A pie word helps on a label because it does the explaining for you. Words like pie, crust, lattice, and slice tell a new customer what you sell in one glance. You can keep a personal or place name too, as long as the pie word still shows up on the sticker.

What if I sell pies in two states?

Check the rules for each state where you sell before you print anything. Look at both states' business name records, and ask a tax professional what each state expects from you. Keep your searches in one folder so you can show your work later.

Sources

1. Search the trademark database
2. Register your business

General information, not legal or tax advice. Name searches and state filing rules are your responsibility, so check with a professional before you commit.