Why naming a startup slows so many founders down (and validation question)

Hey IH 👋

I’ve been building small products for a while now, and I noticed a pattern I couldn’t ignore:
The naming stage slows down almost every founder I talk to.

Not because creativity is missing — but because the moment you find a name you love, the domain is already taken.

So the process becomes:

• brainstorm
• check availability
• get disappointed
• repeat
  and repeat
  and repeat.

It kills momentum.

Naming should be playful, but in reality it turns into a friction point.

So I started experimenting with CraftName.app (check in profile if interested) — a small tool that:

• generates short, brandable startup names
• checks domain availability instantly
• suggests smart alternatives, not just random syllables

The goal is not to “replace creativity”.
The goal is to remove the frustration loop.

Now I’m trying to understand the deeper pain here:

Do founders struggle more with:

1. coming up with names, or
2. learning whether the names they love are available?

Both are painful, but one of them is likely the real blocker.

Question for you:
When naming your past projects, what was the biggest struggle?
(And feel free to expand in comments — I’m building based on this.)