Podcast Names: Why Are They So Important?

 

Everything about podcasting is unique, weird, magically creative, and refreshingly collaborative. Podcast names are not an exception. In fact, podcast names exist in this dark matter universe where anything goes, including using the same title as five existing podcasts, titles that only your family understands, offensive names, stupid portmanteaus, and titles that offer no clues to what your podcast is about.

Don’t believe me? How about: Cents of Humor; Underwater Racism; The Fourth Trimester; Babies and Syringes; Omnishambles, and for those fascist / racist /eugenics freaks, I give you Aryan Resurrection.

Why discuss podcast names? Because they matter. My analogy is to book covers. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but millions do every year. Every study of book sales shows that a visually engaging cover sells more books than an uninteresting one. It shouldn’t be that way. After all, it’s the words inside the book that count, right? Sadly, kinda, but the cover gets you the sale. Getting the reader to buy your next book-that’s why the words inside matter.

A good podcast show name helps potential listeners peek at what to expect from your show. It can also give you a major step up in discoverability if you take advantage of keywords.

In episode 111 of One Minute Podcast Tips, host extraordinaire Danny Brown discussed podcast names. Danny emphasizes that podcasters should repeat their podcast name, especially at the beginning and end of each episode.

That’s solid advice from a man who knows more about podcasting than the Kardashians crave attention.

In this article, let’s study some podcast names — the good ones, the ones that could be better, and how aspirational podcasters should strategize their podcast title.

First, let’s take a look at some superb podcast titles. A podcast name can be brilliant because it’s creative and stands out because it’s different, but a great podcast title communicates to present and future listeners what the podcast is about.

For example, here are some solid names: Behind The Song (about famous popular songs); Left Right & Center (Politics from different viewpoints); The Nutrition Diva (Duh? about nutrition); Speaking of Psychology (Hello! Psychology); Why Wars Happened (The cause of wars); and Surfing Corporate (surviving in the Corporate world).

The Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever podcast could not be more explicit. You know exactly what you’re getting!

To me, one of the best podcast names ever is Salad With A Side Of Fries. Creator/ host Jenn Trepeck introduces her show this way: “Welcome to Salad With A Side Of Fries, talking wellness and weight loss for real life. I’ll clear up the myths, misinformation, bad science, and marketing and teach you how to eat and how to cheat.”

Thousands of health and wellness podcasts self-promote programs that include restricted dieting and drastic lifestyle changes, usually involving unbridled exercise.

With her mission clear, Jenn Trepeck wants to tell potential listeners her show is about wellness without the weirdness. No hating on all carbs. No 500 burpees before dawn. No drinking apple cider vinegar five times a day.

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Recently, I reviewed three of the best podcast titles I’ve encountered. First, I Shaved My Vag For This is an educational, humorous, and candid podcast hosted by writer/producer Katie Thompson that tackles women’s health, wellness, and the complexities of female anatomy, motherhood, and identity. It features interviews with physicians and researchers to share real science and empower listeners by discussing topics often left unsaid.

Second, creator/host Tara Accardo has come up with one of the best podcast names. Taste Toast Travel. The name is alliterative. The name perfectly describes the show's topic and has a playful, fun vibe.

The great name isn’t just window dressing. Taste Toast Travel lives up to its name. It’s a weekly show, hosted by travel enthusiast Tara Accardo, that explores global destinations through the lens of food, drink, and cultural traditions. It is designed for curious travelers and food lovers who want inspiration for their next getaway or just love learning about the world from home.

The Hairy Chin Podcast, created and hosted by creator/host Spencer Moore, takes its name from one of those unglamorous realities of being a woman that they tend to quietly deal with and rarely talk about. It’s inspired!

The Not Boring, Boring Bookkeeping and Small Business Podcast by creator/host Paul Rosenblum has deftly manipulated a stereotype (accounting and bookkeeping are BORING!) and turned it on its head in the show’s title. The podcast name explicitly tells you the show isn't boring. Paul Rosenblum is true to his word and turns a typically dry subject into an engaging, witty, and practical audio guide focused on the human side of business finances.

Plenty of useful tools can help you name your podcast. First, you can search Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and other podcast apps for podcast names. Second, there are a host of podcast name generators and websites, such Captivate.fm, riverside.fm, and searching PODCAST NAME GENERATOR returns a host of legitimate results.

A podcast like The Art Of Kindness is an interesting study. It’s part of the Broadway Podcast Network, hosted by Robert Peterpaul, where he interviews Broadway people. Yet Peterpaul focuses on kindness, asking his celebrity guests about their acts of kindness and how we can make the world a more gracious place to live.

First, Robert is indeed a kind soul, so he’s not faking for the mic. Second, the podcast title is like a Broadway marquee announcing the show's theme.

Let’s ask a question that has bothered me — and I believe you, too — for years. Why do people duplicate podcast names? We all know that having so many podcasts — active and dormant — makes duplication more prevalent than in films, where only about 125 movies are released each year. Further, many films today are sequels like Rocky 12: The Trump Years or Captain America: That’s Right. It’s My Gulf Now!

If a podcast has podfaded for years and your show will be on a different topic, you might go ahead and use it. However, if someone is actively publishing a podcast, I would advise against using the same name out of courtesy and to avoid creating confusion that will diminish your podcast’s discoverability.

There has been a recent trend toward using the word “F***k in a podcast title to stand out from the podcasting gridlock. As for decorum, that strategy works when it’s endemic to the show. For example, I like WTF with Marc Maron. The WTF gives listeners a sense of Maron’s persona, which drips with crusty sarcasm, razor-sharp insights, and a “I don’t give a F**K attitude.”

Another good example is the Yeah, I F*cked That Up podcast. It’s a unique and well-done show about celebrities screwing up royally. In this case, the title nails the oeuvre of the show. Of course, Spotify has not produced an episode since late 2023. Why? Perhaps because this show makes the rest of their mediocre lineup look bad by comparison.

After all this whining and bellyaching, do I have any positive advice?

First, spend precious time deciding on your podcast name. It shouldn’t be an afterthought, or a random suggestion from the co-host’s brother-in-law, who once worked the light board at a Guess Who cover band concert. How does the name inform potential listeners what the podcast is about?

Second, check podcast directories and podcast apps for similar or identical podcast names. You can Google your potential podcast name and add "podcast" after it. If it’s a duplicate, Google will return a result. Cast a wide net for your search; include other nations.

Third, don’t mistake podcast names that are cute, catchy, creative, and quirky for a podcast title that is self-explanatory. Hey, the Speaking Of Psychology podcast isn’t sexy, but you understand what it's about. The Podcasting Tech podcast explains itself in two words.

A solid podcast like Shop Talk, which is about web design and development, sounds like an auto mechanics podcast. The Next Wave podcast is about AI, but couldn’t it be about surfing? The E Pluribus Motto podcast is a cute twist on E pluribus unum, but what is it about? State mottos, state birds, state flowers — but you don’t know that from the cutesy name.

Fourth, shock value in a podcast name is acceptable as long as it doesn’t obscure the concept of the show. That’s an advantage true-crime podcasts have because this genre typically uses similar words and concepts in titles. Words like Missing, Murder, Finding, Killer, Crimes, Body, and Dark tend to populate true-crime podcast titles. If you run a horror podcast or just want to grab attention, keep it simple.

Lore by Aaron Mahnke is one of the best horror podcasts, and its name suggests the podcast’s motif. Lore, of course, is a shortened version of folklore. It’s so simple, yet it’s genius.

Fifth, subtitles can be useful tools with a few cautionary words. Don’t use a subtitle only because the podcast title is so obscure. Keep the subtitle reasonably short so it doesn’t end up in minute print on the show’s logo. Look how the subtitle to Feed The Queue : A Podcast Discovery Podcast works so splendidly.

Sixth, if you’re not a celebrity, please don’t name your podcast after yourself. I don’t know who Larry Craswell is. Or Dean Marchan? Or Lindsey Carruthers? But they have shows eponymously named.

Seventh, I’ll return to Danny Brown’s words of wisdom. Say the name of your podcast often on your episodes, and whenever you are representing your podcast.

This is Ear Worthy signing off. That’s right, Ear Worthy. Didn’t you hear me? I said Ear Worthy. For goodness’s sake, I said Ear Worthy.

I’m only going to say this one more time.

Ear Worthy. (Thanks, Danny, for the tip!)