Jump To:

• brand name
  brand name

  noun

  a word, name, symbol, etc., especially one legally registered as a trademark, used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its products distinctively from others of the same type and usually prominently displayed on its goods, in advertising, etc.
• brand-name
  brand-name

  adjective

  having or being a brand name.

brand name

¹ American  

noun

• brand names
  plural

1. a word, name, symbol, etc., especially one legally registered as a trademark, used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its products distinctively from others of the same type and usually prominently displayed on its goods, in advertising, etc.

2. a product, line of products, or service bearing a widely known brand name.

3. Informal. a person who is notable or famous, especially in a particular field.

   The reception was replete with brand names from politics and the arts.

---

brand-name ² American  

[brand-naym] / ˈbrændˌneɪm /

adjective

1. having or being a brand name.

   nationally known brand-name food products.

2. Informal. widely familiar; well-known.

   Several brand-name personalities will be performing at the benefit.

---

brand name British  

noun

1. another name for brand

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• brand names
  plural

Etymology

Origin of brand name¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Origin of brand-name²

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brand name brand-name

Among moviegoers, Roy Lee is far from a brand name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

“If it’s just slapping a brand name on a pre-existing screen, that feels very deceptive and dishonest to me,” Storch said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

NewsNation adapted The Hill brand name for its Washington-based programs, including a Sunday roundtable show with Chris Stirewalt, politics editor for The Hill and NewsNation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

But it also blamed its current poor trading on "challenging retail conditions" and its inability to keep the WH Smith brand name.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Instead of a brand name on the label it simply repeated his badge number, 4566.

From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers

The rate at which available biosimilars are actually dispensed to patients over brand-name counterparts fell to 23% in 2025, down from about 40% in 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

The Instagram play presaged a series of lucrative investments involving brand-name startups: Spotify, payments processor Stripe, online glasses retailer Warby Parker, Gillette disruptor Harry’s, Twitch and Reddit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

International sales of brand-name Revlimid fell more than 60% the first year after generics went on sale.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

In 2024, brand-name drugs still under patent protection accounted for just one in 10 of the drugs prescribed to patients and 87.7% of the costs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Before he made contact with the Russian, however, Saxe had to learn how to handle something much more delicate: the T-50 subminiature camera, a tiny device fitted inside a brand-name pen.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau