Introduction: In this work we carry out a critical review of the literature on brand name. We examine the most frequent criteria for brand naming and we put forward a new taxonomy based on the patronym. Methodology: We propose new denominative categories by combining the already existing ones. For this we start from a sample of business names of Spanish family firms, with the approach of variables and sub-variables which refer to denominative criteria and distinctive traits of the company. Results: An original taxonomy of patronyms, from the analysis of the business names of family firms, which is a step forward in academic and applied research processes on corporate naming.
