How We Came Up With the Name 4 Wiley Farm

If you have ever spent a day driving around the countryside, you have seen signs hanging at the end of long farm lanes.  Many of these signs indicate the name of a centuries old family run farm.

When we moved to our farm sixteen years ago, we were just those neighbors that had some land and a couple of horses.  Once we decided to buy Miniature Herefords, we knew that we were embarking on a bigger and more professional venture.  If we were going to sell our animals, we needed to have a farm name. 

One of the questions we asked Roy Largent when we brought home our first cows was what the best way to sell them was.  Miniature Herefords are a niche market, so sometimes you have to take a different approach to marketing and selling.  Roy said the best thing we could do was to have a website. 

We took Roy's advice and started this website.  But, before we could have a website, we needed a name.

Farm names come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are generic.

Some are really cool.

And some just make you scratch your head. 

So how did we land on 4 Wiley Farm?

To be completely honest...my aunt came up with the name.

We were discussing with my aunt how we needed to name the farm but Wiley Farm just sounded too blah for us. 

She helped us brain storm and we came up with a short list. 

She threw out 4 Wiley Farm, but it didn't do much for us. 

The more we mulled around the name, the more we liked it.

It just kinda fit.

After all...

There are 4 of us Wiley's running this farm.

And we did start this farm with just 4 cows. 

Of course, my aunt had to add "what if there is a little Wiley girl?"

Well...that is not in our plan, and if God has other plans....then we have a whole lot more to worry about than our farm name.  

Besides, we could still say it was because our herd started with 4 cows.  

But before we could come to a final decision, we had to make sure the name met certain criteria.

• It couldn't be construed as something embarrassing or offensive (that's why it is never a bad idea to bounce your name off a few people)
• It had to be easy to say and spell.  There is nothing like having to spell your name out every time you say it to someone.  If you are blessed with one of those last names...I guess you would be used to it by now.
  
• It couldn't be the same or similar to another farm name.
  
• The website domain name had to be available.
  
• The personalized license plate had to be available (my aunt is the queen of personalized license plates so this was at her insistence).. 
  

As we were discussing options, my aunt was sitting at her computer running domain names and license plate options through godaddy.com and the BMV. 

Not only did this help us narrow down our list by seeing the names that limited our advertising options, but it also helped us to see all the possibilities with 4 Wiley Farm.

As you can see, our farm has grown a little since then.  We have quite a few more cows, but the 4 Wiley's are here to stay. 

Several years later, we still like the name 4 Wiley Farm and really can't imagine it being called anything else. 

Our name is a little bit generic, a little bit cool (at least I think so) and a little bit what in the world?

No one else may get it, but we like it...and I guess that's all that matters. 

After all...we are the ones wearing our names all over our backs.

---

You might also like...

The Phone Call Every Cattle Farmer Dreads

Our Young Farmers Stepping Up to the Plate

What to Wear in the Show Ring