On the basis of receptive and free association experiments were established peculiarities of perception of typical and creative names, the leading criteria for the recipients' perception were determined, and the criteria for evaluating a successful name were proposed. The identified criteria correlate with the principles and conditions for creating a successful name. Successful is the name, which, according to the results of the receptive experiment, assessed by the recipients in the positive part on most scales, while the motives, functions and purposes of the ergonym established at the generation stage, different for standard and non-standard names, are realized with the help of clear means of marking for native speakers of Russian; and according to the association analysis results, they contain semantic zones corresponding to the profile of the company activity and do not reveal sharply negative assessments and reactions associated with incomprehensibility.