Would using a similar name as a major company hurt you or help you.?

Actually, if you select a name that is too similar to a major company, you can get sued. Their name is trademarked, and there have been many lawsuits that make the smaller companies change their names, especially if the product or service line is similar in nature to the larger companies'.

In naming your company, I recommend the following:

1. Determine the product and service you provide.
2. Determine the targeted market you have in mind to sell your products and/or services to.
3. Determine the thing that makes you unique in the marketplace. That's actually a very big deal, and can make or break you right there. Forget about Wrigley Field's "Build it, and they will come." You need to know exactly how your company is targeted in the marketplace.
4. Determine your competition, and especially pay attention to the names that are already taken.
5. Are you going to be a sole proprietor, a limited liability company, a partnership, or a corporation? This matters with regard to including the company type in your name. Sole proprietors have no "Inc." or "LLC", etc. after their name. (Sorry if I'm being too basic here.) It also matters because you do NOT want to use a name you can be sued for and have to change after all the time, energy and expense you will have gone through to "brand" yourself. That's what the big corps have done, and they trademark their names to protect their branding investment.
6. What is your vision? Your mission? (The vision is what you visiualize doing with your company; the mission is more like the how you plan on implementing the vision.)

Now take all that together and determine a name that speaks to your purpose, your mission, your audience, and what you are offering in the marketplace.

1. Using your name as a consultancy can be good if you have already established yourself as a go-to person for business needs. Otherwise, it's not worth much as a marketing tool. Your company name needs to be a marketing tool.
2. Getting as specific as possible helps with search engine placement as well as company recognition by prospective customers. For example, if you're selling textbooks, you'll want something about educational resources in your company name. "Martin's Books" doesn't speak to the education market. Conversely, "educational resources" creates a keyword hit.
3. Making the name clever depends on your targeted audience. My ex-husband operated an underground boring service when he asked me for naming input. We totally went tongue-in-cheek with both his name ([His first name]'s Boring Service) and his tagline (It's a Boring Job, But Somebody Has To Do It), as the construction industry is open to that. My own company does the same thing, as I appeal to a creative audience (Cowsar Virtual Services - read "Cows are Virtual"). Both names include what we do.
4. Realize that if you are planning on opening a storefront business, there are some leasing rules that limit your product or service line to the name you select. My hairdresser had a business named El**e Hair Co. (Astracies used as I promised her I would not promote the former company name.) Her lease did not allow for her to expand her product mix to include other items that women might be interested in for an overall image makeover (clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, etc.). That's why you see so many companies with "and More" or "Plus" after their original name.

Hopefully the above gives you enough food for thought in coming up with an effective name that works well for you! If you would like any other feedback, feel free to contact me via my www.cowsarvirtual.com site.