First, I’d add “blog” to the name if it meant being able to use it with a great keyword.

Second, I’d actually want to explore dormant domain names for a suitable one. And yes, I’d check out the history and weigh both bad (possible spamming) and good (residual traffic and search engine “juice”).

Also, I see no great advantage to have my blog’s domain name be my corporate name as well, though one of my own blogs, http://www.SignatureStrategies.com, contains my business name.