
Ask HN: How do you choose a name for your product / service? - finspin
Any tips you could share on how do you come up with a product name? Do you validate the name with your friends &#x2F; potential customers or do you just go with the first thing that comes to your mind? I&#x27;m thinking that having a good name is quite important but is it worth spending too much time on?
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Jemaclus
I don't have any ideas about picking good names, but one rule of thumb about
picking names is that it should pass the bar test. The bar test is simple: if
you're in a loud bar, and someone asks you the name of your company, and you
tell them, they should be able to go home and type it into Google exactly and
know what it is.

For example, "Microsoft" is a good one, as are Captain 401K, Uber, and Stripe,
because it's made of real words or are easy to spell and remember.

On the other hand, company names like "Shypmate" or "Cymmetria" are poor
choices, because they sound close enough to regular words but are spelled
differently. Another thing to consider is whether one word sounds like
another. For example, a company I used to work for, RentJuice, was often
misheard as "RentJews". I used to joke that it was a Jewish escort service...

Anyway, it's not a foolproof way to come up with GOOD names, but it's a simple
way to identify names that are weak, especially when it comes to the ability
to spread by word of mouth.

~~~
aquark
Actually I think Stripe is a surprisingly bad name. I work a lot with Stripe
(& love them technically), have over a thousand of (mostly non-technical)
customers that are connected via Stripe connect.

The name gets mangled by customers, A LOT. The most common confusion is
(repeatedly) calling them swipe though strip has come up more than once.
People are thinking more in terms of swiping cards than the stripe on them and
so that verb sticks in their mind.

~~~
finspin
Here's a story by one of the founders on how Stripe came up with the name
[https://www.quora.com/How-did-Stripe-come-up-with-its-
name](https://www.quora.com/How-did-Stripe-come-up-with-its-name)

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codegeek
Don't over think it of course but here are some guidelines:

\- Not longer than 7-8 characters

\- If you go for something unconventional, it should be easy to pronounce
(very important. "Google" was unconventional but easy to pronounce)

\- Try not to use a dash or even numbers unless it is relevant like 411.com
etc. Because if you do, then I have to think. Is it 1 or one ?

\- Don't make me think if I have to type your domain on my browser/phone etc.
Spelling should be easy too

\- If the name gives me an idea of what you do, really great. But not
required. For example, careerbuilder.com gives me an idea but monster doesn't.
If I never heard of either, i can easily guess which one is related to careers
and jobs potentially.

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eble
Having a good name is good thing. But the service you are building must be of
high value. First build a great product, then name it whatever you want,
rename it whenever you want.

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jimsojim
Recently came across this interesting guide on this:
[https://www.igorinternational.com/process/igor-naming-
guide....](https://www.igorinternational.com/process/igor-naming-guide.pdf)

~~~
finspin
Wow, you can write a whole book on the topic! Lots of good info in there,
thanks for sharing.

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supernormal
I like Ben's approach to naming products/services -
[http://blog.pieratt.com/post/77293289254/a-3-step-process-
fo...](http://blog.pieratt.com/post/77293289254/a-3-step-process-for-naming-a-
projectproduct)

The name does not directly need to coincide with its inherent value, paint the
picture with your personal or teams values.

------
taprun
I used [http://leandomainsearch.com](http://leandomainsearch.com) and found a
six letter domain that was made up of two English words. The name has nothing
to do with my offering, but it's short and easy to pronounce / spell without
any confusion.

Bonus: Since it was available, it only cost 99 cents for the first year (with
coupon).

~~~
rogerdpack
For anyone interested, for my "hobby" projects naming conventions, one
tip/trick is that you don't have to worry about the domain name being
available (just competition with the "real" domain name) if you create a
subdomain using afraid.org, ex:

mydomainname.inet2.org

or what not. You can have _any domain name you want_ including ones whose .com
and .org and .net are already taken LOL. Great for side projects, free, blah
blah...

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bharani_m
I had a lot of trouble coming up with a good name/domain for my side project.
I tried a few name suggestion tools [1][2] but wasn't satisfied with the
results.

I was browsing through this site called FreshDrop [3] which lists
expired/expiring domains and stumbled across a nice name - Metriculator.

Luckily metriculator.com and the social media handles were available. This
might not work for everyone but is definitely worth a try.

[1] [http://impossibility.org/](http://impossibility.org/)

[2] [http://www.leandomainsearch.com/](http://www.leandomainsearch.com/)

[3] [https://www.freshdrop.com/](https://www.freshdrop.com/)

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asteadman
no. name picking is a rabbit hole, proving your product/service is far more
important. pick something unique so that people can google it and come up with
a meaningful result. If it becomes a problem, you can always change it AFTER
you've proven your idea.

~~~
finspin
Yes, that's what I've been thinking too. The only thing that holds me back is
that I'm going to put a lot of effort into promoting the product launch and
generate traffic to my domain. If I switch the product name (domain) later on,
all the effort might be wasted. I know I can redirect the old domain to a new
one but still, backlinks might lose some weight.

------
Mz
[http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-aflac-
go...](http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-aflac-got-its-
name.html)

