

How To Name Your Company  - michjeanty
http://startup.partnerup.com/2008/04/01/company-naming-tips-how-to-name-a-business/

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mixmax
Finding the right name is overrated.

The classic story is Apple - After a lot of discussing what the name of their
new company should should be Steve Jobs said that if there wasn't agreement
the next day he would just call it apple and be done with it. And they seem to
have done OK.

Often names of companies sound ingenious because they just seem to fit so well
to the company, but what people tend to forget is that the reason the name
fits the company is because your association of the two are linked. Google is
an example - there are probably thousands of names that are just as good, but
they don't sound it because they have no mindshare. Google sounds like a great
name because you recognise it instantly and associate it with a great company
- nothing more.

As long as you can get the .com domain (or be creative like del.icio.us) and
make sure you don't infringe on trademarks you'll be fine.

And you should also google your proposed name just to see what else it means.
There is a classic story of an upscale bathroom factory that called their new
line of showers for goldenshower. Bad idea.

~~~
timcederman
Getting the .com name is right - but don't try to just on the "creative"
bandwagon (<http://www.cederman.com/?p=30>).

It's interesting that people do go for such similar patterns, when easily
memorable stuff is still available (eg, I named my blog before I registered
the domain, and the domain was still available -
<http://www.ofallandsundry.com/>)

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technoguyrob

       Starting a business with a weak company name is kind of like driving a car — without an engine, it probably isn’t going to go anywher.
    

I humbly disagree. Starting a business with a weak company name is kind of
like driving a car with a weak company name--it'll run just fine either way.

Also, the A-Z thing is cute on motivational posters in grade school. Fitting
business advice in such a manner to make it follow a fluffy pattern (and hence
invariably involve a lot of repetition and bullshit) is not. "K is for
Kleenex"? Please, just get to your point.

Edit: After careful thought, I have concluded this is a bad article.

~~~
mixmax
Exactly - Haagen dazs is one of the worlds leading ice cream companies and I
had to look it up to get their name right. Google suggest tells me I'm not the
only one who has no idea how to spell it.

And they're doing just fine.

~~~
dimitry
Interestingly enough Haagen Dazs is not a European company, but the founder(s)
wanted a European-sounding name.

Naming is definitely important. Perhaps just not to the level that the writer
puts it.

~~~
mixmax
Interesting - I thought they were Dutch, the crazy name sounds like it.

Maybe there's a method in their naming madness after all.

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phaedrus
It's like famous first sentences of classic novels - the sentence is famous
because the novel was classic; a classic first sentence did not make the novel
famous.

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redorb
you can't polish a turd. Just make sure your name isn't a turd and you'll be
fine

