
Ask HN: How do I choose my startup's name? - SingAlong
How do I choose my startup's name? I am out of words. For every name I could come up with, the domain name has been registered.
======
lionhearted
Okay, I've probably spent 150 hours reading about branding and naming... two
corporate structures, three websites, and a half-dozen products now. Here's
where to start:

[http://ezinearticles.com/?Monster-Amazon-Crocs---Why-
Creativ...](http://ezinearticles.com/?Monster-Amazon-Crocs---Why-Creative-
Brand-Names-Work-Best&id=425088)

[http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Weird-Words-Make-Great-
Brand-N...](http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Weird-Words-Make-Great-Brand-
Names&id=177974)

[http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Power-of-Storytelling-to-
Build...](http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Power-of-Storytelling-to-Build-a-
Better-Brand&id=170871)

The author of those pieces has some really good ideas. Now, some feedback:

1\. Do what other people aren't doing. Sounds obvious, but you're almost
certain to pick something that sounds like what others are doing in your field
unless you take a really bold stance. Look at 37signals: They named most of
their products after camping. They compete primarily with business software
with boring titles. They started marketing first and foremost to design firms.
Cool.

2\. Look at negative words. Every is "Super Awesome Perfect Strategically
Integrated Systems" - much more interesting to be "Apocalyptic Computers" than
"Desktop Systems Corp." -- Of course if you brand negative and your product
sucks, people curse you even louder.

3\. Keep a running list of words in a notepad file. Just let it get bigger and
bigger to mix and match later.

4\. Try putting the names of people/things you admire into Wikipedia, follow
the links around, and read the words in the file. Start with Renaissance
artists and inventors if you like. Explorers, military leaders, writers,
humanitarians, reformers. There's lots of interesting words associated with
them. Rome and Japan have a bunch of words that everyone's heard of but rarely
thinks of.

If your name is creative, everyone will hate it at first. And even if it
sucks, everyone internal will come to love if you start using it. Don't trust
either of these reactions. Finally, "Web 2.0 names" will almost certainly
sound really, really stupid in five years.

Good luck - the process takes a while, but business life really is easier and
better with a cool, memorable name.

~~~
ig1
Those articles look like a rip-off of the Igor naming guide:

[http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-
produc...](http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-
company-names.php)

------
icey
Whenever you think you've gotten it, be sure to tell a few people what the
name is over the phone or in person. Then ask them to email you the name you
just told them.

I've known more than a couple of sites that have failed just because nobody
could figure out how to get there without a 3 sentence explanation of how to
type it.

~~~
dbrush
So it was with fauxto.com

It was a witty spelling of a simple word, but failed miserably at your litmus
test. Changing the domain alone to splashup.com brought a 4x increase in
average daily traffic.

------
pg
<http://instantdomainsearch.com>

Your best bet now is pairs of short words.

~~~
pchristensen
Like GeekStack! <http://geekstack.com>

------
macco
Seth Godin said something interesting about domain names. Don't focus to much
if the domain is free. Instead focus that the doesn't have a lot of google
results. Because most peole do not use the adress bar they use google to find
a webpage. I don't claim this is totally but Mr Godin got a point there.

Regards, Marco

~~~
icey
Depending on the site, this is something I've found as well. However, this has
only worked for sites where I'm not trying to get a lot of repeat visitors
(so, it works well for one-off storefronts and things like that).

------
nickh
\--- Short Version:

Stop actively thinking about names. Let your subconscious chug away on the
topic for a while; at least for a couple of weeks, if not for a couple of
months. Eventually, something will bubble up that you like.

\--- Long Version:

Just two days ago, I decided on a name for my startup company and app/website.
It took me about 6 months, though. For the first 4 months, I was actively
thinking about names, writing BASH, Ruby and Perl scripts to generate names,
using websites like makewords.com and others, etc. Every name that I made
either sucked, or was taken. That was pretty disheartening.

Eventually, I let the task of finding a name slip into the background. Every
now and then, a name would bubble up from my subconscious, I'd ponder it for a
few minutes, then write it down.

Then two nights ago, after a long coding session, I went to bed. I was tossing
and turning, with my mind wandering all over the app that I'm creating. During
that time, I started thinking about dinosaurs.

Say what?..I like dinos. They're pretty awesome!

After lying in bed for about 2 hours, thinking about how to integrate
dinosaurs into my app, I got up and did a few whois searches. Lo and behold,
most of the dino-related names that I'd just thought of were available!

What I'm trying to say is that naming is a very ephemeral process. You can
spend 10 full days on the task, and still come out with nothing [that you
like]. So if you're having trouble choosing a name, forget about it for a
while. It'll still be in your mind, just at the back.

------
mahipal
A site that hasn't been mentioned yet... <http://www.makewords.com>

They'll generate "words" for you with whatever length / language you like, and
I like the fact that they check the .com availability for each one.

Consider the more obscure TLDs as well. The various suffixes might inspire
you. And .me still doesn't have too many squatters, if you come up with a
reasonably unique spelling.

The running list of words in a Notepad file is a great idea. For added
inspiration, feed it into an online translator and check out your keywords in
all the available languages.

It's worth checking out the premium .com domains that are up for sale at all
the big sites too. Squatters make a living off it, so it's reasonable to
assume they've spent a good amount of time coming up with clever names.

Then again, I spent hours poring over possible names at these sorts of sites,
and we ended up naming our (first) site after a co-founder's dog. So
inspiration can come from anywhere...

Another route would be the names like Apple, Google, etc. You're better off
going with something unique, short, and memorable... and not worrying too much
about the meaning. Your business can give it the meaning you want.

------
trevelyan
It took us ages. I'd suggest you don't worry too much about it. Give yourself
time and get your friends and family thinking about it. Eventually someone
will come up with something that doesn't suck. Use placeholder graphics in the
meantime and don't waste time on it until you really need to make the
decision.

Try looking at keyword search patterns on Google AdSense. You'll get more
passive traffic if your URL matches a search term. It can be a good way to
identify keywords.

------
thomasswift
If a domain is not available you can try using action words, 37signals style,
like basecamphq.com and campfirenow.com

You could try some domain hacks, but some people don't like them. DO try to
get the similar .com of it, for a conversationally link drop.

You could always create some wierd name, like weeeezo or something new and hip
like that, but some people might just get confused or not like it all.

~~~
SingAlong
I even tried my nickname concatenated with another word (another word which
can describe the site). Heck, even that domain name is taken. I checked
<http://domai.nr> some good names, but I cannot use fancy domains like
del.icio.us since the site also offers urls for a few webpages(precisely
subdomain)s, so henry.my.si.te wouldn't look good. Coz it's not something all
Henrys can remember.

 _'Action words'_ That rings a bell.

The names 23andMe, 43things, 37signals all sounded weird at first and a while
after they began to sound cool to me.

Well, now I'm thinking of some good number to prefix to the name I want. :)

Any good two digit number please?

~~~
Brushfire
69

~~~
fbbwsa
99,71,34, Sqrt(8), ... <http://xkcd.com/487/>

------
EastSmith
When I had to chose a name, I somehow came with a shortlist of three names.
Then I put these three names on my desktop as a wallpaper. I wrote them in
different fonts, colors and in these three variations: Google, google, GOOGLE.
On the first day I hated how one of it looked and dropped it. Then for a week
I asked couple of close friends, who are not in the industry which one they
liked and there was a clear winner. Of course, you have to be careful in case
someone steals you .com registration before you decide.

The other thing I looked for while chosing a name is that important
international names are still free: google.de, google.co.uk, etc.

------
wesley
Invest in the domain name, most domains that are taken are by domain scrapers
and are used as ad landing pages. Most of these domains are for sale at the
right price.

Do not buy the typical web 2.0 sounding domain name.

The time of $9.95 domains is over.

~~~
swombat
_Do not buy the typical web 2.0 sounding domain name._

Why not?

------
aditya
Tried <http://namethis.com>?

~~~
tomsaffell
Two things I don't get about this site (and I like the idea in theory):

1\. It doesn't seem to check for domain name availability, so a good portion
of the names suggested would be very expensive to buy

2\. What is to stop some unscrupulous person from sitting on the site,
spotting the best names, registering them before the 'ask for help' expires,
and then squatting on them / selling them for a profit?

------
kynikos
Here's a simple solution:

Think of adjectives that describe your company and what it represents.

Plug those into a translation program. See what the same word is in Chinese,
Arabic, Swedish, etc.

Pick a word from whatever language sounds best to you.

Now you have a one-word name that may have been taken in the English language,
but sounds unique and is descriptive (in a sense.) When people ask what it
means, you don't need to give an exhaustive explanation of how you arrived at
that name. You simple say it means "XXXX" in YYYY language.

------
dc2k08
<http://pickydomains.com/> for $50 you can crowd-source it.

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rufius
Choose something inappropriate and obnoxious that will stick in people's head.

Or be like everyone else and pick a word that ends with 'er' that relates to
your business model and remove the 'e' in that word. That seems fashionable...

------
tomsaffell
Maybe we can suggest names? What does it do? Can you give us a link?

------
sil3ntmac
<http://cronmower.com>

performs quick domain name lookups, and doesn't error out after a few minutes
like instantdomainsearch

------
sutro
<http://www.37signals.com/enormicom/>

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metaprinter
what? if you are completely devoid of good ideas then use this:
<http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm> Better yet, Create a witty "startup
name" generator, monetize it, and live the good life...

------
vaksel
if you are having trouble you can try that namethis website, haven't used it
myself...or now anyone who has...but it seems to fit what you are looking for

<https://namethis.com/>

