Naming a Company

JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
in Miscellaneous
I've been in the process of creating an LLC, getting things more mentally prepared with my home life and my current full time job. The process has been surprisingly smooth, all the but the name of my business. I've been moving back and fourth between a few names, and have found a great use for http://www.panabee.com/ to help with thinking outside my box. I've been reading this awesome book I thought I would share. It's called Merriam's Guide to Naming. http://www.amazon.com/Merriams-Guide-Naming-Lisa-Merriam/dp/0982082924 which has been great in giving me perspective on a few myths about company names and brand naming.

Anyway, the point of this discussion is not about the book, but more about what your experience has been with naming. I've seen some great unique names in this community. If you have a legal company name (or a hobby name) how did you come up with it? Did you use any online resources? etc.

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  • quantumsheepquantumsheep Member Posts: 8,188
    I've been using the name 'Quantum Sheep' online since about 1995 ish.

    It was born out of my love of the TV show 'Quantum Leap', and the nickname we gave that show when we watched it back in my Uni days.

    What I think I'm trying to say is make it something personal to you!

    QS :D

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  • jamie_cjamie_c ImagineLabs.rocks Member, PRO Posts: 5,772
    From a practical point of view I wish we'd never made our company name so long (Clay Communcations), it's ended up being a major pain with such a long email address, URL, etc. If I ever name a company again I'm going to try to keep it very short and sweet.

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  • Alembic_SoftworksAlembic_Softworks Member Posts: 114
    I'm kind of a random name generator - I have a zillion names for things, but it's picking THE ONE that I know is the hardest part. I agree with @Jamie_c that brevity is probably better than something too long (My own company name could have been shorter). I also think it's good to have more than one or two names that you feel could represent you - just in case someone pops out of the woodwork and says "you can't use that name, I already have a company named Blah Blah LLC", and so on.

    My own name was part homage to my love of RPGs, alchemy and game developers whose works I admire. I also liked the symbolism of an alembic as representing someone working furtively in a lab trying to make something out of nothing - it just fits me and my situation. In the end, you should choose a name that you love! It's your baby, after all.
  • RPRP Member Posts: 1,990
    Digital Chinchilla. Done.
  • JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
    It's kind of a hobby of mine, coming up with names for things. I have a stack of notes covered in really unique names. My favorite is combining two words to form a new one.

    I agree keeping something short is great. It's crazy how almost every english and latin word is a dotcom already. lol

    One of the things that I found interesting in that book Merriam's Guide to Naming, is that most companies fall into a trend of copying association naming. Like "Tap ..." or "... Games". Which is kinda funny to think about. I think one name companies have the best names. But most of them are technically two, they just leave out the secondary name like "Studios" or "Games" etc.

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  • Alembic_SoftworksAlembic_Softworks Member Posts: 114
    Digital Chinchilla. Done.
    There you go!

    One word naming conventions? How about:

    1) Turboawesomeness
    2) Gamezillatube
    3) The

    You know what, nevermind. I want to keep "The" for myself.

  • Alembic_SoftworksAlembic_Softworks Member Posts: 114
    edited January 2013
    It's kind of a hobby of mine, coming up with names for things. I have a stack of notes covered in really unique names. My favorite is combining two words to form a new one.

    I agree keeping something short is great. It's crazy how almost every english and latin word is a dotcom already. lol

    One of the things that I found interesting in that book Merriam's Guide to Naming, is that most companies fall into a trend of copying association naming. Like "Tap ..." or "... Games". Which is kinda funny to think about. I think one name companies have the best names. But most of them are technically two, they just leave out the secondary name like "Studios" or "Games" etc.

    And while Merriam's is right, it's not all that surprising when a game company, who only gets a limited nanosecond to make an impression or to give a consumer an idea of what they represent as a company, actually uses a descriptive term in their name. If you took an example of say, "Santa Monica Studios" and dropped the "Studios" it would completely change how people interpreted what the company was about. And since there's only so many words to describe games/apps/developing, I expect we'll keep seeing these same descriptors in game developing company names for quite a while. It's hard to be a mononymous wonder in any field - often you have to establish success and then you get abbreviated to one word anyway. Remember when "Apple" used to remind people of fruit? I'll be interested in what you decide on, at any rate!

  • JagonAppsJagonApps Member Posts: 241
    edited January 2013
    I'm still a bit of a newbie, but I took my name from a word I used to say all the time when I was young: 'Jagon' (only later to find that it is An alien sex organ from an episode in South Park) :S But still I love it cause its me, so I went with it, try to find something you like yourself, not just that will be the best for your company!

    Cheers
  • Alembic_SoftworksAlembic_Softworks Member Posts: 114
    @JagonApps - that's an awesome naming story!
  • JagonAppsJagonApps Member Posts: 241
    @Alembic_Softworks :P
  • JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
    I think keeping with a name that semi describes your primary market can be great, as well as limiting. For instance, if you develop games, then it might be safe to say that games is the market you will always be in. But if you are in let's say educational, then you might want to think about sticking with something that allows an expansion into things other than games.

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  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,273
    Actually, I really like Digital Chinchilla....seriously

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  • JN38JN38 Member Posts: 57
    The way I come at naming a company is two fold. Because it has to do with the industry you are in.

    In the media realm it really doesn't matter what the name of your company is. Why? because the name of the company isn't what is going to be remembered, the name of your product is what is remembered. Your product is going to be the household name.

    "Halo" is what people remember - not Bungie, the makers. The only one's who remember Bungie are those who want to hire Bungie to make their game. Oh, and the hardcore gamers who know every company and designer on the planet. Stay away from them, they are weird and live in alternate universe.

    Look at the names of some movie production companies. "S. Two", "Plan B", "Bad Robot", "Mangos", "Twisted", "Frogg & Peach", what - Frogg & Peach? Not many people know these companies exist, those names are just there to let you know the movie is about to start. The public doesn't care about those, they just know the product - the movie - is either good or bad.

    The public doesn't go into a game store and look just for Activision games. They look at Game titles (names) and cover art. Then the screenshots and description. They might, if they think about it, look to see who made it.

    We could have great apps with catchy names and call the company Electrified DumDum. The public is only going to really know the apps name and if the app does what they are looking for.
  • capitalcarnagecapitalcarnage Member Posts: 371
    If you'd asked for a name for your two super hero characters I could of helped. Company names unfortunately are not my strong point...

    How about - tilting fillet or RWDP or Ramp1in20. Ramp1in20 is actually pretty good
  • JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
    @capitalcarnage lol tilting fillet.

    Not asking for name ideas, just discussing the name creation process and how people solve their unique naming problems.

    @JN38 I agree when you look at it from that perspective. And it really depends on the industry as well. But when you are creating a brand in your company name it's different.

    Me for instance, I'm creating mobile children's literature, so my company name is going to mean a lot to parents. Kids probably won't pay much attention to the company name, maybe not until they're older. So in these cases a company name is like creating a branding that is almost detrimental to your products. People remember Disney, WB, Nickelodeon, Leap Frog etc. but I couldn't tell you every product put out by them, but if it has Disney's name on it, it has a certain approval from a mass group of people.

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  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,273
    Just think about it - a pixel chinchilla with an eyepatch waving a peace sign...you'll be a millionair in no time! :D

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  • JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
    hahaha. How about Pixilla or Pix-zilla. lol

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