I’m beginning to think the world is losing it. This month we have witnessed incredible stupidity in name development. As a professional name developer, I am appalled.

Let’s play a game. This is the name of a new company: Mondelez International. What does Mondelez International make? Give up? Continue reading →

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." William Shakespeare

With apologies to William Shakespeare, the title of this post reflects the fact that you could call “The New iPad” pretty much anything and it would be a gangbuster seller.

But why not have a proper naming architecture? Because this is Apple, and doing the predictable is not what they do. At least that is what Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP of Marketing, said Continue reading →

I illustrated several “Naming Faux Pas” in a blog post a while ago (https://nameflash.com/2010/06/naming-faux-pas/) but I just found an example of a common naming practice taken to the extreme.

The naming practice is that of “word fusion” where you develop a name by bonding two or more words together and you overlap similar portions. For example, you create a new name BRUSHOG by overlapping the letter “h” in combining the words BRUSH and HOG. It is a commonly used naming practice, but sometimes it goes very wrong. Here is a perfect example of when it should not be done: Continue reading →

In a recent newspaper article (ow.ly/901Cl) the local sports editor presented some unusual team mascots that exist in our area and across the country. For example, in the Greater Pittsburgh area we have Big Macs (Canon-McMillan), Talbots (Hampton), Planets (Mars Area), Maples (Mapletown), Mighty Mikes (Carmichaels) and Hillers (Trinity). The Big Macs of Canon-McMillan were not named after the iconic McDonald’s sandwich, despite the fact that the McDonald’s Big Mac was invented in Western Pennsylvania (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20423294/ns/business-retail/t/big-mac-gets-its-own-museum/#.TzaBLLR7SSo).

But some schools have crazier names, including the Yuma High School (Arizona) "Criminals," the Laurel Hill High (Florida) "Hoboes," and the Frankfort High (Indiana) "Hot Dogs."

So what’s up with the crazy mascot names? Continue reading →

At the North American International Auto Show, Dodge unveiled the 2013 Dodge Dart. This is not the first time Dodge has returned to a historic nameplate rather than introduce a new name. A few years ago Dodge reintroduced the muscle car, Challenger.

The new Dodge Dart sounds like a great car. It reflects its Fiat connection by using the mechanical platform of a vehicle by Alfa Romeo, a Fiat-owned brand in Europe. This is the first Chrysler vehicle to be built using Fiat architecture under an arrangement that had been expected to yield such benefits when Fiat accepted what was left of Chrysler from the U.S. government in 2009. This Dart is loaded with technology and attention to detail that is not normally found in a compact car.

So why didn’t Dodge use that same level of detail in selecting a name? Continue reading →

As a build on my earlier post on Samsung’s smartphone naming structure, I discovered a website that the manufacturers of Android Smartphones can use to develop names.  The amusing part is that it really does generate names that are similar to “real” names given to smartphones. Here it is: Continue reading →

Last year Samsung announced that it was establishing a new naming structure for its Galaxy smartphone product line.  This was so that people could better understand the phone they were buying by reading the letter in the name. The new naming architecture grouped its devices into five classes, each identified by a single alphabetical letter. Sounds simple, right? Well, as they say, the devil is in the details. Continue reading →

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The New Year started out with a flurry of “How to Name Your Business” articles. I think that’s terrific! More PR for naming is always a good thing. But several articles were focused on very specific issues, such as “SEO Strategies You Must Take into Account When Naming Your Business.”

I’m all for keeping SEO in mind, but you should not feel as if you MUST keep SEO at the top of your list. The reality is that you need a great name for your business, and while SEO is certainly a factor in the success of your business, it is not the driver!

There is a better way to develop a great name. Continue reading →