IT.COM

analysis Trees As Brands

NameSilo

Does your portfolio include domain names with tree-related terms?

  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.
  • No

    110 
    votes
    59.5%
  • No, but I am thinking of adding some

    22 
    votes
    11.9%
  • Yes, although I have not yet sold any

    41 
    votes
    22.2%
  • Yes, and I have sold such names in past

    12 
    votes
    6.5%
  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

Tree names find widespread use in successful brands. Trees are associated with strength, endurance, growth and beauty, so it is not surprising that so many brands are built on tree names.

The dividing line between trees and other plant forms is not always clear. Many tree names are also associated with a fruit, such as apple or pear, and others also represent a color, such as orange, or a food or taste, such as cinnamon.

There are a huge number of potential tree names, with just over 60,000 different species of trees according to the GlobalTreeSearch database.

In this article, I look at what tree terms are most frequently used in business and organization names, and at those common in brandable marketplaces.

The Tree List

In a response to the earlier blog post on brand names including animals, @noneisnone suggested an analysis on flowers and plants.

As a starting point, I requested that NamePros members propose tree and plant names with brandable value. There were diverse and interesting suggestions in that discussion, many including background on the proposed term. Brad Wilson kindly summarized all the contributions into a list of 154 names. That seemed too many to consider together, so I decided to break the list up into three parts: this one on tree-related names, a forthcoming article on flowers as brands, and a final one covering other forms of plants.

I extracted tree-related domain names from Brad’s summary, and added a few other names, for a starting list. Some names had only one or zero recorded sales, so I excluded them from further analysis. A few others I decided to eliminate from the list because there was an alternative meaning unrelated to a tree. I ended up with the list shown in the next section.

Corporate Popularity Of Tree Names

The OpenCorporates site allows one to easily see how many times a term appears in a company name. I restricted my search to active companies only. Keep in mind that the number that appears in OpenCorporates is more than exact matches, also including “formerly known as” names. Also, OpenCorporates includes both business and registered organization names. The results are shown below.

ImageCompaniesTrees.png


Among the observations I drew from the analysis:
  1. The vast majority of tree terms get used a lot. Only shrub, raspberry and spearmint had fewer than 1000 listings.
  2. Among the most listed names are tree, rose, oak, pine, orange, and cedar.
  3. The name tree appeared in more than 86,000 listings, while rose had more than 66,000 listings.
  4. While we associate apple with the technology company, it is found in more than 18,000 other listings.
Sales Of Tree-Related Domain Names

I used the NameBio database to search for domain name sales related to tree terms. Keep in mind that the NameBio database does not include sales from all of the retail venues, and in particular the brandable marketplaces are not included.

Some of the names posed significant problems separating tree names from unrelated sales, such as tree from street, oak from cloak, and pine from alpine. I used the do not include ! search feature. A search on tree!street would include sales with term tree but not those that also include street. In other cases, I used prefix and suffix search, rather than simple anywhere. I went through many lists by hand. That said, no doubt the inclusion was not perfect in all terms.

The graph below shows the dollar volume in sales by term. The dollar volume is probably a better representation of retail sales than the number of sales or average prices.

ImageSalesTrees.png


BrandBucket Tree-Related Names

The BrandBucket marketplace currently includes more than 100,000 .com domain names. I searched it for each of the tree names from the list, using the contains refinement in the search. However, in many cases that was not enough, since for example contains oak includes a large number of names with cloak. I therefore went through the lists by hand. The intention of the name is uncertain in some cases, particularly in made-up names. Nevertheless, the following results should fairly represent, for the most part, how often different tree names appear at the BrandBucket marketplace.

ImageBrandBucketTrees.png


Here are a few observations:
  • The distribution of names at BrandBucket is somewhat different from the popularity of tree terms in company names presented earlier.
  • The terms rose, cherry, leaf, lemon, tree, and oak are particularly well represented at BrandBucket, although no name appeared more than 100 times.
  • One can interpret names that appear often in business names, but not too often at BrandBucket, two ways. On the one hand, that might be viewed as opportunities. Alternatively, they might be an indication of difficulty getting those names accepted at BrandBucket.
  • It is likely that different marketplaces have different selection criteria. That seemed the case for brand names including animals, where the distributions at SquadHelp and BrandBucket were, to some degree, different.
Current Use Of Great Tree Names In COM

For the more popular terms from the above list, I had a look at current use of the matching .com domain name. Here is what I found. Active websites are presented with an active link, whereas those with for sale or parking landers do not.
  • apple.com is used by the technology giant.
  • aspen.com is for sale.
  • bamboo.com goes to a parking page.
  • cedar.com is used by a healthcare financing business.
  • cherry.com is for sale.
  • elm.com is for sale.
  • evergreen.com is the site for the domain name brokerage by that name.
  • fir.com is used by Fortune International Realty.
  • fruit.com is in use by the clothing giant Fruit of the Loom.
  • lotus.com redirects to HCL Digital a cloud-based digital services company.
  • maple.com did not direct to a website the day I checked.
  • oak.com is used by OakEngage, a collaborative software business.
  • olive.com was recently acquired by Repair Ventures, and from the splash page at olive.com, and it looks like the company is rebranding to simply olive.
  • orange.com is used by the Orange Group, a global digital services and information company.
  • palm.com is the site for the cell phone manufacturer.
  • pine.com is the site for Banco Pine, a Brazil based financial services business.
  • rose.com is used by Rose Electronics.
  • tree.com is used by LendingTree.
Join The Discussion

Please add your comments to the discussion below. Also, vote in the associated poll.
  • Feel free to make the case for tree terms not included in the list.
  • Tell us about your experiences selling domain names that include tree names.
  • If you wish, share a few favourite tree-related names from your own portfolio.
  • Those with success selling tree-related domain names, it would be interesting to know the venue where the names sold.
  • What are your thoughts about less common tree names as brands?
  • A surprising number of tree species are local to one region. Do you think that trees found in your region, although not widespread globally, might be good brands in your country code?
  • What about tree names in new extensions or generic country code extensions?
If you have not already done so, please check out the discussion at tree and plant names with brandable value where you will find interesting background on plant names, and various tree-related names that did not make the list presented here.

An important aspect not covered by this article is the match between a tree name and the nature of the product or business. Names involving orange or lemon have a different feel from one including oak or maple.

This article is part of a series. If you missed it, here is the link to the article on brand names including animals. A forthcoming NamePros Blog article will look at flowers in name brands.


Thanks to all who suggested names in the help request at tree and plant names with brandable value. Special thanks to @noneisnone for suggesting articles on flowers and plants, and to Brad Wilson for going through the many posts and producing a list.

I would also like to acknowledge OpenCorporates, NameBio and BrandBucket for the datasets used in this analysis.
 
Last edited:
32
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
-
 
Last edited:
0
•••
Evergreen probably going to take a hit :lurking:

I personally dont have any domains like this. Very interesting article though :)
 
2
•••
I have one tree name dot com. Its the wood they use to make violins. Ty for the article Mr. Bob. :)
 
2
•••
Nice article. Trees and other natural objects are the particular favorite of old school companies in the finance and insurance space. SunLife, PacificLife, WestCoastLife, BlackRock, SequoiaCapital, GraniteVentures, ThirdRock, OakInvestment, SeedCamp, BlackstoneGroup, CypressGroup,RipplewoodHoldings, RiversidePartners, LakeCapital, LandmarkPartners, SunCapital, SycamorePartners, SilverLakePartners, RiverstoneHoldings, OakHillCapital, OakTreeCapital, CrossHarborCapital, EverStoneGroup, NorthStarGroup and PacificEquity, to name a few.
 
Last edited:
10
•••
Who else believes the rose is a tree? LOL
 
2
•••
I had a nice IG account with tree in it, no domains, unfortunately.
 
0
•••
3
•••
6
•••
Use of the word 'forest' (i.e., forest glen, forest grove, forest heights) while tree-related, is often overlooked. Another is 'wood/s' with similar application (maple woods, deepwood estates, etc.).
 
Last edited:
5
•••
Another educational and intriguing article, Bob. Thanks again. Lots to think about.
 
2
•••
BigMaple.com


Hey... did you expect anything different from me?
 
Last edited:
9
•••
I had this one in mind :xf.grin:

World's Largest Rosebush
Tombstone, Ariz
"The tree officially covers 9,000 square feet, and its gnarled trunk is about 12 feet around. "
Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2014/04/16/303634602/unique-rose-bush-graces-arizona-desert-town#:~:text=

But I agree, most would probably not consider rose bushes as trees :xf.eek: .

Whatever they are, roses are nice, both in real life and in domains.

Bob
Haha,

This is ridiculous!
Your example is called "World's Largest RoseBUSH"
It is a man-made structure, wich one can easily tell by the supporting beams.

"Tree roses are not actually a class of rose but rather a way of growing them. A bush or climbing rose is simply grafted onto a straight trunk, giving the desired treelike appearance
."

https://home.howstuffworks.com/tree...tually,giving the desired treelike appearance.

I strongly appreciate your work, Bob!
I am thankful and looking forward to the continuation of your article serie.

Cheers
 
2
•••
Thanks @Bob Hawkes for the mention and the excellent report.

I've been so busy with caregiving tasks and working on my main project that I didn't finish my sort for you -- sorry about that.

This task is actually a great example for me to use in my project and should make this type of research much easier or at least a whole lot more fun :)

As for the topic, I really haven't looked at Tree type names but every once in awhile they popup in one of my acquisitions.

I can't remember any related sales so can't add any interesting old stories sorry again.

If I do remember anything I'll be sure to make an update.
 
4
•••
Thanks, Bob. I was looking forward to this piece and you delivered
 
4
•••
Respect
I have the following domain related domains
etree.net
etree.company
atree.xyz

Best regards
 
0
•••
Botanizer.com
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Botanizer
Definition: To investigate or explore plant life.

bot·a·nize (bŏt′n-īz′)
v. bot·a·nized, bot·a·niz·ing, bot·a·niz·es
1. To collect plants for scientific study.
2. To investigate or study plants scientifically.
v.tr.
To investigate or explore the plant life of (a region).

Herbarist.com

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/nl/herbarist
Definition: A therapist who heals by the use of herbs.


Reference: The Herb Society Of America.
http://www.herbsociety.org/resources/publications.html
http://www.herbsociety.org/resources/herbarist-advertising.html
 
Last edited:
2
•••
The way you write is probably the way you think, the article began so well and then deep dived into amazing insights, being a tree enthusiast myself, liked it. Thanks. b.t.w. Lotus dot com owned by HCL Technologies employs more than 168,000 Engineers across 50 countries and they are one of the top 5 IT companies in India.
 
Last edited:
3
•••
Thanks for this nice and informative article @Bob Hawkes

However, I'd say because of the addition of the names such as Bamboo, Fruit, Lemon, Leaf, Lotus, Rose etc. it would've been better if the title was Plants as Brands. Just my humble opinion.

Regards,
Fayaz.
 
4
•••
1
•••
so are we calling fruits and flowers, trees now?

apple, coconut, rose, cherry, orange.. seems a bit of a stretch to use the term "tree" for describing these, no?
do we even have a rose tree?!
 
0
•••
Last edited:
1
•••
If its moneytree.com, I'm all for it
 
2
•••
I own BlackApples.com which is is for sale via Dan

Also, I own Arboricide.com, and I hope to use that to try to help reverse the destruction of out trees.
 
1
•••
Nice post @Bob. Tree signifies life, health, growth .... I have greenarborist .com tonictree .com and greenbitters .com
 
1
•••
Back