Dynadot

analysis Brand Names Including Animals - A Look At The Data

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Many great brand names have been built around animals, such as Puma, Jaguar, RedBull, FireFox, DuckDuckGo and many others. The animal provides a concrete image on which to build the logo and brand. Many times some aspect off the name hints at characteristics of the brand. Foxes are known to be agile, speedy and possibly sly, applicable to web browsing. The bull is known for strength and stamina, relevant to RedBull products.

In 2019 James Iles took a look at how animal names are used. He summarizes the case this way:
Animal domain names are versatile brands, and this may explain why they are so popular as investments. Animal names aren't pigeonholed into specific industries, verticals or company types, and the array of companies using them proves that.

In this article I look at some tools you can use to determine relative popularity of different animals. You can readily use these tools to do investigations on animal names of interest to you.

Common Animal Names Used In Brands

Primary Names started a basic list of popular animals in 2018, extended by others since that time. The list contains names such as fox, bull, bear, cat, dog, dove, falcon, panda, lion, tiger, owl and shark.

A Look At Sales Data

You can use NameBio to readily find sales including animal names by using the Niche category and then Animals as subcategory.

The top sales are in fly.com that sold three times, for $2.89, $1.76 and $1.50 million. While a fly is definitely an animal, it also has other meanings. Similarly land.com, impala.com and mara.com are on animal list, although most probably don’t first associate them with animal names.

After excluding these types of names, here is a list of animal names with NameBio-recorded sales at $15,000 or more. Animal is used in the biological sense, including birds, insects, marine life, etc. If you want the complete list of all animal sales, here is the NameBio link.
  1. gorilla.com, $496,320 (2019)
  2. bird.com, $200,000 (2005)
  3. snake.com, $135,000 (2019)
  4. crab.com, $92,000 (2008)
  5. coyote.com, $63,000 (2011)
  6. crow.com, $48,300 (2007)
  7. dolphin.co, $48,000 (2012)
  8. coyotte.org, $45,000 (2014)
  9. crocodile.com, $45,000 (2008)
  10. bedbug.com, $40,000 (2008)
  11. impala.com, $30,000 (2017)
  12. tiger.io, $28,888 (2020)
  13. badger.com, $27,400 (2011)
  14. monkey.co.uk, $22,400 (2012)
  15. buck.co, $19,888 (2019)
  16. fox.net, $19,000 (2007)
  17. possum.com, $18,250 (2012)
  18. PolarBear.org, $17,825 (2011)
  19. dog.de, $15,935 (2006)
  20. BlackBuck.com, $15,000 (2015)
  21. dog.net, $15,000 (2005)
I was surprised that many of the more desired animal names are not in the sales list. Some are in use and were sold privately. Another reason, though, is that many superb animal names remain in domain investor hands, waiting for the right buyer. Keep in mind that NameBio does not include sales from the brandable marketplaces.

I also looked at some extensions other than .com.
  • There were 25 .org sales with a total dollar volume of $90,000, half coming from the dolphin.org sale.
  • A total of 52 .net sales, accounting for $138,500.
  • The .io extension has 33 animal-related sales for $88,600. The tiger.io sale last year accounted for almost one-third of the total.
  • There were 31 .co sales, with $138,800 total. $48,000 of that came from the dolphin.co sale.
  • While there were 40 new extension animal sales, $90,100 total, the highest was $10,000 for ox.club that sold this month.
  • The .ai extension has sold 38 times in animal names for $31,900, although none are over $5000 yet.
Popularity Of Animals In Company Names

I had a look at how often animal names are used in business and organization names using the OpenCorporates database. I included only names from active listings. Some animals are difficult, for example bear may be used in contexts that are unrelated to the animal name, and searching for ox will be dominated by alternative meanings in longer words. The results below indicate that most animal names find use in hundreds of business names, and that dog, bear, fox and cat are all very popular.

GraphOpenCorporate.png


Keep in mind that the OpenCorporates directory lists both businesses and organizations, and some of these are nonprofit organizations. OpenCorporates data can be sorted by industry classification. For example, it is possible to determine if a particular animal finds use in names for retail or wholesale trade, finance, or the construction industry.

Popularity Of Animals In BrandBucket Listings

Another way to gauge popularity is to look at how many names are based on a certain animal in popular brandable marketplaces. You can use the Refine search on BrandBucket to do this by then selecting Contains rather than the default broad search. Keep in mind that even doing that will not eliminate all names unrelated to the animal. For example, FlowLoad includes the word owl, but is not inspired by the word owl.

GraphBrandBucket.png


At BrandBucket names including owl, rabbit and fox are particularly popular.

It seemed to me that names well known only in certain regions don’t appear often on BrandBucket. For example moose and beaver are both well known animals in Canada, and some other countries, and they are used in 6455 and 8237 business names on OpenCorporates. However, on BrandBucket there are just 7 names with moose and 1 with beaver.

Popularity Of Animals At SquadHelp

One can’t readily do searches at SquadHelp that exactly includes a term. SquadHelp searches include domain names that are inspired or broadly similar. For example, a full SquadHelp search on duck yields 505 listings, but only 36 actually contained the word duck on the day I searched. Here are the results of my hand-checked searches at SquadHelp on some of the more popular animal names, including only listings with that animal name.

GraphSquadHelp.png


Chinese Zodiac Animals

I have wondered if the animals of the Chinese zodiac, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig, get a boost in use as business names. We are currently in the year of the ox, which will be followed by tiger, rabbit and dragon. All of these are attractive branding names for other reasons, and it will be interesting to see if there are more sales in these names.

Animal Brand Meanings

I found this article helpful in suggesting animal symbolism in logo design and branding. Here is an example of the sort of information offered:
The deer family has mythological ties back to ancient Greece when the goddess Artemis considered the deer to be sacred. The symbolism of deer plays to the heart of their natural environment. Deer represent energy, independence, and regeneration as well as the gentle, yet enticing lure that can come from starting a new adventure. Logos that have a deer or stag as a focus may be trying to capitalize on that independence or sense of adventure.

Final Thoughts

James Iles wrote an interesting article Animals All The Rage in 2018 that covered both acquisitions and a selection of recent sales.

As well as the tools indicated earlier, a simple Google search can give you a feeling for how different animal names are used. Searching trademark databases are another way to gauge interest in a name, as well as to make sure your proposed acquisition is not infringing. One can research trademarks at Trademark247 or at the USPTO, among other places.

Not infrequently, two-word domain names combine a color with an animal, such as RedBull. Sometimes this is an obvious pairing, like BlueBird, while other times it is an unnatural, but memorable, combination, such as PinkElephant.

I hope users will comment on what animals they think make particularly strong brands. While please don’t post your entire set of animal names, it would be appropriate, if readers desire, to post the one favourite animal domain name you currently hold.


Thanks to NameBio, OpenCorporates, BrandBucket and SquadHelp for databases that were used for this research.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
next report could be on Fruits.
what about Apple.com ;)
 
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Nice post @Bob Hawkes

I love animal domain names and have sold quite a few over the years. In fact, one of my very first sales was FoxPaw.com which I sold for $3,500

I just did a quick "Sold" export in my Efty account to get all the animal names I've sold to end-users so far.

Komodo-ai $3,995
Foxpaw-com $3,500
LionCub-com $2,995
CareerShark-com $2,995
SchoolPanda-com $2,990 (I am sure @equity78 remembers this one!)
ShowCat-com $2,650
StatShark-com $2,495
StartFox-com $1,795
RetroBee-com $1,795
BlackSheep-io $1,700
TheGoat.co $1,495
InsuranceCat.com $1,175
Catlandia.com $9,80

Yeah that was wild Doron. Thanks for posting.

Back in 2016 I took a look at animal sales

https://tldinvestors.com/2016/09/when-it-comes-to-domain-sales-bird-is-the-word.html
 
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Thanks so much @equity78 - I had not known about that great article when I wrote this one. To any others who have not read it, highly recommend as he lists many sales broken down by a number of popular articles. Helpful to see what sold in the $$$$ range. Thanks.
Bob

Oh glad you liked it Bob and nice job on your article it needed a current article on the topic.

I have always liked these names, I think when everyone gets lost in the sauce of one word .coms, the fact is many cannot and will not ever be able to afford them. But people can and will always be able to remember and spell KeywordAnimal.com.

I only own one currently which I want to do something with, TripHippo.com. It's not trip.com but I think a business can be memorable using that kind of domain name.
 
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Oh glad you liked it Bob and nice job on your article it needed a current article on the topic.

I have always liked these names, I think when everyone gets lost in the sauce of one word .coms, the fact is many cannot and will not ever be able to afford them. But people can and will always be able to remember and spell KeywordAnimal.com.

I only own one currently which I want to do something with, TripHippo.com. It's not trip.com but I think a business can be memorable using that kind of domain name.
Nice one TripHippo.com
I like TravelUllu.com I tried to hand register but it is already taken. Ullu means Owl in non English foreign language. I liked this but it is not available :(
 
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thanks for this amazing post. I picked up NFTRhino.com because of your article. Appreciate the help a lot. thank you.
 
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gorilla.com, $496,320 bird.com, $200,000. Why is there such a difference? :penguin::chicken::xf.laugh:

it's about the description of the animal. Bird can fly to the heights. but a Gorilla? is a total beast and it works with anything where you want to convey strength or going hardcore.

A bird just fly's blah blah blah. once it lands or breaks a wing? it's a Chicken sandwich.

Gorilla? never seen a weak Gorilla.

A bird is a wimp even if we are talking a eagle or hawk or a condor or even a pteradactyl.

Once one of it's wings is broken? it's a chicken sandwich.

I mean. would you mess around with a pissed off gorilla in a cage at the zoo just because you see it has a broken arm??

Good luck! lol
 
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it's about the description of the animal. Bird can fly to the heights. but a Gorilla? is a total beast and it works with anything where you want to convey strength or going hardcore.

A bird just fly's blah blah blah. once it lands or breaks a wing? it's a Chicken sandwich.

Gorilla? never seen a weak Gorilla.

A bird is a wimp even if we are talking a eagle or hawk or a condor or even a pteradactyl.

Once one of it's wings is broken? it's a chicken sandwich.

I mean. would mess around with a pissed off gorilla in a cage at the zoo just because you see it has a broken arm??

Good luck! lol
What if the gorilla had broken legs?

Wouldn't it be just as useless as a bird without wings?

Then that bird is going to be zooming in and out pecking away at that gorilla....and bam.....Gorilla sandwich anyone....
 
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would mess around with a pissed off gorilla in a cage at the zoo just because you see it has a broken arm??
Can't fathom myself in a cage at the zoo, moreso messing around with a pissed off gorilla... But this is quite an interesting angle in the discussion about domains!
 
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What if the gorilla had broken legs?

Wouldn't it be just as useless as a bird without wings?

Then that bird is going to be zooming in and out pecking away at that gorilla....and bam.....Gorilla sandwich anyone....

hehehe lol
nice!!!!

actually. it's pretty hard to "break" anything on a gorilla. I've seen a gorilla fall from the top of a tall tree and it got up like nothing happened. now if a bird fell from that same tree which I actually saw once on a camping trip.

Chicken sandwich.lol

not once have I ever seen a Gorilla on any menu. but bird?

chicken anyone? damn....now you guys made me hungry.

I need me some 4 fried chickens and a coke! Stat!
 
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nice article. i have one domain animal.. doghu.. hu sound of dog..lol..
 
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What if the gorilla had broken legs?

Wouldn't it be just as useless as a bird without wings?

Then that bird is going to be zooming in and out pecking away at that gorilla....and bam.....Gorilla sandwich anyone....
Lol. Hahahaha
 
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it's about the description of the animal. Bird can fly to the heights. but a Gorilla? is a total beast and it works with anything where you want to convey strength or going hardcore.

A bird just fly's blah blah blah. once it lands or breaks a wing? it's a Chicken sandwich.

Gorilla? never seen a weak Gorilla.

A bird is a wimp even if we are talking a eagle or hawk or a condor or even a pteradactyl.

Once one of it's wings is broken? it's a chicken sandwich.

I mean. would you mess around with a pissed off gorilla in a cage at the zoo just because you see it has a broken arm??

Good luck! lol
That's basically what I said a few pages back.
I'd be way less likely to argue with a gorilla :)
 
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Thank you for the post Bob! Great article coming from you like always.

I currently own PrimePigeon/com :).
sold TripFalcon awhile back on SH.
 
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The article is as good as ever , thank you.
 
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The article is as good as ever , thank you.
 
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First of all, thanks again for your article. As always, you're one of my most favorite writers. I think I only have 2 animal-related domains and one of them is zeehawk//com reg 1999 acquired via GD auction.
 
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Wow, this is a great analysis. I plan to have some animal niche domains in my portfolio. This is a gem!
 
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谢谢你分享鲍勃先生。有趣的文章

Thank you for sharing Mr. Bob. interesting article. (Translation by Google Translate)
 
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