Invented domains are an alternative to brand names based on keywords. You won’t find them in the dictionary but the good ones are easy to pronounce when you read them and easy to spell when you hear them in a conversation.
They are also short. The average invented company name is five or six letters long. Some are shorter. A few are longer. But very rarely are the good ones more than seven or eight letters.
Now I’ll add a fourth quality to that list of attributes. They feel familiar. The best invented names feel like they are a real word or should be one. For this reason successful startups often select names that contain elements of existing dictionary words, slang terms or common phrases.
Here are some examples of unicorns using such a name:
Source
They are also short. The average invented company name is five or six letters long. Some are shorter. A few are longer. But very rarely are the good ones more than seven or eight letters.
Now I’ll add a fourth quality to that list of attributes. They feel familiar. The best invented names feel like they are a real word or should be one. For this reason successful startups often select names that contain elements of existing dictionary words, slang terms or common phrases.
Here are some examples of unicorns using such a name:
- Lufax: It contains the term, fax, which started as slang for facsimile and later became a dictionary word.
- Theranos: This name borrows from the word ‘therapy’ in order to convey that it’s in the blood testing niche
- Tanium: Here’s a shortened version of the word ‘titanium’ being used by a software company that specializes in IT data search.
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