information The bizarre naming trends that modern startups follow

[JoeE]

Interesting article by Techcrunch
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Startups put great effort into finding the perfect name. Ideally, it should be short, memorable, descriptive, and easy to pronounce.

Names that meet all the criteria are commonly taken, however, so most founders find a compromise. They settle on a creative misspelling, add a word or just string together sounds they like. In the end, the hope is that a well-named startup will have an easier time attracting customers and capital.

Observing companies founded and funded in the past couple years, it’s apparent that startups are often thinking along the same lines when it comes to choosing a name. They’re making reference to hot technologies like AI, opting for two- or three-word names, or simply making up words.

“We’re surprised at how many names we can make up that sound like they should be in the dictionary, even if they’re not,” says Athol Foden, founder of Brighter Naming, a corporate naming consultancy. He’s also impressed by how many really good names come out of creative combinations of common nouns and verbs.

We crunched through names of more than 1,000 startups founded in the past two years to look for trends. We narrowed the query to startups that have raised $200,000 or more in an effort to focus on names of companies that secured investment.

Here is a rundown on some of the recent trends:
Read full article here

 

[John0]

You know, I'm probably showing my noobness here but I much prefer a name to have a passing resemblance to what it is actually involved in.
Its only my opinion.

 

[JoeE]

You know, I'm probably showing my noobness here but I much prefer a name to have a passing resemblance to what it is actually involved in.
Its only my opinion.

I agree, and I think we all would like a domain that is directly related the business niche, but the supply is dwindling fast (in the .com space) and unless you want to put up with long weird names, or don't mind the new GTLDs people are trying to be creative, which is not all that bad given the available choices and hefty price on premium domains.

 

[John0]

I wonder how much Trumps Apprentice show can be blamed for this. They used to spend nearly a full show just deciding on a name. And all those hateful buzz words that came with it.
Eg just a name i made up now.
FORCECON.
If they were debating that name then the keywords:
its forceful its descriptive its dynamic its imaginative etc. came into play.
These buzz words were used every show.

To me, if every makey uppey name is called dynamic etc then it dilutes the value of the word dynamic.

Its like every footballer that retires now is considered a legend.
How can they be considered legends if 5 mins later I've forgotten their name.

I'll sign off by an ad that used to run on tv.
Its tagline was brilliant and I still remember it nearly 30 years later.

Ronseal--it does exactly what it says on the tin

 

[John0]

Ive just reread the article and this time also the comments underneath the article, this guy Craig Aberle puts what I'm trying to say in a better way than I can.

"I hope the trend of including the industry in the name will continue - for just one reason - as an editor I receive thousands of press releases a year from companies with hopes that they will get published.
When it comes to young companies, the names are sometimes so obscure that even after reading a couple paragraphs of the release I still have no idea what these companies are doing. And if they don't seem to relate to my industry, I don't publish them. My point - even after companies are a couple years old, don't expect everyone to know who you are or what you do - there are tens of thousands of startups each year seeking publicity. Young companies need to keep it simple - and obvious"

 

[WatchDogue]

That is an appreciated article regarding naming trends and capsulizes the variants of startup names very well.

As all of these startups have at least 200K " behind 'em " , some person or some lending institution believes in their overall business plan which includes " the name".

Interesting article re naming trends.

 

[Kuffy]

I'm trying to be creative with these startup names. My latest idea is to take a dictionary word, and to insert a hyphen. This should complement the word, and make the topic more relevant to the site. For example, I've just registered EU-genics.com, and the idea is to discuss the possibility that the Keiser Reich ( the EU ) is supporting eugenics. I was surprised that the hyphenated name was still available, and that the exact word search provides over 7,000 results.

 

[D Haynes]

I wonder how much Trumps Apprentice show can be blamed for this. They used to spend nearly a full show just deciding on a name. And all those hateful buzz words that came with it.
Eg just a name i made up now.
FORCECON.
If they were debating that name then the keywords:
its forceful its descriptive its dynamic its imaginative etc. came into play.
These buzz words were used every show.

To me, if every makey uppey name is called dynamic etc then it dilutes the value of the word dynamic.

Its like every footballer that retires now is considered a legend.
How can they be considered legends if 5 mins later I've forgotten their name.

I'll sign off by an ad that used to run on tv.
Its tagline was brilliant and I still remember it nearly 30 years later.

Ronseal--it does exactly what it says on the tin

Like when everyone says their domains are premium.

 

[Eric Lyon]

I completely agree with single word generics, however, when it comes to multi-word brands, generics are best suited as extensions to a brands product/service lines for the purpose of lead generation.

It's still an obstacle on a psychological level for many consumers to take multi-word generics serious (unless they are clearly associating to a more unique brand identity), which results in second guessing authority and trust.

That's just my personal opinion though among millions of others.