This is something that I haven't seen asked on these boards.

How do you come up with a company name? What were your methods for choosing the names that you have chosen? What is the key factors to choosing a great name and what should you look for in the name?

Having just selected my name for the indy marketing firm I am launching this summer: My inspiration came from the total LACK of URLs that were availbile!

Basically I wrote down a bunch of ideas and checked various URLs. I was left with two (out of like a page of them).

How scientific is that? Not very. A unique name is easier to copyright and protect. For instance: Klenex. A word that isn't really a word, just easy to say and easy to remember. (I think klenex isnt a word... its the first one that popped into my mind)

Next in line in terms of ease to protect are disassociated words. Apple Computers, for instance. The two words normally would not be used together, therefore it is easy to protect.

The worst are common names. Days Inn, for instance.

So, uh, does that help? Probably not :/ sorry.

Joe

I agree with Terin. Choosing an original term may also better "persist" in people's mind.
But be carefull not to choose a term too similar to another one. For example Klenex really makes me think of Kleenex (http://www.kleenex.com) :)

It seems every company name I come up with is already taken, along with the url. That is the hard part. Anyone else have ideas on how to go about creating a unique, yet meaningful name? Anyone like to share how they came up with theirs?

I think Dexterity Software is perfect example of a meaningful and rememberable name, it's unique, simple, and gives the user an idea of the type of software they design before even entering the site.

I also like Spiderweb Software. This was chosen because of Jeff's pet spider I believe. That and the fact that I think he places giant intelligent talking spiders in all of his games as a kind of "gimic". This is also a suitable name for an RPG company.

I'm looking to find for myself what the above two companies have already found.

Most names probably become somewhat good if you can manage to push them enough. I don't think Dexterity is the greatest name because I associate that word very strongly with D&D - and there are no RPGs on Dexterity. :) But given enough marketing to become familiar with it, it's memorable. Can the average person spell it? That I do not know.

Me, I was targeting female anime fans, so went rummaging through my Japanese sites for something that was pronounceable, sounded nice and had appropriate meanings for those geeky enough to look it up. Hanako is also a girl's name in Japanese, so it will turn up around the web (possibility of search confusion), but combined with games, pretty likely to mean me. Of course, I'm hardly a success story, but that's where the name came from, anyway. :)

(Oh, and the other key factor in choosing a name, for me - "Will I feel like an idiot introducing myself as this?")

Game Matters had a post a while back on naming games: http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/02/the_name_of_the.html - this is not what you're asking of course, but there are a few things you might want to take into consideration, ie: short names are better than long names, have a meaningful name, avoid generic words (including a good list of generic words ; ).

IMO a meaningful name is overrated. First of all it's hard to come up with a good one that is unique - easily found by typing it into google, and preferable with an available domains name. Secondly, there are lots of solid brands out there with names that have no meaning (to you at least). Think Nike, Coca Cola, Ford, Nintendo, etc. What gives those names their meaning is the strength of their brand.

Pick something that doesn't mean anything - and then work on making it mean something.

I seriously doubt that the majority of Dexterity's customers associate the name with D&D. I wonder what percentage of his customers even know what D&D is.

I just wrote down a bunch of words that I thought were cool and then came up with a couple of compound words made up of those.

Then I checked which urls weren't already taken.

example:

- sprite
- monster
-------------------------
SpriteMonster

I ultimately decided not to go with SpriteMonster though (I decided on something far more catchy, IMHO, but I used the same process). Here, you can have it. ;)

But be careful not to choose a term too similar to another one. For example Klenex really makes me think of Kleenex.

Heh, I actually read it as Kleenex since I was just skimming over it. :)

Pick something that doesn't mean anything - and then work on making it mean something.

I don't know... Yes there are good examples of it working such as Nike, Coca Cola, and Ford...but then again either those companies spent millions on marketing to establish the brand or they were major pioneers in their industries.

For an Indie, taking a meaningless name and working to make it mean something could use up a lot of resources/time. Also if the company and/or the product aren’t marketed properly, then the meaningless name could be a disadvantage. I think it's better to have a name that doesn't make sense like "Flee Circus Software", than a name with no meaning like "Fuba Software" ... at least for an Indie. However, if you have a little extra money and hire someone with marketing know-how, then I'd go with Fuba Software.

But I think for a small business, it's important to keep it familiar and easy to pronounce and spell. I'll tell you a little cautionary tale. My last business was named "Digizine Creative". I came up with that name because at the time we were creating and planning to distribute digital magazines. We did a couple of issues, but it never took off. The name wasn't really a problem for end-users, but it was problematic for business-to-business contacts. I didn't think the name was too hard to spell or say, but the "Digizine" part tripped up a lot of people. They would either misspell it or they would stumble over the word trying to decide to pronounce the last part "Zine" or "Zeen". It hurt my confidence a bit when people would struggle writing or saying the name in serious business discussions.

So now while I have a name that's a bit long-winded (especially for a url) when written, it's at least very easy to say, spell, and remember - Outside the Box Software. I've actually had several business contacts stop in mid conversation and say, "Hey, that's a cool name." So that's encouraging. :)

I'm not an expert on company names and I'm still learning. But here are a few tips from my experience thus far. Some of them echo previous member's advice.

1. Whatever name you choose, make sure it has a good domain name available (ie. a .com or .net preferably with no hyphens in the name). We are not a brick and mortar business. Our web address is our primary storefront. So it's crucial that a good domain name is available. Like Terin and Max, any business name I come up with I always run through a domain lookup. If the name passes this initial test, then it goes to the other steps.

2. Keep the syllables short and make it easy to spell. This is really just for brand awareness or business contacts. A lot people these days visit sites through links and bookmarks, so ease of spelling isn't as crucial as it used to be. However, if you ever do non-internet advertising or get your game published in a magazine, then keeping it short and simple will be more advantageous.

3. Pick a name you'll be proud of. Pick a name that you're eager to tell your family, friends, pets, co-workers, and business contacts. Your business dealings will go a lot better when you're proud and confident of your company name, instead of embarrassed or frustrated by it. I can attest to this from personal experience.

4. Try to pick a name that indicates what industry you're in. Usually appending "software", "interactive", or "studio" to your name does the trick. ;) You can also take it a step further and have the name indicate the type of software you produce. This might make you more recognizable to your target audience. However, be very careful not to pigeonhole yourself. For example, if you named your company "War Games Studios" or "Dating Sim Studios", you'll probably have great success reaching your target audience. It's very obvious just by the name which software you specialize in. However, if "Dating Sim Studios" wants to break out into a different genre and make an intense action FPS, then their company name is a huge disadvantage. Not only will new customers be cautious, but the previous customers who are a definitely a niche group could feel betrayed. In that situation, you'd probably be better off creating a spin-off company. But again, that's just more paper work.


Well I hope you found some of my ramblings useful. :) It's late.

Originally posted by Mark Fassett
I seriously doubt that the majority of Dexterity's customers associate the name with D&D. I wonder what percentage of his customers even know what D&D is.

Sure, but otoh I can't be the only one who knew D&D a lot more than Dexterity games and was then disappointed. :) (Similarly, I was sad when I first discovered that 'Retro64' was not a big retro gaming site.)

... someone who was looking for RPG only isn't that likely to become a Dexterity customer anyway, so it's not a fair argument. :)

One thing to keep in mind is how the name will sound when it's pronounced. One time several years ago when I answered the phone really quickly, the person on the other line thought I had said, "Dick's Dirty Software." :)

Originally posted by Dexterity
One thing to keep in mind is how the name will sound when it's pronounced. One time several years ago when I answered the phone really quickly, the person on the other line thought I had said, "Dick's Dirty Software." :)

HA HA HA! That's great.

I named my "company" (not formally registered yet) after a pet name I use for my gf. It sounds very gamey. Piebert Entertainment. :cool:

I picked my name because it's short, easy to pronounce, and because of what it means. Valen comes from the Latin word valens which means "vigorous, powerful, and robust." Valens was also the name of a Roman emperor (for obvious reasons :)). I took off the S because it would probably make people think that the name is "Valen's games" when they heard it, and that's not what I wanted. What's nice about the name is I can tell people "it's like valentine" to help them memorize it. :)

One thing to keep in mind is how the name will sound when it's pronounced. One time several years ago when I answered the phone really quickly, the person on the other line thought I had said, "Dick's Dirty Software." :)

LOL, now that is funny.

The name I have used in the past has been ChicoSoft. The reason I chose this, was not very well thought out, it was just because my dog's name that has past away was Chico. I found the name to be quite small and easy to remember (For me that is. I'm not sure how memorable it is to the average person.)

Opinion's?

I MEANT Kleenex! I just can't spell.

ChicoSoft, bad name.

Why? In spanish it means young Boy Software. Unless that is your target, that could be a problem.

Keep in mind the way things translate. I will now, again, tell the Chevy Nova story.

The Nova was a popular car in america. When it was introduced in South America the sales were abysmal. After some months and a lot of research money as to the many possible causes of this, someone realized that NOVA in spanish means "Won't go"... not a very good name for a car ;-).

Anyway, ChicoSoft is a great title if your target is young children, otherwise, try again my friend!

Joe

PS: Originally I had little boy software as the translation, but technically that would be chiciquito software....

Originally posted by Terin
The Nova was a popular car in america. When it was introduced in South America the sales were abysmal. After some months and a lot of research money as to the many possible causes of this, someone realized that NOVA in spanish means "Won't go"... not a very good name for a car ;-).An interesting story, but it never happened (http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp). Then again, some names do carry undersirable meanings in certain countries, although I can't really remember any examples.

I've been lied to by countless marketing professors! NOooooo!!!!

Well, the principal behind the theory still stands even if the story is bogus. Awesome detective work Chronos :-)

Joe

Here is another example, since chronos ruined mine:

Atom Bom Tuna

Never mind, there's always the Mitsubishi Pajero, a far better anecdote to illustrate the same; and true.

This one (http://www.dick.biz/eindex.htm) is interesting, both for its name and its caption.

Originally posted by Mickey Crocker
It seems every company name I come up with is already taken, along with the url. That is the hard part. Anyone else have ideas on how to go about creating a unique, yet meaningful name? Anyone like to share how they came up with theirs?
"Everybody likes a glass of lemonade."

Popped into my head.

Another spinn on the stupid-car-names-roundabout:

A couple of years ago Honda was about to launch it's new model called Fitta. The problem is that Fitta is the swedish word for the female genitals. For a while everybody had fun making up jokes about how many guys would fit in your Fitta, and so on. Not surprisingly, Honda decided to rename the model, at least here in Scandinavia, but I doubt it ever sold much...

Originally posted by Anthony Flack
Never mind, there's always the Mitsubishi Pajero, a far better anecdote to illustrate the same; and true.
Hehe, a true story indeed :) I remember making stupid jokes in school when I was 11 or 12 :)