Comments on: Amazon.com: The river, not the woman warrior

By: Cathy Ashley

Cathy Ashley — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:06:34 +0000

Hi, I’m new to your blog so please forgive me if you have covered this issue elsewhere…

I wondered how much you think Amazon’s success is attributable to their name, and how much it is coincidental – and that because of their success we are now scrutinising their name as if it is more significant than it really is. We are seeing it as iconic, when actually it is random (almost). Isn’t it a bit like when authors write a good story, then schools start to study it in literature classes and impute all sorts of meaning that the author never intended?

I am trying to resolve my own hangup with not being able to name my evolving business. I want the name to be perfect and iconic and clever and meaningful and sound and look nice (and have an available URL of course) – and I don’t feel I can develop my business until I get there! I’m wondering, if Jeff Bezos knew in advance how successful his business would be, whether he would have waited and thought up a ‘better’ name than Amazon. Or did it HAVE to be called Amazon to as successful as it has?

Cathy

By: STRATEGIES OF NAMING | Tim Girvin : Entries

STRATEGIES OF NAMING | Tim Girvin : Entries — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:29:49 +0000

[...] something in the character that lends to a hidden meaning that resonates deeply to the listener. Amazon the river flows. • It means what is being done — there’s a mission, a promise, and [...]

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:44:38 +0000

sagemama, I hadn’t thought about that name, but now maybe I will.

By: sagemama

sagemama — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:20:16 +0000

Love this post- do you have any analysis of the name of Amazon’s newest product, the Amazon Unbox?

By: Robert Labossiere

Robert Labossiere — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:58:54 +0000

I definitely started consciously (to be clever;) but then I liked how it reminds you that the Amazon is (still) a very real place, with all the resonance that has: distant, exotic, mysterious, vast, dangerous, and a vital part of our world, the lungs they say…

By: The Name Inspector

The Name Inspector — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:32:03 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Robert. I look forward to checking out your blog.

It surprises me that you say “in the Amazon” like that–was it something you consciously decided to do (as a kind of joke), or did you just notice yourself doing it?

By: Robert Labossiere

Robert Labossiere — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:40:55 +0000

Lately, I’ve taken to referring to Amazon as a place rather than a proper name, e.g., “check out this book in the Amazon”… which has a reference more to the region that the river, could say “on the Amazon” I suppose… I wonder if anyone else has taken this approach.

Love your blog. Found via querying “advertising criticism”… something I’m interested in and am hoping to focus on in the next few months on my blog Never Never Mind, http://www.klooj.net/never/