Posted in Character Names, Company Names, Good Names, Metaphor, Names, Real Word Names on January 17th, 2007 2 Comments »
Pandora is the character from Greek mythology who opened a jar (or box) and released evil and woe into the world. Doesn’t sound like good material for a name, does it? Isn’t calling a music service Pandora kind of like calling a women’s athletic shoe Incubus? No, it’s not like that at all. When people [...]
Posted in Blend Names, Company Names, Good Names, Metonymy, Names, Soft Names on January 11th, 2007 2 Comments »
As a denizen of the Emerald City, the Name Inspector has been intrigued by the meteoric rise of the online real estate service Zillow, and has speculated on the origins of their name. Those speculations, though enjoyable, have turned out to be pointless, because it says right there on their website how they came up [...]
Posted in Company Names, Good Names, Iconic Names, Metaphor, Names, Real Word Names on January 10th, 2007 11 Comments »
Occasionally the Name Inspector writes about names for companies, products, or services that have achieved iconic status. There are lessons to be learned from these names, sometimes because they’re great, and sometimes because they show it’s possible to succeed with a so-so name. Apple Computers is a great name. It’s a model solution to a [...]
Posted in Company Names, Compound Names, Good Names, Names on January 9th, 2007 8 Comments »
When YouTube was acquired by Google, there were jokes about how it might be renamed (GooTube? GoogTube?). There were some serious suggestions, too. One branding expert urged Google to change the name to GoogleTube. In the Name Inspector’s not-so-humble opinion, Google was smart to let things stand. YouTube is a great name. A compound made [...]
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