Name architecture

Brand names don't appear from nowhere, usually. Even the ones that seem completely invented are constructed according to established patterns, and understanding those patterns gives you blueprints for creating your own. Brand-name construction is less art-from-nothing and more architecture with purpose.

Portmanteaus

Take two existing words, put 'em together, and keep the parts that sound good. Simple. When it works, it carries meaning from both source words while creating something new.

Pinterest blends "pin" and "interest." Instagram blends "instant" and "telegram." Netflix blends "internet" and "flicks." Microsoft blends "microcomputer" and "software." Groupon blends "group" and "coupon." Sporks. You get it. Even Vitamin is a portmanteau built from Vitality and Amine. Bet you didn't know that one. See how much you learn here!

The trick is that both source words need to contribute something. If one half is dead weight, the portmanteau just sounds like a mangled version of the other word. And the blend point matters. The best portmanteaus sound like they could be a real word, not just a couple of syllables stuck together. 

Truncation

Sometimes the best name is just a longer name with the boring parts removed. FedEx is Federal Express. Intel is Integrated Electronics. Nabisco is the National Biscuit Company. Amex is American Express.

Truncation works because it preserves the recognition of the full name while gaining the benefits of brevity. If your legal name or working title is long but contains a punchy fragment, that fragment might be your brand. For example, my full name is Steven of the House O'Donnell, the First of His Name, The Billable, Senior Counsel, Registrant Fifty-Three Thousand Three Hundred Seventy-Six before the Office of Patents and Trademarks, Doctor of the Cortex and the Synapse, Lord of the Red Rose City, Khal of the Nine Baskets, Speaker of the Open Mic, Co-Chair of the Licensing Executives of Philadelphia, Whisperer of Trademarks, Warden of the Laser and the Mycelium, Breaker of Office Actions and Father of Independent Claims but I only use that on official documents. Normally, I just go by Steve. Sometimes my wife calls me Dr. O'Donnell when I do something dumb.

The informal version of this happens naturally anyway. People called it "FedEx" before the company officially adopted it, and since Bennifer we've never bothered to use both names of a celebrity couple. If you can predict how people will shorten your name, you can beat them to it.

Suffixes that bring meaning

Certain suffixes carry built-in associations from the brands that popularized them.

-ify feels tech-forward and action-oriented. Spotify, Shopify, Amplify. It implies transformation: the suffix turns a noun or adjective into a verb.

-ly feels friendly and approachable. Grammarly, Bitly. The diminutive quality of that ending takes the edge off.

-er implies a tool or agent. Uber (German for "over/above," but parsed in English as an -er word), Tinder, Buffer. It says: I am a thing that does something for you.

The danger with suffix trends is that they date you. If every competitor in your space ends in -ify, adding another one makes you part of the crowd rather than standing apart from it. Personally, I think they're very dated. I can almost hear Fall Out Boy playing when I see an odd suffix, but that doesn't mean that can't be great brand names.

An expresso martini, or chocolate martini, or appletini, or a lemon drop martini really don't have anything to do with a real martini, but they do nip of bit of recognition by taking 'martini' on the end.

Fanciful words

These are the best. They're also the hardest to create and popularize, but if you can do it [chef's kiss].

Full invention from who-knows-what. No source words, no blends, no clips. Kodak. Xerox. Haagen-Dazs. Exxon. These give you maximum legal protection and complete control over the brand's connotation because the word means nothing until you fill it with meaning. No one can come close to you at the trademark office or in the hearts and minds of your customers. A word that means nothing has no baggage, nothing to overcome, no associations to be recreated. If the other construction methods are premixed salads, and you just get to choose the dressing, fanciful words are salad bars. Does that metaphor make sense, any sense at all? It sounded good in my head, but now that I've typed it out is looks dumb. 

The tradeoff is marketing cost and effort. You start at zero. People hear the name for the first time and stare at you blankly before saying, "I don't get it." Every association has to be earned.

On the other hand, the effort needed might not be worth the payoff in your market. Is there a huge value in having a super-unique and fanciful name for your line of deck screws or does it make more sense to target the market with something that implies a quality of your product?

Your method of choice

Play around with each construction method. Try to think of a few names for each one. They don't have to be good, but the effort of coming up with a few will get you thinking and you might stumble across something you really like.

This is part of a series on selecting a brand name. Here's the previous post.