Do abstract real words make the best brand names?
It’s been awhile since my last post. In the interim, I’ve moved to Shanghai where I’ll take a position as Senior Consultant with a Shanghai-based strategy firm. More on that later.
Today’s post is about naming—specifically naming in English, or at least for primarily English-speaking audiences (suppose I have to make that distinction now). Upon seeing Pollywog’s list of what they consider the best and worst names of 2009, I realized that most of the “best” names are real English words. In naming lingo, they’re abstract/evocative (as opposed to descriptive/functional) real words (as opposed to coined/invented or compound/composites).
Eight out of the ten “best” names on Pollywog’s list fit this description. One is part of a common phrase made into a compound (“Thinair”) and the last is a compound made of two real words (“SweetLeaf”). In contrast, of Pollywog’s worst names of 2009, only two fit this description (“VIA” and “The Hut”), unless you count “Bing” as a real word, while the rest are coined. And I’ll admit, the first list looks a lot better to me than the second. A look at Pollywog’s list from 2008 produces similar results.
Does this mean abstract, real-English words make the best brand names? Pollywog seems to think so. What about their competitors—other naming experts? Few of them put out annual lists of names they like and dislike, but a look at their portfolios is telling. Take, for example, the portfolio of Igor, the naming geniuses that author Snark Hunting.
And I agree. The names that excite me most are almost always real words. There’s something magical about seeing an entirely unexpected, but nevertheless familiar, word out of context. Take Igor’s “July” for a financial services company. It just works.
What does this mean for naming? Obviously different situations call for different naming parameters, but if professional namers agree that real, abstract or evocative words make the best names in the majority of cases, the process of generating names should be catered to fit this realization. Coined words should be presented as a last resort (to satisfy trademark and/or domain availability) as opposed to an equally satisfactory alternative. Clients should be told up front that real words make the best names—that name exploration will be heavily weighted in their favor. In my experience, none of these things are done consistently. Should they be?
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Tarek,
Have heard things like that about names that contain those letters, and if you look around the consumer auto industry (and some others, too) you’ll see them quite a bit. I do think there’s some validity in the idea that a few letters/sounds work better than others to communicate speed, uniqueness, and even sex appeal (S and X, but also Z, V, etc.).
But I don’t think it’s accurate to claim it’s subliminal “sex” messaging being played on all of us. Or at least it’s not that simple. It’s partly the sounds themselves (think onomatopoeia…what noises would you make to imitate a speeding car?) and partly the words they show up in—”sex,” but also “speed” and “excite.”
Thanks, interesting blog.
Lexus, it also has a similar sound and association with the word success…
Thanks Nicholas. It’s funny that neither you nor Tarek mentioned “luxury” or “luxurious,” which I always thought were the most obvious soundalikes for “Lexus.”
You’re right. And they are probably right about Lexus being a top name, having combined luxury, success, and sex. 
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I was nodding my head in agreement while reading this good post. I’ve read years ago that “Lexus” is one of the best brand names ever created. It had to do with the fact that it had the three magical letters “s”, “e”, and “x” which evoke sex into mind.
Do you have any comment on this?