The Name Game »
Previously I posted an entry on how I came to use the name ‘lilula’. Within it I promised a post with some tips and resources. This is that promised post — a quick guide for anyone looking to create a memorable name, whether it be for professional or personal use.
The most obvious place to start is with a brainstorm. Jot down words which describe an ethos, purpose or personality — but do not stop there. Get a thesaurus out and get synonyms, phrases, rhymes and antonyms. Categorise words or mix them up — cook up a thick word soup.
Consider the aesthetic to which you are attaching this soon to be wicked name. Are there defining colours, textures, fonts, layouts or patterns? Describe each detail — consider how these words relate to the connotations of the brand.
Acknowledge what is popular in brand semantics i.e. dropping vowels. However, keep in mind that following a trend might only make a name memorable in the short term. Fashionable words may also carry unrelated connotations and expectations.
Nicknames are as personal as it gets and a great way of expressing an identity, as long as they are fairly unique and not too difficult to pronounce. Quite often unpronounceable or unusual words are misspelt or forgotten.
Vowels can be used to create a natural rhythm or punchy names. Words with an equal amount of vowels flow very well. Single vowel words can be exaggerated so that they become onomatopoeic, lyrical or comical.
If those tips are not quite enough to get the words flowing, then perhaps these resources will help out in some manner or another.
- Randomainer: Search for a word and get words which are semantically related, restructured then shown as available domains.
- Make Words: Generates a combination of random and normal words and shows which domains are readily available and which ones are obtainable through other means.
- Dislexicon: This is a gem which allows you to input a word and then adds a variety of prefixes and suffixes to create variations of the word.
- Word Mixer: Really fun tool which mixes up to five different words together in a way that conforms to English pronunciation.
- 8 Strenuous Steps to Get the Ideal Name: Vivien shares her insight and woes on finding that perfect name, then provides a guideline on the ideal process.
If you did not get a chance to have your say on the last post, then share your own tips, tricks and resources. Or indulge me with your own anecdotes on the tears and triumphs of picking out a memorable name for an identity.
I’m always interested in finding out how other people come up with the names that define their business, site, blog. Lilula has a very pleasant sound to it and rolls of the tongue easily, so I think your name search didn’t end in vain ;)
Thanks for the link love and for other links, especially Dislexicon!
I didn’t put any effort into choosing my domain name – it quite literally was a case of “my old domain went down indefinitely, I need to buy a new one, okay I’ll name it after myself”.
I had it easy though, considering that I’m known by another name, one which highlighted a part of myself that I wanted to make explicit in whatever I wrote. No one could ever mistake “Jingwen” as being non-Asian.
My blog name is just a play on my name; clearly I’m too simple to come up with anything else. :p
PS. you have a typo in your footer, I think. ‘thinks I like’ should be ‘things I like’?
@inspirationbit: My pleasure, and thank you! The hardest part of this reboot was the name so I’m glad it’s enjoyable. Also, the amount of time I’ve spent on Dislexicon is obscene :x It’s highly addictive, so you’ve been warned.
@Amanda: I love your current domain. It reflects a large part of who you are, and is far more personal than the last I reckon. And a belated thank you for the link love and beautiful (by which I mean shocking) boobage :)
@Jem: In my opinion, the best personal domains are always a pun of some sort on the author’s name. Although it can leave room for error, eh Jim?
I used to have a boring e-mail address when everyone had a hip and cool one. Usually something to mark the randomness of being “alternative”. Things like “yellow elephant” and “addicted to cucumbers” came up.
Since I wore striped socks everyday and was simply obsessed with them, I made mine “gestreeptesokken” [Dutch] @ mailthing. Since I had that e-mail I wanted to have a personal address that went with it [so I went with gestreeptesokken.tk, and very briefly, .nl] but I figured that if I wanted to keep catering to the dominantly English-speaking international online crowd, I couldn’t have such a difficult, long, Dutch name. I translated to stripedsocks but that was taken, so then the hyphen was born.
I think nowadays striped-socks still represents that little part of me that feels connected with being different and having a domain that’s not boringly, selfishly just my name, that reflects me [the outer part of myself, my appearance is very important] and my love for alternative fashion [and just socks in general], and just the pure fun and randomness of life saying it shouldn’t always be too serious.
Right now, I like being the “[striped] socks girl”. I think the name Vief is a big part of my identity, but striped-socks is part of me just as well. I don’t think I’d want to leave it, because I’ve grown attached to it.
It’s always difficult to pick names for things [like Twitter, or LiveJournal] and a lot of times, when I end up with something random that doesn’t have too much to do with myself, I want to change it again and regret the choice. So I guess you should pick something that feels comfortable. In your case I think the name you picked is brilliant and probably a very strong choice to keep on using for a long time. :)
My current domain name is boring. It’s just my name, my reasoning being, if I wanted to change my blog name it wouldn’t really matter. But, well, it’s soooo boring. And *I* am not boring. So, today, I bought a new domain. :)