Science & Technology

The Psychology of Business Names

by Nick Kolenda

📚 Main topics

Four types of namesNames can be descriptive, deviant, associative, or neologistic, depending on whether they use real words and how relevant they are to the business. The best type depends on the brand’s goals, and names that are neither too obvious nor too unrelated can be more persuasive. 0:32
Sounds and meaningCertain sounds carry associations through patterns in language and through how letters and sounds are perceived. For example, sharper sounds may suit a knife, while rounder sounds may suit a hammer. 2:06
Generating candidate namesThe process covers invented names built from meaningful prefixes and suffixes, associative names made by transforming relevant terms, descriptive names, and metaphorical names drawn from emotions and related contexts. 4:43
Choosing a final nameCandidate names are assessed for domain availability, personal appeal, customer and business goals, scalability, ease of spelling and pronunciation, possible translations, and legal usability. 13:36

✨ Key takeaways

Start with the brand’s goalsA name should fit the intended brand and its ambitions. Invented names can offer a blank slate, while relevant words bring existing associations. 1:03
Use sound associations deliberatelyThe sounds in a name can subtly suggest qualities such as size, weight, or a particular feeling, helping align the name with the brand. 3:08
Generate broadly before narrowingUse multiple naming techniques to build a large pool of options, then filter candidates against practical and strategic criteria. 8:21
Make names distinctive but usableA name should attract attention and communicate something about the brand while remaining professional, pronounceable, and easy to spell. 15:10

🧠 Lessons learned

Descriptive names can limit brandabilityA descriptive name may feel like a phrase rather than a distinct entity, making it harder to build new associations around it. 11:30
Test names against real-world useCheck how a name works when spoken aloud, whether people can spell and pronounce it, and whether it creates problems in other languages or with trademarks. 16:12
Balance creativity and clarityFor his agency, Nick favors Behavur because it is creative yet professional, but notes that spelling and trademark concerns remain. 15:40

🏁 Conclusion/next steps

Apply the four-step processChoose a name type, select fitting sounds and letters, generate options through the techniques discussed, and narrow the list using strategic and practical checks. 17:13
Consider the Behavur spellingNick invites viewers to weigh in on whether the agency name should use an umlaut over the U and says future videos will use the agency as a case study. 17:13

Transcript excerpt

0:00 So you have a product or service and you're trying to think of a good name for it. It can be tough. A name that seems good at first might not actually be the best name for your business. I read hundreds of studies on linguistics and I condensed all of this information into a step-by-step process that I'll explain in this video. I wrote these steps in a PDF which you can download for free. I'll put the link below. But there are four steps. Step one, choose the type of name. I noticed that two factors are important with brand names. Whether or not it's relevant and whether or not it uses actual words. We can use these variables to create a two by two matrix.

0:32 A descriptive name is a word that's relevant like General Motors, Home Depot, General Electric. A deviant name is a word that's irrelevant to the product like Apple, Amazon, Pandora. Associative names are non-words that are relevant like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. Neologistic names are non-words that are irrelevant like Spotify, Kodak, Zynga. These names have no inherent meaning. Now which type of name should you choose? It depends on your goals. Here's a chart that can help you decide. For example, if you want a scalable name,

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