Cradlewise — The naming ceremony!
What’s in a name ? Everything! The company name carries the weight of the brand, and we wanted ours to make an impact. We decided to carry out a mindful exercise to come up with an appropriate name for our startup.
The brainstorming session threw up a lot of suggestions and soon the whiteboard was covered with all the words that ‘baby’ evokes, ranging from songs and toys to sounds and emotions. Here are some of the words that popped up:
Animals — Giraffe, Cow, Duck, Stork, Lamb, Elephant, Camel, Honeybee, Bear
Sounds — Cuddly, KooChiKoo, Giggles, Babble, Twinkle, Lullaby
Things — Snowman, Cradle, Tots, Baby, Moon, Stars
Actions — Snuggle, Cuddle
Initially we started coming up with names in a mathematical fashion — taking a word and either adding or subtracting a few letters to arrive at a new name. What came up were words like Cradleme, Kidoera, Kiditos…and we soon realized that the approach wasn’t working! Not only did the words make no sense, they didn’t throw any light on what the company was about. There was no emotional connect and surely that wouldn’t work for a company that was all about babies and their wellbeing!
And then one day, we were watching the old, classic movie — The Sound of Music — and all kinds of bells began to ring!
In one memorable scene, Captain Von Trapp is singing this song to his kids :
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
And something just clicked! Edelweiss became Cradlewise!
Edelweiss, which means ‘noble and white’, is a flower that grows in the Alps. A perennial plant, it has several nourishing medicinal qualities. The connection with a nurturing cradle resonated with us and so, Cradlewise it was !
I have since realized that coming up with suitable names, either for a baby or a company, cannot be a scientific or mathematical assignment. It is a purely creative process and letting your mind free will yield the best!
