Naming at length
In defense of the long-winded, discursive, protracted, garrulous, rambling, & otherwise verbose
I’m only 5'3 and I have what some would describe as a “short” name—both my first and last are only one syllable each. I also name companies and products for a living, and often have to contend with this phrase, which it turns out I’ve already written about before: “It’s a bit long.”
Rather than trying to again convince you that short names are a nearly extinct species, I’d like to turn our attention today to what’s possible when you expand the parameters of what a name can be…
A Hundred Monkeys
Our studio name is three words with a total of fifteen letters. We own our dot com and @ahundredmonkeys on Instagram. The name makes people smile. No one ever forgets it. People pronounce the “A” like “ay” and/or like “uh” but neither is right or wrong. The part of our brain that understands language is rather adaptable. It might be a bit cumbersome to type my email address the first time you write me, but hopefully whichever email service you’re using will remember it for you from that point on.
A Verb for Keeping Warm
Five words! 19 letters! And they’ve been in business for 20 years selling materials, reference books, and other resources for fiber arts—knitting, weaving, sewing, dyeing, etc. In true long name fashion, they have their own dot com. For social media, they use the acronym AVFKW. When you’re audience is creative, why not get a little (or a lot) poetic?
Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous
This one is just downright fun to say. It didn’t hurt that their ice cream was also delicious. Alas, this neighborhood creamery is no longer. But you can’t blame it on the name; not in this economy.
Just The Fun Part
Speaking of ice cream, don’t you love whoever realized putting chocolate at the bottom of a cone helped keep it from dripping out of the bottom? It took a while, but eventually someone realized that the final bite of cone was a crowd favorite. Why yes, you can buy shelf-stable waffle tips filled with chocolate (and other things). I love the idea of a four-word name for a one-bite snack. And guess what? They have the domain name and the Instagram handle, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Drummer from Another Mother
This Moog synthesizer goes by DFAM for short. But isn’t it better to say the full name? The rhythm! The rhyme! The assonance!
Arthur Mac’s Tap and Snack
+1 for assonance. And a good example of a descriptive name that still has personality.
A Question of Eagles
Proof that you can name your business anything. Does someone have a question about eagles? Or do the eagles have questions for us? This is a name that sticks. For what it’s worth, this name belongs to a ceramics studio. Creative enterprises have a higher likelihood of having creative names.
Bottom of the Hill
Love a good place-named business. It sounds like a place to meet before a stiff climb. Or the destination of a descent into some underworld. A good reminder that maybe we should start all projects with a provocation: If this brand were a dive bar, what would it be called?
For every client that comes to us saying they want a short name—just one word with as few syllables as possible—I’ll keep gravitating toward names that go for the character count without thinking twice. To me, these are the names that make an impression, that make me laugh or smile, or that I simply can’t forget.
