On Naming Things - In Practice, with Brands and Products
Why Jeff Bezos changed his company name to Amazon and why I am changing the name of this publication.
In this article, we will go through six questions to consider while picking a potential name for a product or brand. Each question will be looked at with the new publication’s name in mind.
This is the second article from the On Naming Things series. Here is the first one:
The Old Name
What is the story behind the name?
Having a good story for the product is important, as our brains are wired to learn about the world through stories.
A story for Poczwardowski Notes: I heard many times that writing helps with clarifying thinking, so I decided to try it by writing book reviews. After two years of publishing reviews on my Goodreads profile, I wanted to build a separate space to share professional experiences and thoughts with a wider audience. So, in November 2023 I created my Substack.
The Meaning Behind Names
Does the name reflect the brand’s purpose and provide some context?
There are brands that use the founder’s name like McDonald’s or Ford, and brands that pay tribute to real or fictional characters, like Tesla (Nikola Tesla) or Starbucks (a fictional character from Moby-Dick). Others, like Facebook, Groupon, MyFitnessPal, and Airbnb, combine or mash together existing words to build additional context that may help with a product’s recognisability. This can help us with its adoption and speed up the familiarity process.
In the beginning, with Poczwardowski Notes, I did not know how far I would go with my writing nor who my audience would be. I assumed friends and colleagues, so using my last name made sense. However, it does not provide any clues of what to expect from the content.
The New Name
What is the story behind the name?
I believe that Poczwardowski Notes is no longer a perfect fit, but it has been a good placeholder for four months. To find a better name I have been looking at patterns and common denominators in my writing.
All of my posts have helped me adopt different perspectives, and I have realised that it is something I want to explore further.
Perspective is the common denominator, and it resonates with me heavily. I use the word perspective frequently when I explain what I write about. Exploring different perspectives started with book reviews, and continued with posts about leadership and work.
To build on perspectives: do you know why we have the ship suffix added to leader to form leadership?
For most cases, ship added to a word indicates:
state of condition being something (apprenticeship, relationship, partnership)
the position, status, or duties of something (dictatorship, clerkship)
skill or ability (craftsmanship, leadership)
The ability to take different perspectives is important and it deserves a separate name. Therefore the new name I have chosen for the publication is Perspectiveship - the skill or ability to look at the world from different perspectives.
Uniqueness
Is the name unique?
Uniqueness helps with identification so make sure that the name is unique. The essence of naming is the ability to distinguish it from other things.
Perspectiveship as a name did not exist in a written form before this very post.
Uniqueness helps with indexing and search engine optimization, making it easier to be discovered. It also provides a broad selection of available domains, usernames and social media handles, which helps with recognition.
Simplicity
Is it easy to say?
The easier it is to say, the better. For international use, it is helpful if it has the same meaning in different languages. It should not have negative connotations in the languages of the countries where it will be used.
In an interview from 1998, Jeff Bezos, told a story that he was rushing to register a new company. On a phone call with his lawyer he said that the name will be Cadabra, as in abracadabra. When his lawyer replied: Cadaver? Bezos knew that it was not a good name. He had registered Cadabra Inc. but after a few months changed it to Amazon, which ticks all the boxes outlined in this post.
Name should be easy to understand, and the best case is just one short word.
Capacity
What is the capacity of the name across various domains?
Each name can store a set of ideas, words, definitions, or even emotions connected to a brand. Names that consist of words that bring meaning have predefined capacity. For example, Nike, as a sports shoes and clothes company, can do anything related to sports and competition and it will feel right. Nike is the Greek goddess of victory, so the name capacity is broad. TransferWise was used for transferring money and exchanging currency, they renamed it to Wise to get more name capacity, as they broaden the scope of their services.
Keep in mind the capacity of your name when defining it. Perpspectiveship capacity is broad, and looking at the world from different perspectives plays a vital role in enriching understanding and achieving better results in many areas.
Time
How much time is needed to make a decision, and how easy is it to change it afterward?
Similar to the process of making decisions, remember two constraints:
how much time you need to decide on the right one
the reversibility of the name - how easy it is to change it later
Changing the name of a file on your computer in the future is easy. Changing a process name in a company is difficult but manageable. Changing an established brand or a product name is almost impossible.
Industries do not all treat brands and products the same way. Industries that are about status and loyalty are usually more strict. IT products for hackers can be more relaxed and use popular culture references.
After 4 months of using Poczwardowski Notes, it is still easy to change. Sometimes, a placeholder is all that is needed to quickly register a name with the option to rename it later, just as Jeff Bezos did.
Summary
Reviewing and answering these questions will help you choose the right name for brands or products:
What is the story behind the name?
Does the name reflect the brand’s purpose and provide some context?
Is the name unique?
Is it easy to say?
What is the capacity of the name across various domains?
How much time is needed to make a decision, and how easy is it to change it afterward?
What other aspects do you consider when coming up with a name?
After considering all these questions I decided that the new name of this publication is Perspectiveship.
I wish you success while working on names, it is a great creative exercise.
Thanks for reading!
Michał
Post Notes
#1 For generating potential name ideas, I recommend inviting your team to the quiet idea generation session:
#2 There is a great article on naming strategies by Ali Abouelatta, which is based on the study of the names of top apps:
