When will companies choose names we can spell?
I’ve ranted about web 2.0 spellings before. But it’s not just web 2.0 companies that choose bad names that you can’t spell or understand. It’s big venture backed companies that serve enterprises and consumers alike.
I was helping my wife with some research the other day and she hollered out names of various companies so I could look them up on my computer. My frustration mounted as I tried to figure out how to spell these names. They make sense when you look at them, but try saying them aloud to a friend and see how they spell them.
Xactly Corporation
StorWize
Intacct
OnStor, Inc
Funambol
Verdiem Corporation
Persystent Technology Corporation
Neocleus
Ontela, Inc.
Ensenda, Inc.
Vovici Corporation
Agiliance, Inc
Agentek, Inc
Satmetrix Systems
TxVia
Veveo
Vidient Systems
Numobiq, Inc.
Symplified, Inc
Daptiv, Inc.
My guess is out of the 20 of these someone would be able to spell 5 or so “correctly” on the first try. So what happens when you hear buzz about one of these companies and go to look them up? You get frustrated. Hopefully Google will steer you to the right company, but after a while you probably just give up.
I understand that trademark lawyers suggest picking “unique” names that can be branded and trademarked. If you do choose this route, you can still pick a name that people can spell.
namer.ca says
there is a reason for so many bad names especially among tech startup companies, the bigest reason is pure psychological, which means such names are just going to be continually mass produced and coming our way until the end of time.
DR. DOMAIN says
As I browsed the names-I checked them against the mental list of my domains.Wanted to be sure I had’nt gone nerd crazy & tried to create a name that would be of value to NO ONE.I’m safe.;->Frighteningly… these companies have probably gotten round after round of funding.Did anyone take a marketing class at these places?
soggyindo says
That is so true! Actually, you’ve read my mind. I’ve just finished writing a quick guide to coming up with good company names and domain names for your projects at namehugger.com
You can read it at link.
There’s a bunch of tips, like having only one thing you have to remember about the domain (the extension, weird spelling, etc.)
Stelladora says
Domain Name Wire could run an annual contest where people voted for the worst domain names in several categories.
One category could be post-Series A funding.
Another category could be South Asian companies. Lots to choose from there.
A third category could be East Asian companies (China, Japan, etc.).
Voting could take place at a major domain conference and prizes awarded in-absentia.
Bill says
Verdiem is Latin for “Green Day” – the company provides PC Power Management solutions.
Andrew says
Bill, I understand the logic behind some of these companies’ names…but it doesn’t make them easier to spell 🙂
stefano maffulli says
I never thought of how difficult it was for English speakers to spell Funambol. For Italians it’s not difficult, and I guess the same is for Spanish, French and Germans. The roots of Funambol is a latin word, after all. It would be interesting to find out the perception of spelling for people speaking other languages than English 🙂