What’s in a name?
Conventional considerations
Anyone who has ever had a child, owned a pet, started a band, or set up a business or brand knows that choosing a name can be a very personal, important and difficult decision. Advice on how to navigate this potential minefield has traditionally included:
- Consider the meaning: think about what the name means and whether it has any cultural or historical significance. You may want to choose a name that has a special meaning to you, or reflects your values, or describes concisely your business objectives and activities.
- Think about the sound: how does the name sound when spoken aloud? Does it flow easily or is it difficult to pronounce? Is it too common or too unique? Consider how the name will be received by others. Are there any possible pronunciation variations?
- Look at the spelling: make sure the spelling of the name is easy to remember and not too complicated. Imagine how the name will look when written down or typed out.
- Avoid potential issues: identify any negative connotations or associations with the name, or potential confusion with another name or word.
- Get feedback: asking friends and family will give a sense of how the name is perceived. You may also want to conduct some market research if you are naming a business or product.
Contemporary complications
As if all that wasn’t enough, technical advances (such as the importance of the Internet) and globalisation of brands have added new complications to the equation, for example:
- Is the DOT COM domain name available?
- Are there any negative or inappropriate elements of the name when used in a foreign country or language? Famous examples of brands which have suffered in this respect include the Nova car in Spanish-speaking countries (‘este coche no va’), the search engine Bing in China (the word means ‘ill’), and the Japanese brand Kinki (for reasons we can only speculate).
So how did we do?
On the plus side, we think we were successful in capturing the essence of our business in the name DatumLocus, literally ‘a place for information’. And we got the DOT COM!
We thought we had avoided any linguistic pitfalls … until a German friend of ours, who holds a very eminent position in the dairy industry, pointed out that the German word ‘Lokus’ has a colloquial meaning of ‘toilet’. On the bright side, he is sure that the name will be memorable in Germany.
Then there is the pronunciation. ‘Data’ and ‘datum’ are pronounced differently in British, American and international English. We at DatumLocus have been known to pronounce the company name three different ways in the course of a single conversation!
The name of the game …
… is spreading the word. We are a young company whose ambition is to provide comprehensive, accurate, convenient and timely data and analysis related to dairy markets. We want DatumLocus to become a household name among dairy players. For this reason:
- We really don’t care how you pronounce it (you say ‘tomato’, I say ‘tomato’) …
- … so please use it loud and often (but with the emphasis on ‘Datum’ if you’re in Germany).