Why These Naming Experts Have Staying Power
NameStormers isn’t just another branding agency that popped up yesterday. Mike and Kay started this company back in the early ’90s, and they’ve been helping businesses find the perfect names ever since. What’s wild is that the same questions Mike answered on CNN thirty years ago are exactly what clients ask today: How do you pick a name that actually sticks? How do you avoid embarrassing mistakes in other languages? Should you just use your own name?
The difference now? NameStormers has both the old-school wisdom and fresh creative talent to tackle modern naming challenges. While other agencies are still figuring things out, these folks have literally been there, done that, and helped hundreds of companies get their names right.
Key Point:
- 30+ Years of Naming Success: NameStormers blends experience and creativity to craft brand names that last.
- Custom Naming, Not One-Size-Fits-All: Every business gets a tailored naming strategy based on its goals.
- Avoid Global and Legal Pitfalls: Experts help you dodge trademark issues and translation fails.
- A Name That Grows With You: Get a name built to scale as your brand evolves.
How a Real Naming Expert Thinks About Your Business
It’s Not One-Size-Fits-All
Here’s something most people don’t realize: your plumber needs a completely different naming strategy than your tech startup. Mike Carr explained this perfectly in that old CNN interview – if you’re running a local service business, you might actually want a name starting with “A” just to show up first in directories. But if you’re launching a new salsa brand? You need something that makes people curious enough to grab your jar off the shelf.
Banks want names that scream “we’re solid and trustworthy.” Tech companies go for names that sound fast and powerful. The naming expert’s job is figuring out what your specific business needs and then making it happen.
Testing Names Before You Commit
Smart naming experts don’t just throw names at the wall and see what sticks. They actually test them with real people. Because here’s the thing – what sounds brilliant in your conference room might completely confuse your customers. Or worse, it might remind them of your biggest competitor.
NameStormers learned this lesson early on. They’d rather find out through name testing and market research that “Olympic Visions” sounds like a gym when you’re actually an eye doctor, than discover it after you’ve already printed business cards and built a website.
The Global Naming Minefield
When Names Go Wrong Internationally
Remember the Chevy Nova story? That car name bombed in Spanish-speaking countries because “nova” basically means “doesn’t go.” Not exactly what you want for a car, right? This stuff happens more often than you’d think, and it’s exactly why you need a naming expert who knows how to avoid these traps.
How to Actually Check Your Name Won’t Embarrass You
The professionals have this figured out. They’ve got dictionaries of curse words in different languages (yes, that’s a real thing). They know professors at local colleges who can quickly tell you if your brilliant name means something awful in German. Best case scenario? They work with people who actually lived in your target countries recently and can give you the real scoop.
It’s not just about avoiding anything offensive. Sometimes a name just feels off or confusing in another culture—and that alone can be enough to sink your brand.
The Personal Name Dilemma
Why Your Name Might Not Be the Best Name
A lot of entrepreneurs, especially in consulting or professional services, figure they’ll just use their own name. Makes sense, right? People know they’re talking straight to the owner — but that’s where things start to get a little complicated.
Take Amy from that old CNN call-in show. She was a financial consultant going independent and couldn’t decide between using her name or something else. Mike’s advice was spot-on: personal names can box you in. What happens when you want to hire other people? What if you want to sell the business someday? What if another Amy in your field gets bad press?
Better Alternatives That Still Feel Personal
Instead of slapping your name on everything, think about what you actually want clients to feel. Do you want them to think “personal service”? “Expert advice”? “Trustworthy guidance”? A good naming expert can help you create something that communicates those feelings without limiting your future options.
Trademark Headaches and How to Avoid Them
When Simple Names Aren’t Simple to Protect
Here’s a frustrating reality: just because a name perfectly describes what you do doesn’t mean you can trademark it. Renee from that CNN show learned this the hard way. She had a garment name that was basically two regular words mashed together, and her lawyer told her it was too descriptive to trademark.
But naming experts know the workarounds. Sometimes, all it takes is a small tweak—maybe a new suffix, a slight spelling change, or a clever prefix. Just like that, a straightforward name becomes unique enough to stand out and be protected, without losing its meaning.
How Naming Has Evolved (And How It Hasn’t)
Same Questions, Different World
It’s wild how that 30-year-old CNN interview still hits home. The main challenges are the same — you still need names that stick, make sense, and can hold up legally. But now you’ve also got to worry about social media handles, domain names, and how your brand will look on a tiny phone screen.
Why Experience Actually Matters
NameStormers has seen it all. They’ve seen naming trends rise and fade, learned from what’s worked (and what hasn’t), and kept evolving with the times. That’s not something you can get from a new agency or a DIY naming generator.
What Makes a Naming Expert Worth It
They’ve Made All the Mistakes (So You Don’t Have To)
The best naming experts have been around long enough to know where the landmines are. They’ve seen names that looked perfect on paper but were impossible to pronounce. They’ve watched companies spend fortunes on names that customers couldn’t remember. They’ve cleaned up messes from names that seemed clever but created legal nightmares.
They Think Beyond Just Finding a Name
Real naming experts don’t just hand you a list of options and walk away. They’re thinking about your business five years from now. They’re considering how the name will work when you expand to new markets, launch new products, or bring in new partners.
That’s the difference between working with true professionals and trying to figure it out yourself. NameStormers has been helping everyone from tiny startups to Fortune 500 companies get this right for three decades, and they’re still here because they understand that a great name isn’t just a label – it’s the foundation of everything your brand becomes.
Let us run with your project
Ready to go?
Together, we will get you across the finish line.
Transcription:
Ashley Elliott (00:05):
Hello and welcome back to naming in the AI Age. This week we have a special treat. We have a throwback Thursday, if you will, and we’re taking it way back to the early nineties with an interview that Mike Carr, our co-founder did with CNN 30 years ago. I mean, just to show that we’ve been in this and naming longer than just about anybody that’s still doing it today. What’s crazy though is some of the exact same questions that Mike answered in the interview we’re still answering today. How do you pick a name that sticks? How do you navigate global meanings and trademarks and should you use your own name? Really all the fundamentals are still relevant, but how we have answered them have evolved over the times. So at NameStormers, we really kind of have the best of both worlds. We have the veteran co-founders, Mike and Kay, who’ve been doing this for decades and work on naming strategies and architecture, and then we have a team of modern creatives and consultants that really are up and sharp and fresh and future focused. So take a lean in blast some eighties, nineties music and hear how naming was being talked about long before brands went viral, and definitely way before social media handles mattered. Hope you enjoy.
(01:13):
What can we help you? Save Enron
Ted David (01:25):
And welcome to Minding Your Business, picking the right name for your business. Often one of the great secrets of Success. As a matter of fact, a small company’s name is often a built-in marketing tool. Joining us with more now, Mike Carr, director of the NameStormers, based in Austin, Texas. Over the last 10 years, his firm has chosen hundreds of names for firms and organizations, products and services. I love that NameStormers. Obviously you practice what you preach. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning. Where do you start when you have a business? I mean, we’ve all too often heard either names that have nothing to do with the business and you haven’t got a clue as to what these folks do or names that are so cutesy that they’re really almost too saccharine. Where do you start?
Mike Carr (02:04):
You really need to set out and identify your goals and objectives. What are all the things you want the name to do for you? And it depends largely on the kind of business you are. If you’re a plumber or a local service shop, you may want to name that gets listed first in the Yellow Pages, so you may actually go with a name that begins with a letter a for instance. Whereas if you are selling a consumer product, a salsa, an apparel product, you may want to name that elicits a trial that is, that’s intriguing or compelling enough to get the customer to pick up a package off the shelf and try it so they’re enticing is a key goal that you’re after. Whereas if you’re a bank, you could care less about enticing customers. You may want to name that conveys solidity, security, safety, or a computer company, a name that conveys power or speed or reliability. It really depends on the kind of company you are, but first and foremost, identify all those things you want that name to do for you.
Ted David (02:51):
Does it pay to do market research, focus groups and that kind of thing?
Mike Carr (02:55):
We think it does. If you feel you’re not in touch with what your customers need and if that’s your key target, it’s often useful to go out there and test some names with them once you have a handful of choices and make sure that they aren’t confused with anything else that’s already out there. For instance, if customers come back to you and say, Hey, I think Olympic Visions is a health club, when in fact you’re in the optometry business, you’ve got a problem and you don’t want to use something that’s confused with the competitor or the customers don’t understand, can’t remember, can’t spell.
Ted David (03:23):
I always remember the story about Chevy having a problem selling the Nova Chevy Nova in Latin American countries because in Spanish Nova means doesn’t go. That’s right. How do you make sure that your name does? I also know is a story about race horses where the name of a racehorse in print can often be obscene. When read aloud, and I won’t elaborate any further, but now the racing authorities always make you read the name of the horse aloud to make sure you don’t have that problem. How do you make sure that names aren’t going to be offensive, ethnically that they aren’t going to be a double entendres and so on?
Mike Carr (03:53):
There’s several ways to do that. There are books out dictionaries of obscenities you can purchase that will give you the most obvious profane meanings in a number of different languages. The easiest way is if you know someone that speaks that language fluently, either in your community that teaches linguistics or language at the local community college, give ’em a call up. Run the name by if you’re concerned about what it means in Spanish or German or some other language, you can often find someone that speaks that language at a local college and that will very quickly give you an opinion. The best of course, though, is to talk to someone that recently has lived in that country. If you’re fortunate enough to have sales reps in other countries, give ’em a call and run the names by them before you make your
Ted David (04:30):
Choice. Amy and Texas, good morning. You’re a first caller. Hello? Go ahead, Amy.
Amy (04:35):
My question is, the name of my business is going to be a little limited, but my question Mike was I am a financial consultant previously with a major wirehouse and now have gone independent. And my options are to either call myself my name, my individual name, or to call myself the independent contractor as my employer. And I don’t think I want to call myself the name. I don’t think the name of my company should be my independent contractor. I really think it should be my personal name, but I just kind of want to know from a professional standpoint what you thought.
Mike Carr (05:07):
The problem with personal names is as you grow over time, that name may be too limiting. That is when you first start out, it’s great because your name’s on the letterhead and your customers know they’re talking to quote the owner or the principal. But over time, as you bring more people into your firm, you may want to disengage somewhat from the business. And if your name’s on that letterhead and on your company signage, it may be difficult to do that. Also, using your own name is often difficult to protect because there are other people out there, Amy, probably with the same name you have, they can probably use the name in their businesses too, so you can’t prevent them from having the same name since their name is the same as yours on their letterhead. And if they do something that causes some bad press, that bad press may come on over and impact you. Alright. What I would suggest is pick out the characteristic you want to convey to your customers personal service, knowledgeable advice, and try to come up with some names that suggest that.
Ted David (05:57):
Let’s get Renee in New York on. Go ahead, Renee.
Renee (05:59):
Hi, thanks for taking my call. I manufacture a very specialized garment, which the name of it is two normally used words, which I’ve combined into one word, and my lawyer told me that because it’s so simple and descriptive, I wouldn’t be able to get a trademark for it. But since it describes exactly what the product is, I really would like to keep it. So my question is, what can I do to increase the likelihood of getting it trademarked? How can I improve
Ted David (06:27):
All? We got to get a quick answer. Trademark service mark, copyright, what do you go for?
Mike Carr (06:31):
Well, in that particular case, what I would do is I would change a couple of the letters like add an eight to the end of the name or put a short prefix in front of it to change it from a real word or two real syllables combined together to something that’s a little more fanciful. It can still be suggestive. It might not be quite as descriptive, but by adding a couple letters at the beginning, you’ll make it more unique and you’ll have a lot better shot at registering it with the trademark office.
Ted David (06:53):
Pleasure to have you, Mike. Thanks for joining us. You
Mike Carr (06:55):
Bet.
Ted David (06:55):
Mike Carr, director of the NameStormers in Austin, Texas. Join us again tomorrow with this time when we’ll answer your questions.
Ashley Elliott (07:01):
Alright, well, there you have it. Mike Carr, co-founder of NameStormers, dropping some knowledge on CNN 30 years ago, and those answers in that advice really is still relevant today. I mean, naming has changed for sure. There are new platforms. There are tighter legal landscapes evolving brand behaviors, but the core questions are really still the same, and that’s why NameStormers is still here. We blend the decades of expertise and experience with Next Gen creativity, and we want to help companies, whether it be startups, fortune five, hundreds, to really build brands with names. That last, thanks for listening to this special throwback edition of Naming in an AI Age. And until next time, keep storming.
