The Name Game, What's in a Name? -- A Guide to Software Technology Names
The automobile industry has long been teased for bizarre car names like our old Chrysler “Volare,” or our ill-fated Renault “Alliance,” or the Acura “Legend”, the “Aspire,” the Ford Focus, the “Optima” etc., etc (you get the idea). The current convention reflects a fascination with numbers, the LS430, the S500, the 3 series, the 5 series, or the XJ8 and so on. The technology sector is clearly in close competition for weird names.
We apologize to any readers who may regard this comment as trite, but recently we were struck by the absurdity of company names as we scanned down our “favorites” list for websites. Clearly as the technology industry has grown and matured, the number of companies despite rapid consolidation continues to expand, and consequently the challenge of naming companies has grown. Weird names are likely intended as a means to capture one’s attention and perhaps to spark additional curiosity regarding the company in question, both good reasons to be creative…..though in a piece like this, running spell-check is a bit more arduous and time consuming.
In looking through this partial listing of software related technology names we identified a number of “categories:” the pseudo Latin type name, a true Latin name, the “we’re all business” name, the “we’re on a mission” name, the “homage to our founder” name, the somewhat surprising “nature” name, the “command” name, the totally random name, and if all else fails “the place” name. At this pace it is only a matter of time until naming with numbers hits the scene.
To illustrate the point the following is a slightly edited version of our “favorites” list.
After a quick perusal of this list of names a number of things become quickly apparent.
First, is that there is a clear fascination with pseudo Latin type names (17) as is quickly evident from names like Acronis, Altiris, Applix, Attunity, Authoria, Citrix, Cognos, Epicor, Kognitio, Idera, Indus, Industri-Matematik, Informatica, Intentia, Manugistics, Symantec, and Quaris, to name just a few.
Then there is one true Latin named company such as Veritas (which also presumably was a reference to the company’s mission as well.)
Then there is the “we’re all business” (18) reflected in these comparatively short (but not necessarily sweet, or for that matter particularly imaginative) names as CA (formerly known as Computer Associates), Business Objects, Commvault, Compuware, db4Objects, Deltek, IBM (which of course stands for International Business Machines), Internet Security Systems, Microsoft, Microstrategy, mySQL, paper.com, SAP (Systeme Anuendungenund Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung or in English, Systems, Applications Products in Data Processing), SSA Global (formerly known as Systems Software Associates), Salesforce.com, SupportSoft, QAD (we’re not exactly sure what QAD stands for, but believe it has something to do with “quality assurance” ) and Verisign.
The next most popular category would be “we’re on a mission name” (9) as exemplified by the likes of Agile, EMC (surely a reference to Einstien’s E=MC squared, though we must admit we’re not sure of the purpose other than to suggest “we’re really smart,” Mobius, NetIQ, Oracle, Precise, Progress, Quest and Veritas.
Then there are those companies named, not immodestly, for the founders (6) – BEA, BMC, Gartner, Lawson, Hewlett-Packard and of course, Siebel.
Somewhat surprisingly there is “that nature category” (6) (surprising since these names have nothing to do with the business, the mission, the science, or even the location company, but appear to be purely a mercurial reflection presumably the founder). While these names have little to do with anything, we can’t help have affection for these as we ourselves are guilty of drawing on nature for inspiration. Some examples of these “nature” names are seen with Acorn Systems, Blue Atlas Management (a common reference to a type of evergreen tree), Hummingbird, Mimosa, Primavera (also could be a reference to a love of a type of pasta), and SilverBack Technologies (presumably a reference to the SilverBack gorilla).
The totally random (2) – RedHat, Novell
The authoritative (2) – Concur and RightNow come to mind.
The “just plain weird” or “what were they thinking?” (3) – JBoss (meaning boss of Java?), or Sleepycat Software (who knows what this is getting at?), or for that matter Yahoo.
If all else fails, there is always the “place name” (3), clearly these companies know where they’re located, or at least where they came from, as seen in CapeClear, Embarcadero Technologies and Manhattan Associates (originally founded not in Manhattan, New York, but in Manhattan Beach, California, but now of course based in Atlanta, Georgia). As we thought about place based names, we realized that our blog address uses a place. (For those interested the blog address, http://remsenburg.blogspot.com, is a reference to a very small hamlet in Long Island, New York.)
And finally, perhaps the most bizarre name and yet the most powerful, is a made up verb (1) Google. Google may be inspired by googol, which means 10 raised to the 100th power, and perhaps it was chosen to illustrate the power of the company’s search engine. This name is truly surprising and perhaps explains the company’s success.
Legal Disclaimer
Nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation to buy any security. Readers are advised to review their own financial situation, risk tolerance, and investment objectives as to any investment. Information provided here is based, in part, from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, although no representations or guarantees can be provided as to its accuracy or completeness.
Blue Atlas Management, LLC is our official business entity for consulting related work. In addition, we now have a website www.blueatlasmanagement.com for those of you who are interested in learning more a little more about our services. Please feel free to contact us at jmendelson@blueatlasmanagement.com, with any comments or questions.
We apologize to any readers who may regard this comment as trite, but recently we were struck by the absurdity of company names as we scanned down our “favorites” list for websites. Clearly as the technology industry has grown and matured, the number of companies despite rapid consolidation continues to expand, and consequently the challenge of naming companies has grown. Weird names are likely intended as a means to capture one’s attention and perhaps to spark additional curiosity regarding the company in question, both good reasons to be creative…..though in a piece like this, running spell-check is a bit more arduous and time consuming.
In looking through this partial listing of software related technology names we identified a number of “categories:” the pseudo Latin type name, a true Latin name, the “we’re all business” name, the “we’re on a mission” name, the “homage to our founder” name, the somewhat surprising “nature” name, the “command” name, the totally random name, and if all else fails “the place” name. At this pace it is only a matter of time until naming with numbers hits the scene.
To illustrate the point the following is a slightly edited version of our “favorites” list.
After a quick perusal of this list of names a number of things become quickly apparent.
First, is that there is a clear fascination with pseudo Latin type names (17) as is quickly evident from names like Acronis, Altiris, Applix, Attunity, Authoria, Citrix, Cognos, Epicor, Kognitio, Idera, Indus, Industri-Matematik, Informatica, Intentia, Manugistics, Symantec, and Quaris, to name just a few.
Then there is one true Latin named company such as Veritas (which also presumably was a reference to the company’s mission as well.)
Then there is the “we’re all business” (18) reflected in these comparatively short (but not necessarily sweet, or for that matter particularly imaginative) names as CA (formerly known as Computer Associates), Business Objects, Commvault, Compuware, db4Objects, Deltek, IBM (which of course stands for International Business Machines), Internet Security Systems, Microsoft, Microstrategy, mySQL, paper.com, SAP (Systeme Anuendungenund Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung or in English, Systems, Applications Products in Data Processing), SSA Global (formerly known as Systems Software Associates), Salesforce.com, SupportSoft, QAD (we’re not exactly sure what QAD stands for, but believe it has something to do with “quality assurance” ) and Verisign.
The next most popular category would be “we’re on a mission name” (9) as exemplified by the likes of Agile, EMC (surely a reference to Einstien’s E=MC squared, though we must admit we’re not sure of the purpose other than to suggest “we’re really smart,” Mobius, NetIQ, Oracle, Precise, Progress, Quest and Veritas.
Then there are those companies named, not immodestly, for the founders (6) – BEA, BMC, Gartner, Lawson, Hewlett-Packard and of course, Siebel.
Somewhat surprisingly there is “that nature category” (6) (surprising since these names have nothing to do with the business, the mission, the science, or even the location company, but appear to be purely a mercurial reflection presumably the founder). While these names have little to do with anything, we can’t help have affection for these as we ourselves are guilty of drawing on nature for inspiration. Some examples of these “nature” names are seen with Acorn Systems, Blue Atlas Management (a common reference to a type of evergreen tree), Hummingbird, Mimosa, Primavera (also could be a reference to a love of a type of pasta), and SilverBack Technologies (presumably a reference to the SilverBack gorilla).
The totally random (2) – RedHat, Novell
The authoritative (2) – Concur and RightNow come to mind.
The “just plain weird” or “what were they thinking?” (3) – JBoss (meaning boss of Java?), or Sleepycat Software (who knows what this is getting at?), or for that matter Yahoo.
If all else fails, there is always the “place name” (3), clearly these companies know where they’re located, or at least where they came from, as seen in CapeClear, Embarcadero Technologies and Manhattan Associates (originally founded not in Manhattan, New York, but in Manhattan Beach, California, but now of course based in Atlanta, Georgia). As we thought about place based names, we realized that our blog address uses a place. (For those interested the blog address, http://remsenburg.blogspot.com, is a reference to a very small hamlet in Long Island, New York.)
And finally, perhaps the most bizarre name and yet the most powerful, is a made up verb (1) Google. Google may be inspired by googol, which means 10 raised to the 100th power, and perhaps it was chosen to illustrate the power of the company’s search engine. This name is truly surprising and perhaps explains the company’s success.
Legal Disclaimer
Nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation to buy any security. Readers are advised to review their own financial situation, risk tolerance, and investment objectives as to any investment. Information provided here is based, in part, from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, although no representations or guarantees can be provided as to its accuracy or completeness.
Blue Atlas Management, LLC is our official business entity for consulting related work. In addition, we now have a website www.blueatlasmanagement.com for those of you who are interested in learning more a little more about our services. Please feel free to contact us at jmendelson@blueatlasmanagement.com, with any comments or questions.
posted by jcm at 1:09 PM
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