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The process is pretty simple and a lot of fun: think of and write down some words that describe or are related to your project. These are the seeds, or starting
by Maro 18y ago
The process is pretty simple and a lot of fun: think of and write down some words that describe or are related to your project. These are the seeds, or starting point. You should be able to write down 10-50 such words. Try to write down words that are related to the way your product differentiates itself from its competitors. Also look at latin or greek translations of the words (use online dictionaries).
The goal is to come up with variations or combinations of words or related words. Use sites like morewords.com which can show you words starting with a word, ending with a word, containing a word, etc. You can try Google Sets, but it's not very useful for coming up with new stuff. Also do general Google searches for your words and see what other words pop up on the result pages. During this period, carry pen & paper around so you can write down anything you think of.
For most good names you'll come up with the .com won't be available, but that's okay, just keep trying. Be prepared to check 20 domains to find one that is available. Be sure to use non-evil domain checkers that don't automatically register the name.
A good name should be easy to pronounce, and based on the pronounciation, easy to write down, even for foreigners (names with vowels removed, used at the height of the web2 bubble, are no good). It should be related to your project (eg. Amazon is not really a good name for a hypothetical startup bookstore).
You should have 5-10 good names (which may be close to each other) at the end of the process, consult with your partners and pick the best one.
Good luck!