How professional brand namers create iconic names like Sonos, Azure and Blackberry

Executive overview

Most founders assume they'll recognise a great name on sight. They almost never do. The instinct toward comfort and familiarity is exactly what produces weak, descriptive names that fail to stand out.

David Placek, founder of Lexicon Branding, has run 4,000+ naming projects over four decades. His framework — Identify, Invent, Implement — combines linguistic science, small creative teams, and structured discovery to find names that create asymmetric advantage before a product even launches.

A great name isn't a word — it's the starting point of an experience, and its value is almost unlimited if you get it right.

Why you won't know a great name when you see it

• Humans default to comfort; familiar patterns feel safe, so bold names feel wrong at first
• Clients consistently believe they'll know the right name immediately — they almost never do
• The names that feel uncomfortable are often the ones with the most market energy
• Polarisation within a team is a signal of strength, not a red flag — Andy Grove approved Pentium precisely because he saw the team divided
• If your whole team is comfortable with the name, you probably don't have the right name yet

Why a great name matters

• Cumulative advantage: every purchase, every mention, deepens the bond between customer and brand — distinctiveness compounds over time
• Asymmetric advantage: a bold name gives you a head start before launch, before any marketing spend
• Descriptive names (e.g. "Cloud Pro") fail to differentiate; you need to start a story, not make a statement
• Design, messaging, and products all change — the name stays

The identify phase

• Start with behaviour, not positioning: how are you behaving now, and how do you want to behave in the future?
• Behaviour is bi-directional — how the brand acts toward the market, and how the market acts toward it
• Map the competitive landscape: catalogue existing brand names and the language used across the category
• Find whitespace — if every competitor uses similar sounds or structures, that's where not to go
• Build a creative framework (not objectives): a metaphor or window that guides creative teams without narrowing too early

The invent phase

• Use small teams of two, not large brainstorms — the best names come from individuals and pairs, not groups
• Run at least three separate teams on significant projects, each with a different brief
  • Team one: full context
  • Team two: same brief but disguised as a different company
  • Team three: same underlying brief but a completely different category (e.g. naming a bicycle instead of a software tool)
• Teams working on the disguised brief are free to make mistakes and tend to produce the most original ideas
• Windsurf (formerly Codium) came from a team tasked with finding words that convey flow and dynamic movement — not from naming an AI IDE directly
• For intangible products (software, services), make the concept tangible before naming it

Sound symbolism and the linguistic engine

• Every letter of the alphabet carries a signal — a vibration or experience — that is largely consistent across cultures
• V is the most alive and vibrant sound in English (Corvette, Vercel, Viagra)
• B is one of the most reliable sounds — a key rationale for Blackberry
• Z is noisy and creates a strong signal (Azure)
• X is fast, crisp, and carries semantic associations with innovation
• Lexicon has employed 253 linguists over four decades; their global network covers 76 countries and screens names for cultural, political, and linguistic problems
• Proprietary database of 18,000+ morphemes (small word units) feeds the creative and engineering layers
• Processing fluency: brains prefer what is easy to process — names that balance novelty with familiar components get leaned into, not past

Compound names and the multiplier effect

• Compounds (Blackberry, PowerBook, Windsurf, Facebook) multiply associations — wind plus surf yields more than either word alone
• One plus one equals three in terms of brand imagery
• Clients often resist compounds as "too long" — research shows they consistently outperform single-word alternatives

The trademark and linguistic screening process

• After generating 2,000–3,000 ideas, names are filtered through legal trademark screening (paralegals and trademark attorneys on staff)
• Global linguistic network evaluates cultural, political, and negative connotations
• Every third or fourth project surfaces a name that would be eliminated — before the client ever sees it
• Two presentation rounds are typical: the second round incorporates feedback and lets clients compare and learn what they actually need

The implement phase

• Help internal champions build the case upward — write rationales, create prototype mockups (ads, product images, packaging)
• Show the name in realistic contexts so executives see potential, not just a word
• Consumer research (~50% of projects): put names into drills that make respondents feel it's a real brand, not a naming exercise
• The right research question is not "do you like this name?" but "what do you expect from a company called X?" and "does this fire your imagination?"
• Target response: "I don't know much about them, but they're not like the other guys" — that predisposition to consider is the goal

When to change your name

• Startups that grabbed a name quickly and have since found it doesn't fit
• Companies that have pivoted and the original name no longer reflects their direction
• Companies post-merger that need to signal new capabilities

How to name something without a professional firm

Use the diamond exercise before generating any names:

1. Top of the diamond — Win: define what winning actually means for this company
2. Right point — What we have to win: what existing strengths give you an advantage
3. Bottom — What we need to win: gaps in resources, talent, or positioning
4. Left point — What we need to say: the messages, claims, and stories the name must be able to carry

Then:

• Generate at least 1,000–1,500 name ideas and directions before evaluating any of them
• Don't evaluate — speculate. Ask "what could we do with this name?" not "do we like this name?"
• Look through magazines from completely unrelated fields; synchronicity surfaces unexpected connections
• Test names by telling friends: "Our competitor just launched and they're called X — what do you think?" This reveals what the name does, not just whether people approve of it
• Look for polarisation, not consensus
• Ask employees and outsiders: "What do you think this name could do for us?" — not "what do you think of this name?"

Domain names

• The dot-com is now an area code — its presence or absence is no longer a meaningful signal
• With AI reducing the importance of SEO, domain names matter even less
• Get the right name first; if the dot-com is unavailable, add a prefix, suffix, or use .ai
• Dot-coms can often be purchased for $15,000–$30,000 through negotiation — but that money is usually better spent on marketing