How to Name

Many people have trouble naming because they want to choose the perfect name or a clever name. This is a flawed goal. The name doesn't have to be perfect, and it certainly doesn't have to be clever. Consider the names of the following Microsoft products: "Windows" for a windowed operating system, "Word" for a word processor, "Office" for a suite of business programs, "Money" for a personal finance program, and "Internet Explorer" for an Internet browser. These names are hardly clever, but they are excellent product names since they are easy to remember and clearly identify what the product does. Note that the more clever names "Xenix," "MultiPlan," and "Bob" did not help the products they were attached to become more successful.

This may seem obvious, but to come up with a good name, ask yourself what the object to be named really does and how it will be used. If you focus on its main behavior, a good name will usually be close at hand. Of course, you need to use a different approach for product names or feature names that you want to trademark. For trademarks, the more descriptive the name, the weaker the protection possible.