Did you know that Google was originally called Backrub?
I wonder how that would have worked. Imagine someone sending you a Resume and you ask the chick in HR if she's given him a Backrub?
The key to a good name is to choose something that is not too generic. If you combine two words, try and shorten one or both of them. Do a Google (Backrub?) for your name and make sure it doesn't have a hundred other meanings.
We thought of dozens of names for Skyrove (initially called SkyWi) before we got the one that was just right. 'Rove' is defined as "move about aimlessly or without any destination", which is exactly what our Wi-Fi hotspot users (Skyrovers) do, in the Wi-Fi sense in any case. And 'Sky' alludes to the fact that it's wireless and implies freedom of not being connected using a 'fixed' line.
We immediately liked the name. What cinched it was the fact that a Google search on 'Skyrove' did not return one single entry. No domain registrations, no products, no confusion.
A Google search on 'Skyrove' today returns a mere 755 results, but all of them are related to us.
It's difficult to choose a proper name for your company, especially one that has meaning and which has not been used before.
Also ask a few foreigners if your new name means anything funny in their language. I feel sorry for the Stanford boys who decided to call their 'online career community' Doostang. (Not a good word in Afrikaans, though I'm gonna ask Nikki Friedman next time I see her: "Het jy al Doostang getraai?")
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2 comments:
Backrub always returns loads of responses. I also hear there's 'Backrub Earth' which sounds quite interesting. Also, 'Backrub Video' is supposed to be a blast. Although the image search with Backrub when safesearch is turned off, kind of freaks me out. meow.
google as backrub???cant imagine. coming to skyrove, its a good name.
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