…oh nothing. After all, a company’s name is only the very cornerstone of their brand. So, it seems names are important after all. Choosing a name is a difficult process. Choosing the perfect name is nearly impossible, but if you have a creatively sharp mind and an inkling of common sense you may come close to finding the perfect name for your new company.

Nomenclature

definition – the act or process or an instance of naming

The name of a new company or venture hinges largely upon the main goal and core competencies of the venture. No plan yet? You might want to figure that out first before you get all name happy. For those of you who have a good handle on the mission of your venture, know that there are two different paths you can take on the journey to the perfect name.

Path #1 – You can be blunt. In this case, the name of your venture will directly reflect your mission, product, and core competencies. A blunt name does not have to be a boring name – but that is usually the way things shake down. On the upside, a blunt name leaves little to no question in your customers/users mind as to what you sell. Check out General Motors, General Electric, General Mills (noticing a theme here?), News Corp., American Airlines, and Entrepreneur Magazine. These companies provide obvious proof that blunt names are good names, and these good blunt names sell.

Path #2 – You can be clever. In this case, the name of your venture will very loosely reflect your mission, product, and core competencies if at all. Clever names may relate to the overall idea of the business, but a complete outsider may not make the immediate connection between your startup name and the product or service that you offer. For example, if you didn’t already know what Red Bull was you would probably not think of it as being synonymous with the term “energy drink”. The same goes for Nike, Trulia.com, Zappos, Amazon, Google, bing, Alice.com and Virgin. Each names is clever, but does not immediately expose the product/service offering. **Important Note** – Clever names require some serious branding effort! The transformation of the mythological Greek goddess of victory (Nike) into a synonym for “the-best-shoes-you-ever-did-wear” did not happen overnight.

BONUS PATH! – You can be both Blunt and Clever! Good things usually happen when the words both and and end up in the same sentence together. The blunt and clever name takes a bit of effort to come up with, but if you can craft a name that rolls gently of the tounge while clearly communicating what your business is all about, then a lot of the load of branding and marketing can be lifted off of your back. Consider Flippa.com, FaceBook, Twitter, CircuitCity, GizModo, TheStartupist, Tip’d, TheStreet, and NewsVine. Each of these names are clever, sometimes fun to say, and each clearly describes the product or service offered (some may require a bit more logical reasoning and imagination than others. ahem…twitter…) If you want the perfect name for your new business, a bluntly clever one will do you real nice.

On the flip side – if you don’t fancy yourself a creative person or simply want to part of the naming process, you can outsource it to the crowd (umm…crowdsource) for $99 over at NameThis.com. Best case scenario, you get a great name for cheap – worst case, your out $99 and no further ahead. I’m just sayin’…