# Good/Clever Brand Names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654 "2011-07-28T18:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/1 "2011-07-28T18:50:27Z")
I was pondering the name “XM Radio” yesterday and I decided that it is quite a good brand name. It indicates radio, modeling after FM and AM (which are utilitarian abbreviations) but throws in the new-and-exciting (or extreme) prefix of X. Good job to whoever came up with that one. I think both Microsoft and Apple turned out to be good. Microsoft because it’s so techy it hurts. Apple I like because it not only gave them the opportunity to have a very nice logo, but also to name its flagship product (Macintosh) in a way that tied it to the company name but only if you think about it for a second. What are some others you like? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/2 "2011-07-28T18:54:27Z")
Arby’s is clever enough that I think most people don’t catch it unless someone happens to mention it to them. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/3 "2011-07-28T19:01:23Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Arby’s is clever enough that I think most people don’t catch it unless someone happens to mention it to them. Which one is Arby’s? Is that the one with the big hat? I love that one. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/4 "2011-07-28T19:02:12Z")
FYI, here’s a [blog post](http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/50-company-names-you-probably-didnt-know-the-orig) explaining the origins of fifty corporate names. (Example: Sprint is shortened from Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Communications.) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/5 "2011-07-28T19:06:06Z")
Silk™ brand soy milk. Not a consumer of such, but as far as brand names go… perfect. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/6 "2011-07-28T19:16:55Z")
Wow, **cmyk**. Never thought about that one! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/7 "2011-07-28T19:19:11Z")
I like “PetSmart” - although it’s impossible for me to see it without quoting **Army of Darkness**. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/8 "2011-07-29T04:08:32Z")
“Apple” is actually a textbook example of why you should try to stay away from existing words when planing a brand name. It gave Apple Computers many a headache (see [Apple Corps v Apple Computer - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer)). The apple logo itself is pretty good though in terms of distinctiveness, but not perfect. I like AVEX - it doesn’t mean anything (at least in English) and it sounds a little like APEX, but probably not close enough to cause legal problems. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/9 "2011-07-29T04:36:45Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Silk™ brand soy milk. Not a consumer of such, but as far as brand names go… perfect. This name grosses me out. Milk, I trust. Silk, is akin to them shouting “it’s not milk” for me. I know it’s soy, but it might as well be soylent green or malk. Verizon is a portmanteau of veritas and horizon. Not super, but it rolls off the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/10 "2011-07-29T05:22:46Z")
I thought it was vertical horizon. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/11 "2011-07-29T08:40:12Z")
Not a real one, it was invented for a film: an anus scratcher called _Nixitch_. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/12 "2011-07-29T10:37:24Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Not a real one, it was invented for a film: an anus scratcher called _Nixitch_. I read that and immediately yelled “_ÄGGET ÄR LÖST_”! Made my day. 'S gotta be the most obscure movie reference ever, too… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/13 "2011-07-29T12:12:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Apple I like because it not only gave them the opportunity to have a very nice logo, but also to name its flagship product (Macintosh) in a way that tied it to the company name but only if you think about it for a second. OK, I must be missing something here. Why is the name Mac/Macintosh “tied” to Apple? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/14 "2011-07-29T13:01:23Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > OK, I must be missing something here. Why is the name Mac/Macintosh “tied” to Apple? McIntosh is [a variety of apple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McIntosh_%28apple%29). Apple also once tried to market a PDA called the Newton. They might have had another short-lived product named after another variety of apple, but its name escapes me. It was certainly a more fun naming scheme than iThis and iThat. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/15 "2011-07-29T13:01:38Z")
McIntosh is a variety of apples (the fruit kind that you eat). ---
**Author:** ![thebenn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@thebenn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thebenn)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/16 "2011-07-29T13:07:49Z")
This isn’t a terribly well-known product outside of a fairly niche industry, but here goes. My first job out of college was writing the UI for a software program called “Unity”. It was front-end software for controlling an office building’s various systems. Since it controlled the hardware of various different manufacturers, I always thought that the name “Unity” was very clever. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/17 "2011-07-29T13:53:35Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > McIntosh is [a variety of apple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McIntosh_%28apple%29). Apple also once tried to market a PDA called the Newton. They might have had another short-lived product named after another variety of apple, but its name escapes me. There was the _Pippin_, Apple’s short-lived game console. And there was Apple SOS (“apple-sauce”), the operating system of the Apple III. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/18 "2011-07-29T13:56:41Z")
I had to laugh about Aunt Maple pancake syrup from Aldis. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/19 "2011-07-29T14:31:18Z")
How about Google? - Silly word that is fun to say and sticks in your head. - Has geek cred since it is based on a reasonably obscure math term - good attribute for the services offered - Misspelled so the word is uniquely theirs (the math term is _googol_) - Easy to verb-ify… Doesn’t get much better than that. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654/20 "2011-07-29T14:43:13Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > I thought it was vertical horizon. Yeah, Verizon is on **DeweyFinn** ’s link there as “vertical horizon.” That’s a good one. The page in the link doesn’t quite fit for where I’m going here (most of them are “this business name is from putting the owners’ names together”) but “Commcast” is actually pretty good. Communication + broadcast. Too bad they’re a shitty company 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-clever-brand-names/590654.md?page=2)