# Help Me Name My Project!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 14, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464 "2009-05-14T22:01:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/1 "2009-05-14T22:01:29Z")

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In a few months, my employer (with help from a crack team of individuals, including yours truly) will be launching a shiny new application that will eventually replace the current raggedy patchwork of tools we use today, and TPTB have decided it’s about time we gave this fabulous new system a name.

The thing is, I’m terrible at naming stuff (if I had kids, I’d just name them all George regardless of gender, which is one of the many good reasons for me to never have offspring). However, my new boss is heading up this naming initiative, so I want to hand in something reasonably clever so that she can see what a resourceful and clever employee I am.

Here’s what they want:

- The name should be short and catchy
- It should convey the idea of bringing people together and connecting them with a common tool - you know, synergy and convergence and that sort of thing.
- It would be nice if it was meaningful in both English and French, since we have offices in Quebec (oh, the joys of a bilingual nation)

Here are some of the suggestions I’ve heard so far:  
Maestro  
Oasis  
Nexus  
Unison  
Rendez-Vous  
Opus

I know there are some pretty amazing wordsmiths among the Doper community… So, any suggestions? Halp!

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**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/2 "2009-05-14T22:27:06Z")

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Symphony (all players connected and working towards the common goal as directed by the conductor).

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/3 "2009-05-14T22:51:57Z")

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“Nexus” is pretty close to “nexis” which has already been taken by [Lexis-Nexis](http://www.lexisnexis.ca/en/default.aspx), so you might want to avoid it.

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/4 "2009-05-15T00:00:07Z")

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I started with Wikipedia’s [list of English words of French origin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin). How does “camaraderie” sound? Too close to “comrade”, tovarisch?

“Integrity”?

“Dart” made me think of “D’Artagnan” or “Musketeer”.

“Raconteur”?

Sorry, that’s all I got. ☹

Wait! My daughter **Moon Unit** suggested “revolution”, or maybe something in Latin.

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**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/5 "2009-05-15T00:21:00Z")

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Glu

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/6 "2009-05-15T00:55:19Z")

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> [@Typo\_Knig](#):
>
> I started with Wikipedia’s [list of English words of French origin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin). How does “camaraderie” sound? Too close to “comrade”, tovarisch?

Well, that list has one word that jumps off, right off the bat…_Accord_.

'Course, with that name, or with other fairly common words, it’s going to be a complete bitch to try and run a search for.

“[Concord](http://www.answers.com/concord)” might work better, but a lot of people are going to misspell it “Concord **e** ,” which leads to other problems, and possible trademark issues. The related word “_Concorder_” might fit the bill, especially if you add an appropriate diacritic or two.

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**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/7 "2009-05-15T01:05:54Z")

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Synergy?

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**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/8 "2009-05-15T03:27:15Z")

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I’m liking a lot of the suggestions so far. I knew I could count on Dopers to help. 🙂

BTW, this is an internal project, so trademark won’t be a concern… The vendor has already given their software its official name, but it’s not particularly exciting or descriptive. So, the Change Management folks want a cool code-name they can use to talk about the project within the company, because it’s easier to build buzz when you’ve got a cool code-name.

Obviously, it’s probably best if we avoid using a name that’s already in use for a major piece of software (say… Oracle), but otherwise, it’s pretty much fair game.

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**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/9 "2009-05-15T04:47:27Z")

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If it’s a nickname you’re looking for:

Project superkickass

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**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/10 "2009-05-15T07:51:00Z")

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Affix

Fraternity

Farrago

Juncture

Sorry if any are repeats. Tired and heading for bed.

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**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/11 "2009-05-15T12:50:52Z")

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Esprit de coeur?

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/12 "2009-05-15T15:04:32Z")

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The Alan Parson’s Project?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/13 "2009-05-15T15:17:53Z")

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> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#):
>
> If it’s a nickname you’re looking for:
> 
> Project superkickass

We’re already calling it that on an unofficial basis. 🙂

That said, we do need something a little more polished to use in official company communications. Something that still says we’re determined to leave no ass un-kicked, but in a more subtle fashion… it’s hard to get a Senior Executive VP to approve a ginormous chunk of their budget and attend weekly status meetings for something called Project SuperAwesome or Project BestThingEver4RealzYo, unfortunately.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, everyone. I’ll throw a couple of these into the discussion today and see if any of them stick.

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**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/14 "2009-05-15T16:07:43Z")

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Colbert

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Awsome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Captain\_Awsome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awsome)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/15 "2009-05-15T17:08:39Z")

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‘Vis-à-vis’ would seem to match the specification.

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**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/16 "2009-05-15T18:14:48Z")

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Ensemble?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/17 "2009-05-15T20:00:08Z")

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It’s probably boaring, but knowing something about its purpose might help.

However, based on your description, I suggest:

Victorinox  
Floot (Heh-- I’m just trying to make this name happen-- I suggested it for a friend’s project where it has more meaning)  
Fantastique

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/18 "2009-05-15T21:34:35Z")

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So ‘adieu’ is out? 🙂

How about ‘savant’? Even better if it’s a bilingual acronym:

SAVANT  
System for Aiding the Velocity of Automated Network Transactions  
_Système pour Avancer la Velocité de…_ uh…[sub]someone help me![/sub]

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**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/19 "2009-05-16T01:19:42Z")

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Avec

Attache

Voila

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-my-project/496464/20 "2009-05-16T02:02:56Z")

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The Randy Disher Project?

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