Business Naming Basics

Some business naming techniques have a long history, yet still manage to produce fresh name candidates.

The activity of “tacking” is one of them.

One form of tacking adds an appropriate but unexpected suffix to a descriptive root word. Ideatrics, Visioneering, Profitology, Travelocity and Webolution are examples of corporate names created by suffix tacking. For this technique to work effectively, the first word part should be familiar and connote the meaning or arena in which the company plays. The suffix must also “fit”, i.e., help reinforce the meaning, and add uniqueness.

For instance, Ideatrics is a good name for the company that adopted it – they help surgeons design and produce specialized surgical instruments. Thus, the “atrics” suffix (meaning medical treatment) puts the company in the medical field. And coupled with “idea” somewhat defines the business an unique and innovative. Each of the examples above follow this same pattern.

Note that tacking prefixes can perform the same duty but not usually with the panache as suffixes.

So use a definitive list of suffixes as you compile your list of name candidates. You can find such a list at this naming resource.

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