The Burning Ears 2017

If you arrived at this page you probably already know that we think about names a lot. We can’t help it. We’re passionate about naming. So it’s no wonder that when we come across “curious” or “odd” names in the wild we can’t help but take note.

It was only a matter of time before we got the whole world in on the act. Enter, “Don’t Call It That,” the naming workbook by our Creative Director Eli Altman. Beyond teaching the world how to name projects, products, and businesses, Altman invited readers to pay closer attention to the names they come across in the world, and to tag #dontcallitthat on social media when a name needed a bit of attention or scrutiny.

Since “Don’t Call it That” was published, we have received hundreds of tweets, instagrams, and messages about names that were ill-thought or hilarious. We realized we needed to honor the good citizens who were submitting #dontcallitthats and helping us make sense of these names.

This November, we held the inaugural Burning Ears at Standard Deviant in San Francisco. Our goal was to gather together with some bay area creatives to honor the top 10 most questionable names submitted to us.

We started out with a list of nearly 100 names submitted over the past 12 months. A blind ballot was used to narrow the list down to 30 finalists. Those finalists were then presented to our naming team, founder Danny Altman, and some local creatives.

Ultimately we were left with a diverse top 10 list, with “winners” ranging from property management and poultry companies to an ambulance service and a white wine. So without further ado, here’s who made the cut….

10. Purely Elizabeth – crunchy granola

9. No Regretz Property Management – property management

8. Diksap – organic fruit juice

7. Lady’s Choice Tuna Spread – tuna spread with spices

6. Diaper Poultry – poultry farm

5. Dixperfect – women’s bathing suits

4. Josh – white wine

3. Pregnitude – reproductive support packets

2. Ambulnz – medical ambulance service

1. Salesgasm – sales training app

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Burning Ears this year and contributed their creative insight. We hope everyone will continue to use #dontcallithat on Twitter and Instagram – you can even tag us @ahundredmonkeys. Naming isn’t easy and if you want to learn more about the nuances of “good and bad names” you should check out our article about names so bad they’re good.