Taxonomy of species

Types of company/product names: 

Poetic 
Names that paint a picture or roll off the tongue
Bumble and Bumble / AiAiAi / Lululemon 

High Class Gibberish 
Where do they come from? An ancient dictionary? Outer space?
Kodak / Zynga / Xerox 

Derivative 
Almost something you’ve heard of 
Nespresso / Arc’teryx / Zappos 

Initials 
The easy way out 
KFC / BMW / ESPN 

Acronyms 
Initials that you say instead of spell 
Asics / SAAB / RAND 

Interesting Letters 
Letters that go above and beyond 
TCHO / RAV-4 / THX 

Descriptive 
Just get to the point 
Airbus / VitaminWater / Whole Foods 

Part Descriptive, Part Fun 
You might as well have some fun along the way
Juicy Couture / Mighty Leaf / Big Gulp 

Part Descriptive, Part Emotional
We’ve got soul™ 
Sublime Frequencies / SoulCycle / Zenefits

Americana 
Names that awaken feelings of patriotism
Baby Ruth / Dixon Ticonderoga / 76 Gasoline 

Into the Wild 
Nature as powerful inspiration 
Patagonia / Juniper Ridge / Wolf Ranges 

Someone Special 
The man, the myth, the legend 
Tesla Motors / Jack Daniels / Newman’s Own 

Made-up People 
Pure invention with a dose of reality 
Warby Parker / Dr. Pepper / Captain Morgan 

Remember When 
Names that feel like they’ve been around for a while
Banana Republic / Old Milwaukee / Crown Royal 

Suggests the Solution 
What’s in it for me? 
Kryptonite / SubZero / 5-Hour Energy 

Back to Basics 
Everything else is so complicated 
Free People / Simple Shoes / Country Time 

Daring 
Not for the faint of heart 
Obey / Virgin / Big Ass Fans 

Adrenaline 
Get your motor running 
Stingray / Speedo / Full Throttle 

Foreign-feeling 
Implied sophistication 
Clinique / Häagen Dazs / Tazo 

Literary/Historical 
Align yourself with something powerful 
Starbucks / Big Bertha / Rosetta Stone 

Place Names 
Names that take you somewhere else 
Norse Projects / Lonely Planet / Hidden Valley Ranch 

One Letter Off 
So close yet so far 
Shyp / Zillow / Lyft 

Vowel Dropper’s Anonymous
Auto-correct’s worst nightmare
Flickr / Tumblr / Unbxd 

Mythical 
A lot to live up to 
Nike / Pandora / Hermès 

Exclamation 
Something to get excited about 
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! / Yelp! / Buzz Off! 

Name as Statement 
Names that are on a mission 
Forever 21 / True Religion / LiveStrong 

Latin Class 
Veni, vidi, vici 
Ex Officio / Novartis / Prorsum 

Utilitarian 
Names your grandpa would be proud of
Madewell / X-ACTO / Specialized

Blank & Blank
These are things you remind me of
Crate & Barrel / Bourbon & Branch / Salt & Straw

Rhyme Time
I see what you did there
RockShox / Fitbit / Piggly Wiggly

Wordsmash
When two become one
Synchilla / Minecraft / McFlurry

Opposites Attract
The romantic comedy of naming
Fire & Ice / Wild Common / Definitely Maybe

That’s not my name
Familiar and foreign
Com Truise / Drakkar Nowhere / Yim Yames

Unlikely allies
Unity where you least expect it
Joy Division / Union Hotel / Partners & Spade

Simple enough
Familiar word, new context
Apple / Palace / Red