When evaluating brand name candidates, pay attention to the sound of them.

There are two aspects to this admonition. I’ll tackle linguistics in this post and the other aspect in next week’s naming tip.

We know certain letters and letter combinations can add power (the “plosives” like j, k, p, t), or at the other end of the scale, they may add lyricism (m, n, ph, sh). This is a fuzzy area and there’s controversy about the importance placed on linguistics in naming. Yet, the study of linguistics has established some guidelines, such as:

• The letters a, b, m, s and t are reported to evoke positive emotions.
• Negative feelings are more likely associated with f, q, x and z.
• Sounds associated with speed are f, s, v and z.
• The vowels a, o and u are more masculine, while e and i are more feminine.

Naturally, each name candidate will be made up of a combination of letters, so these linguistic observations may or may not apply, or may apply partially, depending upon those combinations.

Just couple these ideas with common sense.

Martin Jelsema
303-242-5975

Branding related posts:

1. Naming tip: Number 71 in a series
2. Naming Tips: Number 26 in a Series
3. Naming tips: number 57 in a series
4. Linguistic Branding and Nicknames.
5. Naming Tips: number 50 in a series