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Results from the First Named At Last Naming Contest

The Naming Challenge

Bhavani Jampala is a former software engineer who recently returned to his native India from the U.S.  He was launching a company that does web design and search engine optimization of web sites.  He had been doing business as "Bhavani InfoTech" but preferred to have a name that...

• Rolled easily off the tongue in two to three syllables

• Was easy to say and spell

• Perhaps used the name of an animal, color, fruit, vegetable, etc.

• Didn't involve abbreviations

• Alliteration (repeated initial letters) would be nice but was not required

As for how his company differs from competitors, Bhavani said his services are:

• Fast (fast support, fast loading pages, fast completion of projects etc.)

• Hassle free (worry free, without any "gotcha" fine print)

• Comprehensive (all-inclusive, end to end solution with no hidden charges)

• High performance (functional but not boring, results oriented)

• Accountable (clients deal with him rather than with a faceless corporation)

"Our clients' web sites are an asset to their business, not a showpiece to brag about to friends and family," he says.  "Initially we'll be serving clients in the U.S. and the U.K. - profitable small to mid-sized business who need help and hand holding with technology.  Later we'll also target the local market in my home town."

The Entries

This contest ran for two months and attracted more than 900 entries with well over 3,000 proposed names. (People could submit as many names as they liked.) Entries came in from individuals in 37 countries, from Argentina and Bahrain to Turkey and the Ukraine, as well as from the United States, Canada and the U.K. 

Criteria for Choosing the Top Entries

Surprisingly, many entrants did not bother to check to see whether or not the domain names corresponding to the names they thought up were available for registration, even though this was stated as necessary for an acceptable name.  This eliminated many excellent names from consideration.

In sorting through the remaining name candidates, I eliminated all that were boring, predictable, irrelevant to SEO/web design, difficult to spell or had negative connotations.

Then I looked for entries that did one or both of these things:

1. Expressed something about the results clients would get from Bhavani's web design and SEO services

2. Provided a memorable image or concept around which he could brand his
   web site and his business

Finally I narrowed the field to the ten top candidates and sent that list to Bhavani Jampala for him to choose his favorite. I highlighted for him the strengths of what I felt to be the top three candidates.

And Now, the Winner

My favorite name for his company was Sitesfaction, submitted by Miguel Angel de Alzaa of Asuncion, Paraguay.  Say it out loud and you hear a delicious and very meaningful pun that combines "satisfaction" with the word "site."  Bhavani liked this a lot, too, but eliminated it because customers and prospects who were not native English speakers might not "get it" or know how to say it.

Name number two on my list was "Jampstart," also a sort of pun on Bhavani's last name (Jampala) and "jumpstart," which is what clients' businesses get from world-class design and search engine optimization. This name was suggested first by Nancy Shulman of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and second by Sue Thomas of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He liked this one as well, but set it aside as an "ego-driven" name.

The third top option was Wings Wide Web, which not only contained the initials "WWW" in a creative way, but when you say it out loud, you can almost hear the wings of a client's business being spread to take off.  This name also suggests a wide reach for the client's business after getting a web site designed and optimized by Bhavani's company. Lastly, it implies strong visual imagery around which Bhavani's site can be built.

"This name just sounds so nice when you say it, and it has a good 'we've been
there forever' feel to it. I like it!" says Bhavani.

Wings Wide Web (WingsWideWeb.com), submitted by Jacob Doran of Cartersville, Georgia, is the winning name in this contest.  He wins $100 and the opportunity to be a professional namer for Named At Last.

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest!

Now take a look at our current contest.

And learn more about naming by signing up for the Name Tales newsletter via the purple box in the upper left of any page on this site.