My Journey Finding Those ‘Dominant Names’
Alright, let’s talk about finding what I call ‘dominant names’. This came up recently when I was trying to label a few key parts of a project I was working on. It sounds simple, but getting it right? That took some effort.
First off, I just dumped everything onto a page. Didn’t matter if it sounded stupid or was too long. I needed a raw list. I thought about the core function, the feeling I wanted it to give off, who might interact with it. Just word association, basically. Ended up with a mess of words, maybe fifty or sixty?
Then came the hard part: cutting things down.
I started looking at the list with a critical eye.
- Too generic? Gone.
- Hard to say or spell? Gone.
- Sounded like something else already big and famous? Definitely gone.
- Just didn’t ‘feel’ right? Chopped.
This part was more gut feeling than science. I read them aloud. Did it roll off the tongue? Did it sound weak? You kind of know it when you hear it.
After the first big cut, I had maybe ten to fifteen names left. Still too many. So, I started doing quick searches online. Not for domains specifically at this stage, but just to see what popped up. Were there major conflicts? Did the name have some weird, unintended meaning somewhere? Found a couple that way that had to go because they were associated with stuff I didn’t want my project linked to.
Getting Feedback Was Key
Down to about five or six solid contenders. Now, I needed outside opinions. I grabbed two colleagues I trust, people who aren’t afraid to say something sucks. I just showed them the list, no context, no hints about which ones I liked. I asked them:
- Which ones stick out?
- Which ones are easiest to remember after 5 minutes?
- Any immediate negative feelings?
Their feedback was gold. One name I loved, they both thought sounded kind of aggressive, which wasn’t the vibe I wanted. Another one was apparently hard to pronounce for one of them. That helped narrow it down fast.
Finally, I was left with two really strong options. They both felt ‘dominant’ in the sense that they were clear, memorable, and didn’t seem to step on any toes. I mulled over those two for a day, saying them in different sentences, imagining them on documents or in conversations. Eventually, one just felt slightly better, more aligned with the project’s future. So, I went with that one.
It wasn’t a fancy process, no expensive consultants. Just me, a text file, some common sense, and a bit of help from friends. Took a few days of back-and-forth, but I ended up with names I felt confident about. They felt strong, clear, dominant for their purpose. Job done.