Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

--- Short Version:

Stop actively thinking about names. Let your subconscious chug away on the topic for a while; at least for a couple of weeks, if not for a couple of months. Eventually, something will bubble up that you like.

--- Long Version:

Just two days ago, I decided on a name for my startup company and app/website. It took me about 6 months, though. For the first 4 months, I was actively thinking about names, writing BASH, Ruby and Perl scripts to generate names, using websites like makewords.com and others, etc. Every name that I made either sucked, or was taken. That was pretty disheartening.

Eventually, I let the task of finding a name slip into the background. Every now and then, a name would bubble up from my subconscious, I'd ponder it for a few minutes, then write it down.

Then two nights ago, after a long coding session, I went to bed. I was tossing and turning, with my mind wandering all over the app that I'm creating. During that time, I started thinking about dinosaurs.

Say what?..I like dinos. They're pretty awesome!

After lying in bed for about 2 hours, thinking about how to integrate dinosaurs into my app, I got up and did a few whois searches. Lo and behold, most of the dino-related names that I'd just thought of were available!

What I'm trying to say is that naming is a very ephemeral process. You can spend 10 full days on the task, and still come out with nothing [that you like]. So if you're having trouble choosing a name, forget about it for a while. It'll still be in your mind, just at the back.



Consider applying for YC's Winter 2027 batch! Applications are open till November 2.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: