NameLab Inc. is an American company based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

that provides business- and product-naming services.

Naming

The naming process includes identifying appropriate words and "making them a ''thing''." Smaller than a ''word'' is a

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone ar ...

, the building block from which marketing names such as "Lumina" are formed. One example is how NameLab used the prefix "Acu" to help form "Acura." The term "In-capping" involves joining and capitalizing multiple words and describes the name ''NameLab.'' It worked for clients such as

AutoZone AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has over 6,400 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US Virgin Is ...

. A NameLab competitor used the idea to change its own name from ''Millennium Groupe'' to ''NeuVision Group LLC'' in the year 2000. NameLab's Bachrach defended his business, saying, "If you make up a word, you will have much stronger proprietary rights." Also, just as do-it-yourself tax filers are

H&R Block H&R Block, Inc., or H&R Block, is an American tax preparation company operating in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company was founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W. Bloch and Richard Bloch. As of 2018, H&R Block operates approxima ...

's largest competitor, the name-it-yourself approach can work:

Yext Yext is a New York City technology company operating in the area of online brand management. It offers brand updates using its cloud-based network of apps, search engines and other facilities. The company was founded in 2006 by Howard Lerman, Bri ...

named itself by combining Next and Yellow Pages. Naming can involve

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how ...

linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and semanticists. A supporting process helps convince companies on what they're doing: STAR - "Segmentation Through Attitudinal Restructuring". Advertising guru

Al Ries Alfred Paul Ries (November 14, 1926 – October 7, 2022) was an American marketing professional and author. He was the cofounder and chairman of the Atlanta-based consulting firm Ries & Ries with his partner and daughter, Laura Ries. Along with ...

said: "The name is the single most important decision you'll ever make as a company." Much of the company's work is for naming products, with related suggestions for product characteristics, such as the color of a pill. Another part of this work is to verify that the suggested name is not already in use.

History

The firm was started by Ira N. Bachrach. Clients included

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

Coors Coors Brewing Company, or Coors, is now part of the Molson Coors Beverage Company. Coors may also refer to: Companies *Adolph Coors Company, a former holding company controlled by the heirs of founder Adolph Coors *Coors Brewers, the UK arm of th ...

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

, Nissan, Compaq Computer Corp. and

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

. The high point of its success was the tech boom of the late 1990s, because many startups sought names that would attract investors.

References

Product development {{company-stub