7 billion people. 183 million domain names.

Verisign, the meticulous chronicler of the domain name grabgame, has certified that as on date, there are close to 183 million domain names in use. I feel, we've just scratched the surface. There will be an explosion of dot ins, dot coms, dot TVs, dot radios, dot shops and dot what nots in the future. Considering there are close to 7 billion people on this planet, I think the game has just begun.

Arivazhagan - The beauty with brains

While I was commuting to my office, I chanced upon a fascinating name while gazing at one of those over-cluttered political posters that dot the Chennai outdoorscape. The name in question belongs to a congress politician. I thought, it's a beautiful coinage because it marries beauty (azhagu) and brains (arivu). I haven't come across an English equivalent. Excitedly, I googled Arivazhagan. To my surprise, I found it's a common tamil name. Then the jigyaasu baalak in me took over. I was curious to know what these guys looked like in real life. Did they turn out to be as handsome as their moms imagined them to be? I must say google images didn't reveal any Adonis. But then as they say, beauty lies.

Ambasamudram Ambani

The name of a Karunaas flick, just launched. It caught my eye the moment I saw it. Yes, it rides on Dhirubhai's name. But what adds fizz to it is the alliterative touch of Ambasamudram. When put together, Ambasamudram Ambani teases you into imagining a tale of a smalltown systembeater. I like the sound of it. That's why enakku idhu pidichurukku.

Some Bings Before Bing

Bing has zing!

Microsoft has finally chosen the bid bada Bing as the name for its search engine. This is infinitely better than the zombiesque Live Search. My gutfeel is the success of Zune would have prompted the switch to 4-letter names. To know more about this intuitive search engine, go here.

Cyclone Aila

Aila! Now that's what you call a funny name. Jokes apart, cyclone naming conventions are based on arbitrary lists of names submitted by various countries around the world. Maybe someday there will be a cyclone named 'Avinash'. That said, considering what 'Avinash' means, maybe not.

Addendum: Some dope on cyclone naming conventions that found in an aftersearch.

Rechristening of Mr. You Know Who

Mr. You Know Who, famed for gifting positions of power to his two sons, daughter, grand nephew and scores of distant relatives, is hereby rechristened as Kalaignar Kudumba Nidhi. Etymology: Kalaignar (tamil for artiste) + Kudumba (tamil for family) + Nidhi (tamil for fund).

Mister This & Mister That

A women's magazine called XX

www.doublex.com.

Where to check your domain names

If you've thought up a name, and want to check if some one's taken it or not, don't go anywhere near GoDaddy.com, Networksolutions.com or Instandomainsearch.com. I have a reason for it. What these sites do is, they block the dotcom the moment you key in the name. They do it quietly, without your knowledge, using some goddamn bot. So initially, the result will show 'dot com available'. After an hour or so, when you search, you might just discover, it's been taken. Now these sites claim that they are blocking the names for your own good. But I don't see it that way. I think it's very unethical to block some one else's domain names without an explicit declaration. It's akin to intellectual property theft. That's why you must be smart whenever you wanna check names. Visit Net4domains or Domain299. These guys are not evil. They don't book the name behind your back. They book it, only when you place the order. That's why they have my vote.

A cricketer named Onions

How would you react if your dad had named you, Onions? I bet you would have thrown a tantrum. Or at best, lost some sleep. But Graham Onions has no such problems. His Allium Cepa surname might have come in handy in getting that extra attention from the Guardian and other newspaper hacks who revel in writing headlines like 'English selectors know their Onions'. Where he wouldn't have scored is - with women. It doesn't look good when you say: I am dating Onions. Right?

Name Trivia: Blu-Ray

"The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet-colored) used to read and write to this type of disc. In part because of the shorter wavelength (405 nanometres), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on a DVD, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A dual-layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 gigabytes, almost six times the capacity of a dual-layer DVD, or ten and a half times that of a single-layer DVD."

Source: Wikipedia.

Chanderpaul gets his own street

New Garden Street in Georgetown, now sports a new name. It's called the Shivnarine Chanderpaul Drive,a nod to Guyana's most famous cricket son. With this honor, Chanderpaul becomes the fourth cricketer of Indian origin to have a road/street named after him. The other three being: Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev & Sunil Gavaskar.

Redneck Bank: Banking idea of the year

How does a staid boring bank get noticed in these times? Bank of the Wichitas has the solution. It's launched its internet bank under the name Redneck Bank. Ya, not kiddin. Redneck Bank for Joe the Plumber.

Just a naming idea and a tagline that says: Where banking is funner. Everything else is the basic internet bank that anyone else offers. Apparently there are 9000 banks on the internet offering the same product. Wade Huckabay of Bank of the Wichitas was looking at a way to differentiate the brand. And he hit upon the name Redneck after sifting through many unused website names.

Looks like the humour ploy has really worked for him. The bank with laughing horse as mascot (spouting the cheesy 'we want to be your mane bank') has already become popular in 45 states across the US and on the Internet.

I read somehwere that Mr. Wade faced many objections from his board. But he overruled them. I am not sure how many banks in India will approve of such a name or strategy. I personally remember being greeted with cold silence by a Bangalore-based bank when I suggested humour as a route. May be there's a lesson in this for all of us.

An agency named Republic of Everyone

Nice name, ain't it? These bunch of good-hearted ozzies started RoE, 3 years ago. The thing I like about them is they only focus on doing decent work for green, sustainable and ethical brands. Check out these blokes, here.

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year

Shimit Amin of Chak De fame has given his forthcoming flick an interesting title - Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. The title's so intriguing, I am certain it'll generate buzz. I like it better than the dyslexic Singh is Kinng.

Xavier Tras

Just launched a comic strip on the funny side of cricket called 'Xavier Tras'. Would love to know what readers of this blog think of it. Note: The name, not the blog.

A perfume named 786

I've always wanted to use this name for a brand, but political correctness prevented me from doing so. But now I notice someone has picked this for an Arabic-Western perfume. I wonder if the mullahs might issue a fatwa 786.

Names for the 'Cow Urine' soft drink

Not that anyone asked, but can't help think this would make for a most interesting naming exercise. So here are five suggestions from yours truly. Feel free to piss all over them. (a) Pssst, (b) Cow-wow, (c) PSS, (d) PJP, (e) Moojo

Factonama: 9rules

The site 9rules which prides itself in spotting the best content from indie blogs gets its name from a set of 9 rules, the founders set themselves. They are:

1. Love what you do.
2. Never stop learning.
3. Form works with function.
4. Simple is beautiful.
5. Work hard, play hard.
6. You get what you pay for.
7. When you talk, we listen.
8. Must constantly improve.
9. Respect your inspiration.

2-Word Brand Names

Allen Solly
Alta Vista
Axis Bank
Blue Dart
Charles Schwab
Coca Cola
Color Plus
Delhi Daredevils
Fidelity Investments
Giorgio Armani
Hot Breads
India Bulls
Jet Airways
Kenneth Cole
Louis Phillipe
Mary Kay
Merrill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
Perri Ellis
Perry Alley
Peter England
Red Bull
Salvatore Ferragamo
Share Khan
Singapore Airlines
Tata Indicom
Van Heusen
Western Union
Kenith Parker
Van Heusen
Calvin Klein
Dindigul Thalappakatti
Bajaj Allianz
Shahnaz Husain
Gokul Santol
Johnnie Walker
Waterbury’s Compound
Tommy Hilfiger
Mercedes Benz
Cartoon Network Marc Jacobs
Bonne Bell
Surf Excel
Kwality Wall's
Channel V
Burger King

Why Aggi, why?

Agnello Dias & Santhosh Padhi are the two most admired souls in advertising in India today. When they announced they were starting their own outfit, it captured the imagination of the nation. Everyone was keenly awaiting THE NAME. We namasutrists, even had a shortlist in our heads. Now we hear, they are calling their outfit ROOTS INDIA. That's a great brief, Aggi. But not a great name. A simple online check will tell you there is already a Roots Advertising in Delhi. You can't have two Roots, can you? Also, there is a plastic precision component company by the name Roots India. As agencies, when we counsel our clients to be unique, isn't it our job to be unique? We like you, Aggi. We like you, Paddy. But we think, you should have done a little research before making your name public. In any case, best wishes for your new venture.

Just for pun

I think of myself as a fairly punny guy. Punnily enough, most people in the writing profession don't care much for puns. We think it might have something to do with the fact that coming up with a good pun takes some skill, and they aren't quite upto it. Pokes apart, here's a collection of fine, and not-so-fine, names that pun. Have pun. (Image courtesy, Torontoist. Find courtesy, the NYT Freakonomics blog.)

Atlas of True Names

Kalimedia has released a new kinda map with original meanings of names. Put together by German cartographers Silke Peust & Stephan Hormes, the Atlas has generated a buzz of sorts. Here are a few interesting etymological meanings extracted from the map:

Azerbaijan: Land of the Fire Keepers.
Baghdad: God's Gift.
Buenos Aires: Good Breeze.
Chicago: Stink Onion.
Great Britain: Great Land of the Tatooed.
Hong Kong: Fragrant Port.
Idaho: Gem of the Mountains.
Libya: Heart of the Sea.
London: Hill Fort.
Malta: Isle of Honey.
Manila: Here are Root Trees.
Mauritius: Island of the Dark One.
Miami: Great Water.
Nauru: I go to the Beach.
New York: New Wild Boar Village.
Nicaragua: Here are People.
Paris: City of Boatmen.
Persian Gulf: Gulf of the Pure Ones.
Somalia: Go and Milk.
Vancouver: From the Cowford.
Zimbabwe: House of Stones.

Names We Like: Plan B

Okay, let me clarify. This is not an unusually uncommon name. I've heard many Plan B's. But for a morning-after pill, it's maha approporiate. Why I like it is, the name is easy on the mouth and there's no unpleasantness when you utter Plan B. It's neither too clinical nor too provocative. One can slip this into a cryptic conversation, without raising any eyebrows. Don't you think 'did you try plan b?' sounds infinitely better than 'did you take the pill?' So.

What a bunch of sports

I work in sports. I used to be a sports writer. I still, on occasion, write a column on three on cricket. But, I'm no longer a paid sports writer (hey, I'm no hack). Does that exclude me from the hallowed clan of sports writers? I hope not. Because if there's one thing I love more than writing, writing blogs and writing other stuff that few people read, it's being offered up the opportunity to watch sport in the midst of thousands of passionately cheering fans and being asked to write about it. Throw in the myriad pleasures of travelling to different venues and I'd call it an perfect life. Almost. (What did you expect, perfect? Naah. Honestly, perfection is bloody boring.) As it is, I have a far, far, far from perfect life. So when I read something like this that makes me laugh heartily, it makes up, even if only momentarily, for some of the shit I have to endure on a daily basis. Here's a far from exhaustive list of really weird names for sports team. Enjoy. And, as always, feel free to add to it. (Don't know why I said that. Heaven knows no such thing is going to happen.) Image courtesy, www.faniq.com

What do you get when you invert Maytas?

Maytas Infra, the Hyderabad-based company that has been mysteriously bagging airport, port and railway projects without any prior experience, was recently in the news because of Satyam's botched up acquisition deal. I was initially a bit curious about the name. Now it all falls in place. Maytas is Satyam read the Arabic way. And you know what Satyam has been up to, right?

Factonama # 10

Asics, the shoe company, began its life as Onitsuka Tiger. In 1977, it merged with GTO and Jelenk to form ASICS Corporation. Asics is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a healthy soul in a healthy body" or "a sound mind in a sound body". Source: Wikipedia.

Remember how people remember

If this is how people who have to memorise new stuff ever so often help themselves remember names, and faces, it's something people entrusted with the task of coming up with memorable names would do well to remember. In simple English: If you know what people do to remember, you'll find it easier to come up with things people will remember. Umm ... ok, maybe the English wasn't so simple. Still, you get the drift.

Gyaanama: Marty on Brand Names that Zag

The author of Zag and Brand Gap has some very strong views on what constitutes a strong name. He's of the view that a Strong name should be:

1. Differentiated. It should stand out from competitors’ names, as well as from other words in a sentence. This is sometimes called “speech-stream visibility”, the quality that lets the eye or the ear pick out the name as a proper (or capitalized) word instead of a common word.

2. Brief. Four syllables or less. More than four, and people start to abbreviate the name in ways that could be detrimental to the brand.

3. Appropriate. But not so descriptive as to sound generic. A common mistake is to choose a name that doubles as a descriptor, which will cause it to converge with other descriptive names. Actually, a strong brand name can be “blind”, meaning that it gives no clue as to its connection with the product, service, or company it represents, yet still “feels” appropriate.

4. Easy to spell. When you turn your name into a spelling contest, you introduce more confusion among customers, and make your brand difficult to access in databases that require correct spelling.

5. Satisfying to pronounce. A good name has “mouthfeel”, meaning that people like the way it sounds and are therefore more willing to use it.

6. Suitable for “brandplay.” The best names have creative “legs”—they readily lend themselves to great storytelling, graphics, PR, advertising, and other communications.

7. Legally defensible. The patent office wants to make sure that customers are not confused by sound-alike names or look-alike trademarks. A good name is one that keeps legal fees to a minimum.

He illustrates his points with some valid examples. Go here to take a peek.