Free Naming and Branding Consultants and Resources

Finding a name for a band or record label is one the most difficult chores musicians face. For online inspiration, visit Wordlab. You can search the Wordlab database by category (acronyms, cars, rock bands, romance novels) or by keyword. The results are word combinations that are sometimes strange, silly, rude, or completely cryptic. However, the results can be used free of charge (though there is no guarantee that someone else hasn't used them first).

Todd Felix | email to Snark (10.11.01)

Very well done my friend.

East coast college dude here living and acting in LA. I love your site. I've used for idea for a cartoon series I wrote.

Prawn is my word of choice. Prawntastic. You wrote Jersey Prawns (sports team) in my honor (I like to think). Princeton grad who wrote you a few months ago. Stalking? Perhaps.

Regardless, great site, always inspirational. Where is home base? CA?
Felix

Christopher Francis | email to Snark (10.11.01)

Band name: Dead Before Breakfast - Hi, by sheer coincidence I was surfing and came across your site. I look up the name of one of my old bands and lo and behold, it was there! Not that we have copyright on the name, but I thought you might be interested to know that the name was thought up by the bass-player's sister. We were a four piece (I played drums) and we played in the Sydney (Australia) area from 1986-1989. We similar to The Pixies - don't know if you know them -anyway.
Regards
Christopher Francis

Dale Blades on the WordBoard (9.26.01)

I just want to thank you guys for all the support. I have finally chosen the name Boardillo. I just registered the name boardillo.com. Expect to see me online soon. I will definately recommend this site to friends.
Thank you, Dale Blades

Kudos to Sigi for coming up with Boardillo!

Paul Cook | Happy Camper (6.22.01)

This site is what I've been looking for everyday of my life. BELIEVE ME, these words will get put to GREAT use. You are a GOD, A GOLDEN GOD. And I mean it.

{follow-up email from Paul}: Well [Snark] I should tell you, I'm a DJ in the country's 2nd biggest market. The true challenge of any DJ is to figure out a way to say the same thing over and over again in different ways.... You've just given me different ways. I spend hours a day on the net looking for new ways to say things.... You've saved me. Many of your words will be heard by millions. I just hope other DJ's don't catch on to my secret.

Onvia.com - News and Tools (1/22/00)

Need help naming your company or product? Wordlab will give you your word's worth and more

Put these word wizards to work for your business

Registration required? No

Audience: Anyone searching for the right name, slogan or phrase for their business, invention, product or pet project.

Overview: Eureka! You’ve just developed a dog biscuit that puts the "wow" in "bowwow." Now you need to name these crunchy wonders. A kennel of eager wordsmiths is ready to perform on command at Wordlab. Type a description of what you’re trying to name in the WordBoard section, and the pun-loving participants will show their stuff. At last count, a call for names for a gourmet dog treat had generated 13 responses, containing suggestions such as Woof Wafers, Dog Perignon and, perhaps the pick of the litter, Doggie Biscotti. Besides the WordBoard, the site also offers a lengthy list (appropriately called "The Big List") of names, slogans and acronyms for companies, domains, pets, products, babies and more. Run by two wordsmiths known just as Quark and Snark, the site is free to all visitors. The proprietors ask only that people drop them an e-mail if they use any of their creations, and that they make sure no one else already holds claim to the material.

Don’t miss: The "Select a Feature" search function. This site is designed for easy browsing. A pull-down menu allows visitors to choose from an eclectic list of topics, ranging from acronyms to names for companies, restaurants and rock bands. Under each section, visitors can peruse some of Quark and Snark’s best brainstorms. This is a useful tool for anyone looking for inspiration (or just a good chuckle). The site also offers keyword searches.

Also well worth a click: The links section. Check here for a long list of sites for more wordplay and practice.

One caveat: The WordBoard is one of the site’s most useful features for people wanting help on a specific naming project. But a word of warning: Anything goes on this bulletin board, so if you’re offended by the occasional obscenity or off-color reference, you might want to steer clear.

tvchannel.co.uk

Does your company need a new sparkle to its name or are you just stuck for ideas on what to call your rock band? If you're in need of a slogan, acronym or just inspiration, the Wordlab has it all. Run simply and quite amazingly by just two people: Quark and Snark, this site offers free imagination with the added caution that none of the terms are trademarked. The choice of genres is endless, ranging from Ice Cream flavours, and buzzwords to planets and retirement homes. Head to the WordBoard and you can even get the guys to answer a specific request. So if you need ideas for that new toe-massaging parlour, the boys will get to work on it! [Editor's note: how'd they know we're boys? Also: the WordBoard is a community - you'll get help from many other people besides Quark and Snark.]

Amrev | email to Quark - 8/23/01

I would be waaaay off base to do anything but accept with a most humble attitude and the utmost gratitude the platitude from one with such latitude in grammatitude.

You and the Snarkster do the work, make the rules and change the way the letters in our minds are formed. If I could speak for all of the 'Net, I would say that you are doing the work we all so desperately need.

But since I can only speak for myself, I will say that Wordlab is the absolute macdaddy. Good job and consider yourselves throroughly back-patted.

Dummies Daily - Web After Five

Can't find a distinctive-enough name for your next child? Looking for an appropriately absurd moniker for your rock band? Just finish inventing a new product--such as a car or a drug--but you don't know what to call it? Before you start flipping frenetically through your thesaurus, check into Wordlab, at http://www.Wordlab.com, where, believe it or not, you can find the work of thousands of people hard at work solving these problems for you. Of course, we don't recommend USING a Wordlab word until you've run it through a rigorous trademark search. But that's just us--we're finicky that way. [Editor's note: We are flattered that Dummies Daily thinks Wordlab is "the work of thousands of people," but it really is only the two of us. Really. The WordBoard, however, is a different story. W're talking millions of people, perhaps hundreds of millions. Wordlab - We're Bigger Than We Are]

Jerusalem Post

You get the feeling, as you explore the site at (www.Wordlab.com), that it's run by a group of renegade Webster's Dictionary employees. Basically, they make up words....There are imaginative names for subjects like pets (Nietzsche, Stavrogin, Po), Pharmaceuticals (Harbingel, Hemoquil, Torpinol), and restaurants (Olive Me, Juggernaut Café, Façade). They are not trying to trademark the terms nor do they guarantee that there aren't already claims on the names. There's a great disclaimer: "We offer 'Clorox' as a nice Pet name; feel free to use it for such an intimate personal use. But should you decide to launch a successful Internet Bleach Business with that name, you may get an intimidating letter from someone else's legal department..."

I guess this kind of compendium is most useful if you are brainstorming and need a little jumpstart. What's interesting is that aside from an interactive discussion group, there's little input from the public; this is simply a showcase of what this crew has thought up, for whatever reason they are doing so.

Dig-IT.org - INDIA'S ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR THE INFORMATION HUNGRY

Add Spice to your Write-Ups

Wordlab.com contains a treasure of inspiring words, names, phrases, slogans, puns etc. that could be used to title new magazines, e-zines, newsletters, academic journals etc. or be used to spice up a campaign whether a political or an ad-campaign. There is more...Check it out!

Slanty.net News Board

Putting in a plug for Wordlab. Found it via eTour and asked them to visit us and develop some slogans based on what they saw. Got 9 responses under 48 hours. Check it out, it's pretty F*&^king funny. Just look on the Wordlab for Slanty.Net. Some of my favs are:

At Slanty.Net, nobody knows what Dave does!
Slanty crew... pickled as usual!
Slanty.Net... Crowdy with a slight chance of a shower in the morning!
Warning!!! Slanty giving it to you straight!
Warning!!! Objects you see in Slanty may be closer than they appear and may mirror real life!
I'm drunk on Slanty.net.
Pet my Slanty (.net)
Pigslantin... we speak your language!
Slantsloppin... what gets cooked gets eaten!
Slantslurpin... what gets bought gets drunk!
Life at a 45 degree angle.
When 90 degrees is just too much.

Kathy | on the WordBoard

Thank you for taking the time to respond to our request!...Also, how do you come up with those so quickly? That is really cool!
Thanks again...

Getting Real!-The Teen Channel

Wordlab for some reason devotes itself to words arranged weirdly: "Operation Anguished Praline." "A softness in the seats comforts exquisite leather plushness." Okay. .

"Mustang Fan" on the WordBoard re: H.S. football Big Game slogan

THANKS!!!!! These are GREAT!!!! I knew you guys could come up with something original and good! The big game is next Friday, Oct. 8th. I'll keep you informed. And we'll DEFINITELY use your ideas. THANKS again!

Stuff | Online Humor Zine

Thanks for help on the raffle. I ended up using a different slogan, but used lots of your suggestions to pepper copy. This goes on until the end of Sept. Got any more? This is a very entertaining site.

Charlotte | on the WordBoard

If it isn't in the English language its here.

BellAtlantic.net

Wordlab: A mix of entertainment and linguistics...Wordlab!

Artic Tips

Word Lab: Here's a bit of a strange site. Go here to find quips, puns, and english [sic] expressions for your free use. No guarentee [sic] for them making sence [sick!] though.