How to Find the Perfect Business Name如何取個(gè)理想的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)

斯凱·斯庫(kù)利　薛洪君/譯

A business name is more than just words—it is a representation of your company and brand. The process of choosing a business name may seem simple at first， but there are many factors that play into creating a successful one.

企業(yè)名稱(chēng)不僅僅是單詞——它代表你的公司和品牌。選取企業(yè)名稱(chēng)的過(guò)程乍看簡(jiǎn)單，但創(chuàng)制一個(gè)成功的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)，有賴(lài)許多因素協(xié)同發(fā)揮作用。

Having a name that resonates1 with your consumers can save you money， since you wont have to spend advertising dollars clarifying a muddled2 message. A good name can also lift you above competitors， help you reach new markets and open doors to further growth.

擁有一個(gè)客戶(hù)能心領(lǐng)神會(huì)的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)能節(jié)約成本，因你無(wú)須花廣告費(fèi)對(duì)寓意不明的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)作出澄清。一個(gè)好的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)也能讓你凌越競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，助你拓展新市場(chǎng)，打開(kāi)進(jìn)一步發(fā)展之門(mén)。

What a good business name should include

好的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)應(yīng)包含哪些要素

While there are various rules and exceptions on what should be included in a good business name， experts agreed on some common elements. First and foremost3， a business name should focus on the message you want to portray.

對(duì)于好的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)應(yīng)包含哪些要素，固然有各種規(guī)則和例外可供參考，但專(zhuān)家對(duì)一些常見(jiàn)要素已達(dá)成共識(shí)。首要的一點(diǎn)是，企業(yè)名稱(chēng)應(yīng)專(zhuān)注于你要呈現(xiàn)的信息。

“The name chosen should reflect the attributes that you want to transmit to the customer，” said David Poulos， director of marketing at Pinnacle Advisory Group， “The best names are so indicative of a customers needs that it seems obvious.”

“所選名稱(chēng)應(yīng)反映你要給客戶(hù)傳遞哪些特質(zhì)。”P(pán)innacle咨詢(xún)集團(tuán)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)總監(jiān)戴維·普洛斯說(shuō)，“理想的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)彰顯客戶(hù)的需求，使人一望而知。”

A good name should be short—two to four syllables and easy to pronounce， because they tend to be very brandable and easy for consumers to remember.

好的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)應(yīng)該簡(jiǎn)短——有二至四個(gè)音節(jié)且讀來(lái)順口，因?yàn)檫@樣的名稱(chēng)品牌性突出，容易讓消費(fèi)者記住。

While your name can include new or existing words， there are pros and cons4 with each option. Invented words—think Exxon—reduce the risk of confusion with competitors， but it can take a lot of time and marketing before your meaning is established with customers.

選取的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)可包含新創(chuàng)或現(xiàn)成字詞，但每種選擇都各有利弊。新創(chuàng)詞——想想Exxon （埃克森）——降低了與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手混淆的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，但可能要耗費(fèi)相當(dāng)多時(shí)間和營(yíng)銷(xiāo)成本，才能讓消費(fèi)者認(rèn)同該名稱(chēng)的立意。

Existing names come with established meanings， but those terms are also likely to be used by some of your competitors. A paramount5 concern about using a common term as part of your businesss name is whether trademark and domain names are available， and many common words are already taken in these areas.

現(xiàn)成名稱(chēng)都有既定含義，但這類(lèi)用詞也很可能會(huì)被你的一些競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手選用。若企業(yè)名稱(chēng)中含有常見(jiàn)用詞，最令人擔(dān)心的是同名商標(biāo)和域名是否仍可選用，有很多常見(jiàn)詞已注冊(cè)過(guò)商標(biāo)和域名了。

To help business owners identify the main elements of a good name， Alexandra Watkins， founder and chief innovation officer of naming firm Eat My Words， developed a 12-point evaluation checklist： the Scratch and Smile Test. Her philosophy used to develop the checklist was built on the idea that a business name should make you smile rather than scratch your head.

為幫助企業(yè)主辨識(shí)好的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)所具備的要素，起名公司Eat My Words 的創(chuàng)始人兼首席創(chuàng)意官亞歷山德拉·沃特金斯研究出一份“十二條”評(píng)估清單：Scratch與Smile測(cè)試法。她制定這一清單所遵循的基本思路是，企業(yè)名稱(chēng)應(yīng)使人會(huì)心一笑而非撓頭不解。

SMILE： The five qualities of a super sticky6 name

SMILE：黏性超強(qiáng)企業(yè)名的五大特質(zhì)

Suggestive： It evokes something about your brand.

Suggestive（強(qiáng)示意）：讓人想起你的品牌。

Memorable： It is rooted in the familiar.

Memorable（易識(shí)記）：根植于耳熟能詳?shù)氖挛铩?/p>

Imagery： It is visually evocative to aid in memory.

Imagery（具形象）：可喚起視覺(jué)聯(lián)想以輔助記憶。

Legs： It lends itself to7 a theme for extended mileage.

Legs（可延續(xù)）：讓主題具備延展效應(yīng)。

Emotional： It moves people.

Emotional（夠煽情）：能夠打動(dòng)人。

SCRATCH： The seven deal breakers of a name

SCRATCH：取企業(yè)名的七大昏招

Spelling-challenged： It looks like a typo8.

Spelling-challenged（拼寫(xiě)缺陷）：看上去就像出了排印或打字錯(cuò)誤。

Copycat9： It is similar to competitors names.

Copycat（盲目模仿）：與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的名稱(chēng)相似。

Restrictive： It limits future growth.

Restrictive（作繭自縛）：限制未來(lái)的發(fā)展。

Annoying： It is forced or frustrates customers.

Annoying（使人不適）：牽強(qiáng)生硬或是讓顧客厭煩。

Tame10： It is flat， undescriptive or uninspired.

Tame（索然無(wú)味）：平淡、空洞或是毫無(wú)創(chuàng)意。

Curse of knowledge11： Only insiders get it.

Curse of knowledge（知識(shí)詛咒）：只有內(nèi)部人士才能領(lǐng)會(huì)。

Hard to pronounce： It is not obvious or is unapproachable.

Hard to pronounce（詰屈聱牙）：生僻或高冷。

How to come up with a business name

如何創(chuàng)制企業(yè)名稱(chēng)

There are a variety of methods you can use to devise a name for your company. Poulos and his team found the most successful one to be a customer-centric naming method.

要為公司設(shè)計(jì)名字，有多種方法可供使用。普洛斯及其團(tuán)隊(duì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，最有成效的是以客戶(hù)為中心的命名方法。

Poulos recommends starting the process by gathering an aggregate12 of various department staff or consultants to develop a list of characteristics that you want your company to stand for. This brainstorming session should result in a series of on-brand13 character traits that you can then match with a set of words that are implied by each trait.

普洛斯建議，命名之初，要召集多位部門(mén)員工或企業(yè)顧問(wèn)，列舉出大家心目中的企業(yè)價(jià)值主張。通過(guò)這場(chǎng)集思廣益的討論得出一系列彰顯品牌精神的特質(zhì)，再為每條特質(zhì)匹配由其寓意引申出的一套用詞。

With the implied words， craft a series of word combinations that bring out the various character traits and work them into a name that has meaning for the customer. This should evolve into a long list of first-round business name ideas.

用這些推敲出的詞，創(chuàng)制一系列詞組闡發(fā)各條特質(zhì)，再將其融匯為顧客能會(huì)意的一個(gè)名稱(chēng)，由此可衍生出一長(zhǎng)串企業(yè)名稱(chēng)初步方案。

After you have your first set of potential business name ideas， Poulos suggests polling potential customers to rank each name from 1 to 20， based on how well they fit or describe your business. Use the consumer poll to narrow your list down to the top five candidates. Verify that these top candidates， culturally and linguistically， will not create a conflict in the countries where you want to operate.

普洛斯建議，在得出潛在企業(yè)名稱(chēng)初步方案后，對(duì)潛在客戶(hù)進(jìn)行民意測(cè)驗(yàn)，根據(jù)與本公司業(yè)務(wù)的契合度或?qū)I(yè)務(wù)詮釋之貼切程度，對(duì)這些名稱(chēng)進(jìn)行排名（第1到第20名）。通過(guò)客戶(hù)民意測(cè)驗(yàn)，將名單壓縮至候選名稱(chēng)前5位。從文化和語(yǔ)言角度對(duì)這些最優(yōu)選項(xiàng)進(jìn)行核驗(yàn)，確保這些名稱(chēng)不會(huì)在公司要開(kāi)展業(yè)務(wù)的國(guó)家引發(fā)沖突。

A critical next step that many business owners skip is to research each of your top names for corporate registry， trademarks， patent and domain name availability. Warren Diggles， president and creative director of Diggles Creative， said you should choose a name with an available .com domain.

接下來(lái)這關(guān)鍵一步會(huì)被很多企業(yè)主忽略掉，就是逐一排查這些優(yōu)選名稱(chēng)是否仍可登記為企業(yè)名稱(chēng)及注冊(cè)為商標(biāo)、專(zhuān)利和域名。迪格爾斯創(chuàng)意公司總裁兼創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)沃倫·迪格爾斯認(rèn)為，應(yīng)當(dāng)選用一個(gè)域名（帶“.com”）有效的名稱(chēng)。

“Unless you are a government， educational institution， or a nonprofit， you definitely want a .com，” said Diggles. “Your customers will automatically assume that your website is a .com because it is the most widely recognized name on the internet.”

“除非是政府機(jī)關(guān)、教育機(jī)構(gòu)或非營(yíng)利單位，否則必然首選‘.com。”迪格爾斯說(shuō)，“客戶(hù)會(huì)自動(dòng)認(rèn)為你公司的網(wǎng)站名后綴是‘.com，因?yàn)檫@是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上認(rèn)可范圍最廣的域名形式。”

He said the best option is to choose a name that allows you to register for all versions （.com， .net， .biz）， if possible， to protect your company name.

他認(rèn)為，如果可能的話(huà)，最佳方案是能用所選名稱(chēng)注冊(cè)所有版本的擴(kuò)展域名（“.com” “.net”“.biz”），從而保護(hù)你的公司名稱(chēng)。

Common business-naming mistakes

給企業(yè)命名的常見(jiàn)錯(cuò)誤

Many owners name their businesses after a specific product or service they provide. However， this can create issues later when the company offers goods or services unrelated to its name. Similarly， if the name of your business seems completely unrelated to the goods or services you provide that， too， can have a negative effect.

很多企業(yè)主用自己企業(yè)提供的某一具體產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)為企業(yè)命名。然而，若公司后來(lái)提供與該名稱(chēng)無(wú)關(guān)的商品或服務(wù)，此舉就會(huì)帶來(lái)問(wèn)題。同理，如果你的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)與你提供的產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)貌似毫不相干，也會(huì)有不利影響。

“Too literal or plain can only work if the logic holds and the business doesnt plan to evolve or change direction under that name，” said Poulos. “Too fancy， and the audience wont know what it means or what business theyre in. Too inside， and you limit your target audience and push away those outside the core business， even if they have a use for your products or services on a peripheral14 basis.”

“太依字面或太過(guò)平實(shí)，只有在邏輯自洽且企業(yè)無(wú)意依此名稱(chēng)搞衍生業(yè)務(wù)或轉(zhuǎn)變業(yè)務(wù)方向時(shí)才行得通。”普洛斯說(shuō)。“過(guò)于花哨，聽(tīng)眾會(huì)不明就里或疑惑企業(yè)在搞哪門(mén)子生意。內(nèi)情太深，則又將公司的目標(biāo)客戶(hù)限制得太死，推開(kāi)了非核心業(yè)務(wù)客戶(hù)，即便他們是你公司次要產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)的用戶(hù)。”

Along the same lines， creating a name with an odd or uncommon spelling can also be troublesome. Names with unusual spellings can cause issues， particularly with online searches. You can potentially miss out on new leads15 if consumers try to look you up online and cant find you.

同樣，起一個(gè)拼寫(xiě)古怪生僻的名字，也會(huì)引起麻煩。拼寫(xiě)生僻的名字會(huì)帶來(lái)問(wèn)題，在線(xiàn)搜索時(shí)尤其如此。如果消費(fèi)者試圖在網(wǎng)上查詢(xún)你的公司而未能找到，你可能會(huì)錯(cuò)失潛在客戶(hù)。

It is unlikely that the perfect business name will come to you immediately. Evaluate names for their potential rather than choosing one based on personal preference. Although the process of naming your business can be a challenging one， the end result will be worth the effort.

不太可能即刻就想出一個(gè)理想的企業(yè)名稱(chēng)。選擇時(shí)要評(píng)估名稱(chēng)的潛力，而不是單憑個(gè)人喜好。盡管企業(yè)名稱(chēng)的命名過(guò)程可能充滿(mǎn)挑戰(zhàn)，最終結(jié)果值得這樣的付出。

“You have to live with [your business name] for quite a while， so it should be something youre proud of， comfortable with and that makes sense to the audience youd like to reach，” said Poulos. “Dont pick your first choice without working through some sort of process to research and vet16 its viability in your market.”

“你要與（自己公司的名稱(chēng)）長(zhǎng)久相伴，所以它應(yīng)該讓你引以為豪、自在愜意，而你的目標(biāo)客戶(hù)也能夠意會(huì)。”普洛斯說(shuō)，“不要貿(mào)然選擇第一眼看中的，而須經(jīng)由市場(chǎng)調(diào)研和可行性檢驗(yàn)這一步，再做決定。”

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>