Startup names remain strange because a bad spelling proliferates

Spelling winners take note: Now is not the time to start a career in the name of startups.

Words badly spelled in a creative way, long popular for startup names, continue to rank among the best choices for emerging societies. Other higher name trends include short marks, “LY” suffixes, word games and human first names, according to the last deep crunchbase dive in start -up brands.

“A large part of what motivates things is that people say:” I really want to name it, but the field is taken, “said Athol Foden, president of NickA business denomination advice. The founders who cannot obtain their higher choice are generally satisfied with something that seems similar, perhaps with a different spelling or an additional suffix.

For our latest name for name of new crunchbases, the methodology involved watching all the startups of English -speaking countries which have collected a series of seeds of $ 500,000 or more in the last 13 months

The objective, after having crossed more than 4,000 names, was to reconstruct the main trends in the name of startups. Beyond that, hope is to shed light on the dominant state of mind on how to create a memorable brand in a world invading old and new businesses in competition furiously for our attention.

Below, we take a closer look at some of the main trends

Trend n ° 1: creative spelling mistakes

Why start a name with a “C” when you can use a “K?” Why not substitute a “y” for an “i?”

And why not delete a vowel here and there to blow up a name?

These are some of the favorite tactics among startups funded by the seeds when selecting a name. Our analysis has uncovered dozens of nicknames poorly spelled creatively among companies funded since last year, including a sample which we have aggregated in a list:

Spelling mistakes have become so popular that there are often several companies with the same names for the trigger for spellief. The Crunchbase data set includes several companies called “Swapp”, “Shyft” and “Flyp”, for example, not only those that have noted seed funding in the last quarters.

Much of the enthusiasm for spelling mistakes, observes Foden, comes from companies that seek to reach their audience via their mobile phone. “There are only a lot of real estate that you can see on a small phone,” he said, so leaving aside the vowels can actually help a little.

It helps that many companies having badly spelled words as a nickname, in particular Tumblr,, GrindrAnd Cazoo– Have turned into recognized brands.

Trend n ° 2: word combos and word games

No one says that your startup must have a name for a word. It could be several words, or two words crushed in one.

When the names lie down, they often become more fun. Our name survey has revealed several examples of companies that choose catchy words of words that also illustrate what they are doing. We have drawn up a list of several below:

The stars include TeamA platform to organize team counter-gods; AmiduleA place where creators can archive their works; And ImpassionA tool provider to facilitate lease management.

The advantage of a multi-words name is that there are many more options to choose, said Foden, noting that many of his favorite nicknames are words. One of his best choices is not a startup supported by a company but rather a travel company that bears the name Please leave.

Suffixes, in particular “ly”

Often the only way to get a start -up name that is not already taken is to add a kind of suffix.

Often this alone is not enough. Names with LY and “Ify” suffixes have been widespread for a number of years, giving birth to well -known names, especially Shop And Rod. This means many of the most obvious versions – think Disturb Or Nivery– Are already taken, notes Foden.

The popularity of suffixes in particular continues in particular. We have aggregated an example of a list of companies recently financed by the seeds below:

Trend n ° 4: first names

Looking lists of the most popular baby names, it is obvious that parents share similar opinions on what makes an appropriate nickname. Ditto for the founders of startups who choose a human first name for their companies.

During the last quarters, we saw a multitude of startups of first name be funded, notably Mona, Blair, Lilli, Marvin, Bennie, Otto, Emmi and Billy; And the list continues. In almost all these cases, however, there were several startups in the Crunchbase data sharing the same name.

Numbers, condiments and more

There are several other mini-tendencies of the name of startups.

One is the use of a number at the start of a name. Crunchbase has found dozens in our last survey, of 10 club has 401GB.

Food names for non -food companies are also popular. It is a strategy that worked for AppleSo who will criticize? Examples among recently funded companies include Gaking laboratories,, Jam,, Mustard,, Wasabi And Cake.

Another sustainable favorite. Recently funded examples include Ferret,, Beef,, Hedgehog markets,, CaribouAnd at least two companies with Sparrow on their behalf.

At the end of the day, it is often difficult to say if a name is really terrible or really great. The one I find particularly confusing is a trading platform and Crypto-British NFT called Coinbourp. Part of me thinks it’s a really horrible name. But, after reading more than 4,000 starting names, I still can’t get this one out of my head. So maybe they’re on something.

Illustration: Dom Guzman