A

A noun which directly precedes the noun it modifies, without the necessity of a linking verb. For example, the word ‘London’ in the name London Fog clothing is an attributive noun.

Any set of names connected in form, meaning, or both. Compare Clutter and Semantic Field.

Any brand name which, by the simple passage of time, is antiquated in style or meaning. For example, Clabber Girl baking powder hearkens back to yesteryear. A variant of Archaicism. Compare Anachronism.

Any brand name which, by the simple passage of time, is antiquated in style or meaning. For example, Clabber Girl baking powder hearkens back to yesteryear. A variant of Archaism. Compare Anachronism.

Any brand name which bears no direct relationship to the company, product, service, or attribute it describes. For example, Apple is an arbitrary name for a computer company. Compare Descriptive Name, Suggestive Name, Fanciful Name.

Any brand name particularly well-suited to to its category.

An alternative name or descriptive epithet. The Uncola is an appellation of 7-Up.

Any name formed by the omission of the initial syllable of a word or phrase. For example, the word ‘blog’ was formed by aphesis from the words ‘web log’.

Any brand name created as the direct opposite of another name. For instance, the nickname of 7-Up, The Uncola, depends upon its antonym; the product is defined in terms of what it is not.

Any company, product, service, etc. that has not yet been given a name or a code name. Also, a brand name so bland that it blends into the crowd.

Any brand name with a distinctively masculine tonality. Red Bull energy drink is an example of an andronym. Compare Gynonym.

Any acronym or abbreviation that is so well established that its origin is no longer widely understood. Scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)is an example. [coined from anachronism + acronym]

Any brand name whose use is chronologically incongruous. The appeal of Orville Redenbacher’s gourmet popping corn, for example, is inextricably tied to its old-fashioned moniker. Roman Meal bread is another clear example of a deliberate anachronism. [Greek ana- + chronos ‘time’]

The blending of two or more meanings into one brand name. The DodgeCaravan minivan is a serendipitous amalgam of ‘car’ and ‘van’, in addition to being a fitting name in its own right. According to a Dodge ad, “We added ‘‘minivan’ to the English language; ‘‘car-like’ came from you.” [Old French amalgame < Late Latin amalgama < Greek malagma ‘soft mass’]

Any brand name consisting of some combination of letters and numbers. There are a plethora of alphanumeric names on the market today. The Lexus ES300 sedan is an example of the frequent use of alphanumerics to name luxury cars.

Any brand name which includes a reference, explicit or implicit, to a culture’s classical literature, or any indirect reference to pop culture. The Honda Odyssey minivan references Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. [Late Latin allusion ‘a playing with’]

Any brand name consisting of two or more conjoined words, each beginning with the same phoneme. In keeping with the Anglo-Saxon tradition of alliterative poetry, English is replete with formulaic phrases of this sort. Think of bread and butter, do or die, sink or swim, wild and woolly, and so on. MCI’s Friends and Family calling circle program is a successful modern application of this principle; in fact, it is a direct modern translation of the archaic English phrase kith and kin. [Latin ad- ‘to’ + littera ‘letter’]

Any ancient poetic and naming technique involving the initial repetition of the same initial consonant or vowel or, more rarely, of any initial vowel. All of the names of Ford’s sports utility vehicles, for example, currently begin with the letter E (the Explorer, the Expedition, the Escape, and the Excursion). Compare Alliterative Phrasal Doublet. [Latin ad- ‘to’ + littera ‘letter’]

Any brand name consisting of a noun denoting the agent or doer of an action, in English typically formed by adding the suffix ‘-er’ to the base verb. The advantages of a name of this sort are its clarity and energy. The Ford Explorer sports utility vehicle, for example, makes a clear statement about the aspirations of its driver.

Any brand name consisting of two conjoined descriptive adjectives which together suggest the key attributes of the offering. The chief virtue of this type of name is that it immediately conveys the important features of many simple products. Lea & Perrins Sweet ‘n Spicy steak sauce is a good example of this naming technique, which is clearly overused.

Any brand name formed from the initial letter or letters of a series of words in a phrase. To be precise, an acronym is typically pronounced as a ‘word’ rather than as a series of letters; if it can not be pronounced as a word, technically it is an initialism. In other words, NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) is an acronym, and IBM (International Business Machines) is an initialism, but the term acronym is often used loosely for both techniques. Compare Initialism.

Any brand name created by shortening a word or phrase. Inc. magazine is an excellent example of an abbreviation which outdoes its full form by conveying an insider image. Compare acronym, initialism, and nickname. [Middle English abbreviaten < Late Latin abbreviare < Latin ad- ‘to’ + breviare ‘shorten’]