‘Tis the season to get excited, fellow word nerds! Merriam-Webster announced its Word of the Year for 2023: authentic.
While it’s always interesting to know what word rises to the top of our collective linguistic curiosity, this year’s word isn’t a huge surprise. You could even say we saw it coming.
[Read more…] about Authentic, Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year 2023
I love to name things. I also love baseball. It’s World Series time. And the Texas Rangers (my hometown, childhood team) are in the World Series.
Does life get any better than this?
What you’ve got here is a fan-fueled exploration of all things name-related about the Texas Rangers. They have their work cut out for them against the Arizona Diamondbacks (Dbacks), but I know this Texas Ranger team will get its first World Series title in franchise history!
[Read more…] about Let’s Go, Texas Rangers! Nicknames, a team name, and a legacy to be reckoned with
If you search a list of California governors, his name isn’t there. That’s because he was the last governor of California under Mexican rule.
His name is Pío Pico, and what he represents — his name, his story — is bigger than any official historical list. His legacy represents the diverse and often underserved communities in our State and the need to tell stories that matter.
[Read more…] about Pico: A small name that looms large in the lost legacy of California
Today’s social media landscape is a panorama of platforms vying for the holy grail of monthly active users (MAUs). Some of the biggest, most familiar names with the biggest MAUs are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and WeChat. Then, there’s TikTok, Douyin, Telegram, and Snapchat.
And, of course, now X marks the spot of the former social media icon, Twitter. Love it or hate it (what the platform was or has become), the name Twitter perfectly evoked feelings of excitement and short bursts of information, or tweets, which easily morphed into widespread verb usage: “She tweeted.” And of course there was the whole bird metaphor to leverage.
However, there’s a long list of other social media platform names that are also capturing MAUs worldwide. Some are familiar because they’re gaining traction, and others are new to the social scene. Spoiler alert: Zinzin is partial to the newly-launched Pebble. We like that it’s a “kinder, safer, more fun” social media experience. And, by the way, we named it! (More on that later.)
Arlene, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Idalia, Nigel.
These are some of the named storms — tropical storms and hurricanes — so far in the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs June 1st to November 30th every year.
This year, in particular, the names caught my eye. Maybe it’s because we’re seeing more than usual in the news due to the “above-normal level of activity,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Or maybe it’s because I’m fortunate to live in a (so far) hurricane-free part of the country and have the luxury to ponder these things.
Or just maybe it’s because I’m a namer, so names make me curious…especially ones like Gert. (Great brand name up for grabs?) So, I did some digging into the history of hurricane nomenclature, or the system of naming in this field. What I found was a dark and stormy tale, including Greek mythology, colonialism, sexism, and political revenge.
[Read more…] about Hurricane naming through the ages: a turbulent & storied history
Namers love language. It’s our stock in trade, and we at Zinzin believe it’s alive and on the move. Language changes, morphs, evolves, and we revel in it. You could even say the connection between namers and language is pure fireworks.
So, in a show of revelry and appreciation, we bring you fireworks! Sort of. Let’s spark some thought around the history and modern-day names of pyrotechnics, aka fireworks, which could be considered a universal language of celebration.
[Read more…] about Queue the punk: celebrating the language of fireworks
In America, a traditional state fair food staple goes by two names: corn dog or corny dog. If you know this golden fried goodness by the later name, you must be from Texas. And if you’re from Texas, you likely don’t even call it a corny dog. You simply call it a “Fletcher’s.” And you say it with childlike excitement, almost with a giggle. Because that’s how good it is. That’s the fond memory it evokes. And that’s the lasting power of this brand name.
[Read more…] about Fletcher’s Corny Dogs: A brand name on a stick that stuck
What inspires a great brand name? For Zinzin, it’s getting outside of ourselves, our specialty, our industry. Sometimes, stepping outside of our familiar spaces sparks unexpected connections and other mind wanderings. For instance, we’re big fans of poetry, great literature, artists, and films.
On the other hand, sometimes inspiration for a great brand name lies closer to home. Very close to home. Ok, I’ll cut to the chase: it’s your mom.
Well, not your mom. But the “royal mom.” Is that a cheeky, new nosism? According to Wikipedia, the royal we (pluralis majestatis) refers to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch, bishop, or pope…or mom, this Zinzin-namer (and mom) attests.
Namers find inspiration in people, places, and things both far and wide. However, art and literature are often at the heart of our creative wanderings. The process, expression, and advice of great writers is like nourishment for our naming souls. For instance, Zinzin has written blog posts on Elmore Leonard, Jack Kerouac, and Don DeLillo and Jhumpa Lahiri, among others. With all due respect to those great writers, perhaps no one nourishes and inspires this namer more than one of the greatest writers and artists of all time, Tove Jansson.
Tove Jansson blew the lid off what it means to be a creative force in the world. She was an internationally acclaimed author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. There’s so much to cover when Tove Jansson is the subject, because her work is vast and varied. However, this blog post will focus on…you guessed it…names! And she created some fabulously fun ones.
[Read more…] about Moomins and the naming genius of Tove Jansson
It’s that time of year, sports fans — the Super Bowl is almost here! If this Zinzin namer loves anything as much as naming, it’s sports. And on any given Sunday, the two align in glorious strategic formation.
The game plan here is to explore the topic of naming rights. Not so much the right to bear names, but the way corporations purchase the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of time. When it comes to the Super Bowl, to own naming rights is like a brand building blitz. But is it a practice that can last with price tags up to $700 million?
[Read more…] about Super Bowl LVII: Naming Rights vs. the Right Name
Gaslight, 1944.Fellow namers and word nerds, have Christmas and Hanukkah come early? Merriam-Webster, America’s “leading provider of language information,” recently announced its top 10 words of 2022.
[Read more…] about Top 10 words of 2022, according to Merriam-Webster
Ahh, the cozy, inviting scents that fill our homes over the holidays — cinnamon, gingerbread, spruce, cedar, and…broken rosary, or old books?
Believe it or not, these are some of the holiday candle scents available this season. What does a broken rosary smell like, you ask? Apparently, it’s woody and floral (with a hint of Catholic guilt?), and it can be yours for $44.
Within recent years, scented candle names took a distinctly evocative turn. They went from being merely descriptive to evoking emotions, memories, and experiences. And as the holiday shopping season approaches, they’ll be everywhere. Traditional ones, like Yankee Candle’s basalm & cedar or peppermint pinwheels, are still around, of course. But Zinzin’s finely tuned naming noses sniffed out some doozies. So, let’s follow the holiday scented trail of this candle naming trend — will it wax or wane?
[Read more…] about Holiday scents & nonsense: evocative candle names
To keep the creative juices flowing in our naming hearts and minds, we here at Zinzin like to explore topics tangential to our task at hand — creating powerful, evocative names to help brands build positive, emotional connections with audiences. While it’s well known today that the strongest brands make emotional connections, I think artists figured this out a long time ago. Namely, one of the most influential American abstract painters of the 20th century: Agnes Martin.
Famous for her grid paintings born from an ordered process approaching science in its rigor, Martin’s goal was to evoke emotional states that connect with the viewer. What’s awesome, Zinzin friends, is that we use a similar approach to naming.
Moreover, Martin had specific opinions about naming (giving titles to) her paintings. So, let’s explore some of the work of the infinitely fascinating Agnes Martin, draw inspiration from it, and see what naming lessons we can learn.
[Read more…] about Agnes Martin’s painting titles: naming lessons on & off the grid
The FX Series Reservation Dogs is changing the narrative.Zinzin believes that language is alive and on the move. It’s like a living, breathing organism – always changing, morphing, evolving. Cultures change too, and names come and go over time. But some don’t. Why has one naming practice, in particular — brands named after different Indigenous cultures — lasted so long in America? And how is it changing? Let’s take a look at some American brand names derived from Indigenous peoples and cultures.
[Read more…] about American brand names & Indigenous cultures: changing the narrative
The World Series is here! This namer is a big fan of Major League Baseball (MLB), and Zinzin always loves to explore worlds outside of its own to find naming inspiration. So, let’s look at the rich naming traditions in the world of baseball, where the use of nicknames, in particular, is as fun and fascinating as the sport itself. More specifically, let’s look at the team naming history and current (active roster) player nicknames of the two teams in the 2022 World Series: the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies.
[Read more…] about Nicknames of the Houston Astros & Philadelphia Phillies — 2022 World Series fun