What's in a name, anyway?
Coming up with a name for our new “Zoey Goes to the Hospital Business”
has been a fun adventure. In a family whose father was a connoisseur at
inventing nicknames for just about everyone (Chas, The King,
T, Beaver, Bomber – just to mention a few) this naming thing has a way of
taking on a power of its own.
The way I see it, a good company name is sort of like a nickname. It
captures the essence of the person, evolves naturally but has a certain foresight and perhaps most
importantly, it must stick with your siblings and friends. In the case of our company name, it must tell what
we do, capture our essence, and radiate with our audience.
My younger brother’s nickname “Bomber” came about from his bombing around the house on a four
wheeled buggy and his ability to be resilient with two older brothers. It makes sense on so many levels
that hardly anyone knows his given name.
I always wanted to write a book cataloging the genesis of people’s nicknames. My fear is that readers
would rip-off other people’s nickname which goes against the whole process of nicknaming evolving
naturally. Recently my 11 year old son, Jack, invented the nickname “Duck” for his friend whose
name is Donald. I didn’t get it at first but perhaps he has the nickname gift like his grandfather.
As far as our company, we originally called it Bill Mulcahy Books then My Hospitables and iHospitables
and then finally the power of my father's naming capabilities resonated through us and thus KIDS COPE
NOW was born. We really like our name and believe it captures the essence of who we are, what we do,
and that it radiates with our audience. So what do you think?
