The naming rules we gave ourselves, and what they cost

Every product name we have right now is a placeholder, which is why there is no product list on this site yet. Before replacing them we wrote down the rules, so that we would not argue about them later with a favourite name on the table.

The governing constraint is reach: a name has to work for someone who does not speak English. That single rule does most of the work. It removes every pun, every idiom, and every name that is clever only if you grew up in the right place. It also removes Pro, Ultra, Smart, Hub and Flow, which is a mercy.

The rest is short. Two syllables, three at the outside. Pronounceable on sight. Meaning is a bonus, not a requirement — and if it has one, concrete and warm rather than abstract. The function always travels with the name the first time anyone reads it, because a warm two-syllable word tells you nothing on its own.

There is deliberately no naming pattern. No shared prefix, no rhyme, no family resemblance in the words themselves. A pattern buys recognition, costs freedom, and dates. Whatever coherence our products have should come from the mark, the type and the voice — the things we can keep steady.

Three names we liked are gone because of rule three. That is the rule working.