He invents names, and keeps only the ones worth keeping.

The selection

A name is chosen for a business, not for a catalogue. I begin with the sector: what its buyers expect, what its incumbents sound like, and where a new name can stand apart from them without sounding foreign to the trade. Then the core of the business, the one or two things it does differently and the values it wants to be held to, because a name that promises the wrong thing costs more than no name at all.

Then the product or service itself, its scale, price and audience, so the name carries the right weight: neither too grand for a small thing nor too light for a serious one. Last, the language. How does it sound spoken aloud in the markets it will trade in, what does it resemble, what might it mean elsewhere, and does it survive being heard once and typed from memory? Only a name that passes all four earns a place here.

The six tests

1. 1Pronounceable on first hearing
2. 2Spellable after hearing it once
3. 3No hyphens or lookalike letters
4. 4The .com is included
5. 5Screened for obvious conflicts before listing
6. 6Carries a story worth telling

Every dedicated page scores its name on four criteria (memorability, pronounceability, brevity and distinctiveness), measured against this standard. Screening for obvious conflicts is not a legal opinion; the terms explain what it covers.