Name that search engine!

May 17, 2011 11:38 PM

Dear HiveMind, please help me think of a name for a new web project I'm building. It's essentially a "genealogy search engine in a box", based on a customized build of Apache Solr. It will allow moderately tech savvy genealogy geeks, whether individual genealogists or small genealogy organizations, an easy way to index and search datasets of names and any related data, with a nice front end UI for doing searches. Notable features include faceted search (by record year, record town(s), record source, etc.), soundalike surname searching, customizable given name synonyms (i.e. searching for "Becky" also finds Rebecca), and pop-up Google Maps linked to record locations. And the entire project will be open source. The project is already about 90% completed, but I need something snappy to call it before I can release it. Ideas welcome!
posted by Asparagirl to computers & internet (16 answers total)

Are you looking for a name that can also be a domain name? Because that's a pretty major limiting factor (obviously).
posted by empyrean at 11:44 PM on May 17, 2011

It does not need to be an available domain name too. I may be hosting on github anyway. Besides, I can always buy a related domain name like "getFoo.com".
posted by Asparagirl at 11:55 PM on May 17, 2011

Here are a few suggestions:

LookBack
Twice Removed
Squirrel (because it, uh, searches one's family tree, y'see)

Good luck!
posted by jeffmshaw at 12:38 AM on May 18, 2011

FamilyForest (play on Family Tree)
Family2.0

These are available:
QuickTribe
UltraTribe
InstaGenes
VivoTree
posted by barnone at 12:38 AM on May 18, 2011

Potato, because the best parts are underground.
posted by orthogonality at 12:44 AM on May 18, 2011

Fambly!
posted by By The Grace of God at 1:42 AM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Family Tools

(it's a straight-forward term but it can also be a pun on "family jewels")
posted by amyms at 2:18 AM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Geneie/Genie
GeneBox
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:13 AM on May 18, 2011

I'd stay away from anything "gene" related due to Geni. I really like Squirrel.

Loosely on the theme of interconnectedness and complexity: thicket, thornbush, banyan, secateurs, tyre swing, ficus.
posted by Leon at 3:30 AM on May 18, 2011

Branch
posted by doublehappy at 3:37 AM on May 18, 2011

Drop the last vowel. Ancestr
posted by backwards guitar at 4:35 AM on May 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Indexthing.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:57 AM on May 18, 2011

Origins
Genesis
Square One
Human Mesources (heh)
Family Ties ! (maybe not, damn you Alex Keaton)
GeneWorks
posted by empyrean at 4:57 AM on May 18, 2011

Gene Pool
Branch Out
Root Kit
Tree House
Every Leaf
posted by mikepop at 5:33 AM on May 18, 2011

WhoDigger
posted by tomcooke at 8:27 AM on May 18, 2011

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody! I picked a name for the project that is very similar to one of the ones that mikepop suggested. The alpha version of the new search engine using my code was deployed online late last week, with 180,000+ genealogical records in it. Look for an announcement in MeFi Projects sometime in the next two months or so. :-)
posted by Asparagirl at 4:26 PM on May 25, 2011