Help me think of a name for my potential business.
February 24, 2014 4:27 PM   Subscribe

I need help coming up with a name for my potential new business. Unfortunately everything I like is already being used and I'm struggling to think of something suitable.

I'm in the process of looking into setting up a business. Although it's early days yet I want to have a name in mind so I can be thinking of marketing, packaging etc whilst doing the research I need to do.

I'm setting up a chocolate company, I want the name to make people think of something natural, whilst still maintaining a sense of elegance and sophistication. I'd love any suggestions as I'm getting a bit stumped at the moment.
posted by Ranting Prophet of DOOM! to Food & Drink (26 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Eden
Elysium

I would say keep the name short and non-obvious for elegance and sophistication. My favorite chocolate company is just the names of the owners, and it is well known in my city for its amazing organic flavors and sophistication/presentation. But maybe my suggestions above are too cheesy with the natural/perfect garden stuff.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 4:38 PM on February 24, 2014


Response by poster: I really like Elysium, I'm going to add that to the list of potentials :-) I will say that I'm not a chocolatier and am not going for the really high end market where the origins of everything need to be known about. I'm aiming for the flavour to be amazing yet the style of the chocolates to be understated and unassuming.
posted by Ranting Prophet of DOOM! at 4:47 PM on February 24, 2014


Bird names + personal names tend to class things up a bit -- use your own name, of course, but here are some examples:

Fenley & Finch Chocolates
Jack & Heron Fine Chocolates
The Molly & Sparrow Candy Company
Brown & Kestrel

Really, whatever combination of your name + [bird name] has the nicest poetry. And birds lead to fun packaging options: images of feathers, birds, trees, nests, eggs, etc.
posted by mochapickle at 4:51 PM on February 24, 2014 [8 favorites]


Nautilus -- nature-ish word referring to a creature, but they have very elegant spiral shells that could make a fun logo
posted by foxfirefey at 4:56 PM on February 24, 2014


Best answer: I'm thinking of an elegant animal as your logo and name -- like

Snowy Owl Chocolates

Kestrel Chocolates

Peacock Chocolates

White Tiger Chocolates

Snow Leopard Chocolates

Dolphin Chocolates
posted by bearwife at 5:01 PM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Big Bonanza Chocolates?
posted by jjmoney at 5:10 PM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think having one goal of "elegance and sophistication" and another of "not really high end" are a type of contradictory that's going to give you a hard time getting a feel for something that sounds right. I think you should pick one of these directions to be the winner. You can have both, of course, but one has to be dominant.
posted by bleep at 5:12 PM on February 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Not exactly to your specs but this leapt to mind: Chips Off The Block.
posted by CincyBlues at 5:14 PM on February 24, 2014


Trees! Here are some trees that I think are elegant and evocative:

Aspen
Cypress
Jacaranda
Magnolia

Put a bird on it!
posted by jquinby at 5:16 PM on February 24, 2014


Justice Desserts Chocolates
posted by effluvia at 5:21 PM on February 24, 2014


Response by poster: Bleep, I didn't really get across what I meant, serves me right for posting at one in the morning. When I say high end I mean the highest of the high, where it's all about origin chocolates, very small batches very over the top decoration and seemingly very exclusive. Where as I'm still aiming for very high quality chocolates. However my decoration will be simpler, I want the flavour to be the most important thing. So if I'm selling a passionfruit chocolate I want it to burst with passionfruit flavour with the chocolate as an important yet equal partner to the passionfruit. So with that in mind the origin chocolates would be a waste of time as the other flavours would obliterate the delicate flavours of the chocolate. Also I'm after conistancy of quality and flavour. I'll get this more easily with a high end couveture blended from various sources.
posted by Ranting Prophet of DOOM! at 5:22 PM on February 24, 2014


Limerence

Because there's an active ingredient in chocolate that is believed to create a feeling of romantic love or limerence in the brain when dopamine is released.
posted by cazoo at 5:27 PM on February 24, 2014 [6 favorites]


Exact

The trees suggestions from jquinby made me think of
Tilia (the latin for linden)

Wythe
posted by sciencegeek at 5:29 PM on February 24, 2014


I didn't know that couveture was a term of chocolate art, or I'd suggest that. At any rate, it's close enough to overture (if only in appearance) to merit a tie-in to classical music.

Thus:

Andante
Aubade
Etude
Libretto
Ostinato
Pavane
posted by jquinby at 5:32 PM on February 24, 2014


Aside from the specific suggestions given, have a look at Wordoid. It is a website designed to help you find novel names which could be registered as domain names. You can experiment with different words - and you can also search for words which will be pronounceable across a range of languages.
posted by rongorongo at 5:48 PM on February 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Whatever you choose, I'd suggest you search Tess to avoid marks that are already in use for the same category as your pending venture.
posted by grudgebgon at 5:49 PM on February 24, 2014 [2 favorites]


Complaints: some people will stumble on the pronunciation of 'Elysium' and not recommend you -- couverture -- thinking of 'limerence' makes me blush and feel a bit foolish; it's not a wholly positive association.

(And definitely not Noka)
posted by kmennie at 6:13 PM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm thinking creation stories:

First Tree Chocolates (because surely God created the cacao tree first!)

Chocomoztoc
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:46 PM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


Put me down as thinking that Limerance is a GREAT name!
posted by Alaska Jack at 8:10 PM on February 24, 2014


How about a French word like Délicat or Lisse.
posted by Dansaman at 8:40 PM on February 24, 2014


Violins and Chocolate

But really I just wanted to help, and let you know that when you open this place I would love to be your first US customer. Memail me V&C ordering instructions. I kind of have an addiction to chocolate and it is close to a miracle I'm not obese.

*Violinist not included. Or you could get some local music student to play several times a week at the back wall of the store.
posted by cashman at 8:51 PM on February 24, 2014


How about gems?

Onyx
Topaz
Jasper
Opal
Moonstone
Lazuli


(I hate Limerance, I only ever hear it in heavy relationship discussions, and it would make me think of every gross poly dude who's tried to talk me into bed, sorry)
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:49 PM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think Limerance implies we would want the chocolate to love us right back.

If you do want a French sounding term which denotes the more one-way notion of infatuation then "sous le charme" or "entiché/s'enticher" might work.
posted by rongorongo at 2:32 AM on February 25, 2014


Juliet

Bijou (French - 1: a small dainty usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship : jewel
2: something delicate, elegant, or highly prized)

Aurora

Something like "Lily of the West" or "Star of the North"
posted by stompadour at 9:58 AM on February 25, 2014


Lalakoko or Lalacoco or kolalako or kokolala

Because, cocoa, kolachi, I lololove chocolate
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:16 PM on February 25, 2014


To riff on some others' ideas, if you like the stars, Constellation Chocolate; if you like the music ideas, Counterpoint Chocolate (especially if you are focusing on flavor pairings like in your example).

To tie nature to elegance, Greek mythology looks like a winner to me. Some play on Dryad or Naiad, or the names of particular ones (some of the Naiad names are very pretty; there don't seem to be as many Dryad names, but I'm no Bullfinch). Pleiades or Hyades would combine that idea with the stars theme.
posted by solotoro at 2:38 PM on February 25, 2014


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