what’s in a name?
A name is what you attribute the work to — it unifies the value that you create into a single, conveniently cite-able source.
A name enables you to say this is where the work came from. And if the work is good, it’s the answer to “where do I get more of it?”.
Before the work, a name’s meaning is limited to the sound it makes. It may be the kind with zero origin in the [insert language] dictionary, with misspellings, or with an -ily appendage that makes it just peculiar enough for someone to grant attention with the question “what else is in the name?”
But for the same reason we don’t bookmark broken links or order empty boxes with Amazon labeling (however clean and beautiful), if a name doesn’t get looked at again if it doesn’t contain or point to any work.
Google, Ikea and Kodak (formerly google, ikea and kodak) earned spaces in our mind after we learned about blazing-fast and comprehensive search, low-priced and modern furniture design, and cameras and beautiful film.
The value people come to know and trust you to deliver manifests from the work, not what you call it.
The name matters when the work matters.
