StretchLearn Course

Create a brand name you can own, defend, and remember

A repeatable process from brief to shortlist: the Igor taxonomy, sound symbolism, trademark knockouts, and a weighted scorecard

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Beginner9 hr 30 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Naming is treated like luck, but professional namers run a repeatable process. This course gives you the working frameworks the agencies use, including the Igor seven-category naming taxonomy, the Lexicon sound-symbolism approach behind names like Swiffer and BlackBerry, USPTO and CIPO trademark knockout screening, and a weighted scorecard for the final decision. You will brief the project, generate 100-plus candidates across founder, descriptive, evocative, invented, and metaphor routes, kill the unviable ones fast on linguistic and legal grounds, and finish with a defensible shortlist, a naming rationale deck, and a launch checklist.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Write a naming brief that sets strategy, audience, must-haves, and the role the name has to play

Generate 100-plus candidate names across the seven Igor naming categories using structured ideation

Apply sound symbolism, phonetics, and morphology to predict how a name feels and sounds

Run a trademark knockout search on USPTO TESS and CIPO plus a domain and handle availability check

Score a shortlist on a weighted matrix covering distinctiveness, fit, memorability, and legal risk

Validate the leading name with a pronunciation and association test, then build a naming rationale

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: What Makes a Name Work

Understand the real job a brand name does, the criteria that separate strong names from weak ones, and the seven-category taxonomy professional namers use to organise every option.

3 lessons

The Job a Brand Name Actually DoesContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

The Criteria Behind Strong NamesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Seven Naming CategoriesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: The Naming Brief and Idea Generation

Write a brief that sets the strategy for the name, then run structured ideation techniques to generate well over a hundred candidates across all seven categories.

3 lessons

Writing the Naming BriefContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Structured Ideation TechniquesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Naming for Products, Lines, and ArchitectureContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Linguistics, Sound, and Meaning

Read a name the way a professional namer does, using sound symbolism, phonetics, morphology, and cross-cultural checks to predict how a candidate will feel, sound, and travel.

3 lessons

Sound Symbolism: Why Names Feel a Certain WayContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Phonetics, Spelling, and MorphologyContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Cross-Cultural and Linguistic ScreeningContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Screening, Testing, and Selection

Clear candidates legally and digitally, validate the leaders with simple tests, score the finalists on a weighted matrix, and present the winning name with a rationale and launch plan.

3 lessons

Trademark and Domain Knockout ScreeningContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Testing and Validating NamesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Scoring, Deciding, and Launching the NameContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

brand namingnaming strategysound symbolismtrademark searchlinguisticsdomain strategybrand identityname testing