qwerky is one of the best sites on naming that you’ve never seen. The proprietors describe their mission thusly:

This is qwerky, notebook of the weirdest new webapp names.

And a gorgeous notebook it is, an hilariously perilous stroll down the B.S. laden halls of Web 2.0 speak. One defining broken neuron that all Web 2.0 guru-hoohahs share is that their naming, branding and communication sensibilities are stuck in 1999. It’s still all about a short domain name, no matter how poor a name it may be.

Here are a few names from Qwerky’s list of sites currently in beta–stealth mode:

Diigo, Noodly, Gootodo, Renkoo, Woomp, Zoozio, Gliffy,
Colib, Tagsy ,Tioti, Otavo, Wrickr, Skobee and Flagr.

Notice the frequent occurrence of the “oo”? It’s unclear if the “oo” trend began as an homage (to put it nicely) to Google and Yahoo,
but the “thinking” behind Web 2.0 name “Squidoo” can be sloshed though here.

In any event, keep checking back in with qwerky- it’s good stuff. And while the names qwerky collects do not serve as good examples, they do serve as horrible warnings.

Nine years ago Rockwell found the perfect name in Retro Encabulator. Enjoy.

Today heralds the launch of Accomplice, a new time / project management software company. The name works in large part because “accomplice” is a word that is mostly invoked when something tawdry is afoot, yet when used in this context that quality gives the name just the right amount of intrigue, relevance and memorability.

Most companies would have vetoed the name Accomplice for fear of possible implied criminal traits, but this company was smart enough to know that the target audience is not that literal. Nicely done.

Additionally, the Accomplice tagline, “Your partner in time” confidently calls back the “negative” (intriguing) aspect of the name.