Foundations of Naming

A series designed to help anyone who’s newer to naming, or who wants to make naming a more comfortable part of their current role, name more confidently. The classes work well together, building a rock-solid foundation for your naming practice, but you aren’t required to take them all.

00: How to Become a Namer

Learn the basics of what it takes to make a living making names.

Get an introduction to:

Why you might want to become a namer
Where namers work
The career paths namers (sometimes) take
What namers actually do
Skills you might want to develop
How to build an initial portfolio of naming work
Traditional and non-traditional ways into paid naming work
Advice from working namers
Rookie mistakes to avoid
Plus, a snapshot of basic naming approaches, styles, and vocabulary

—Optional pre-work exercise + reading materials
—The Habits of Highly Effective Namers mini workbook
—Recording of the session*
*Please note that those who cannot make the live meetings will get a link to a replay within 48 hours. We reserve the right to edit the recording if attendees share any potentially sensitive information about their clients or client work during Q&A periods in order to allow attendees to speak their minds freely.
On 90-minute remote class
Class materials and live instruction led by naming expert Caitlin Barrett
Small group
Live Q&A to clarify and build upon class instruction
With this purchase, you are agreeing to Naming for Everyone's terms and conditions, which can be read here.
By enrolling in this online course, you agree to attend the course respectful of your instructor and other attendees.
All material and course instruction is for personal development only and is not meant for resale, distribution, or any other commercial purpose.

01: How to NAVIGATE THE Naming Process

Formerly The Essentials of Naming

Get an intro to what you must know to start, run, and complete a naming project successfully.

The cost of a naming mistake can be anything from time and money to lasting damage to a brand. But a job well begun is half done.

Learn the absolute essentials for what it takes to make a naming project successful
What a name is (or can be)
What makes a name a good name
A clear roadmap for most naming journeys
The types of conflicts that can keep a name from succeeding in the market

—Optional pre-work exercise + reading materials
—A roadmap for a typical naming project
—Recording of the session*
*Please note that those who cannot make the live meetings will get a link to a replay within 48 hours. We reserve the right to edit the recording if attendees share any potentially sensitive information about their clients or client work during Q&A periods in order to allow attendees to speak their minds freely.
Two 90-minute remote classes
Class materials and live instruction led by naming expert Caitlin Barrett
Small group
Live Q&A to clarify and build upon class instruction
With this purchase, you are agreeing to Naming for Everyone's terms and conditions, which can be read here.
By enrolling in this online course, you agree to attend the course respectful of your instructor and other attendees.
All material and course instruction is for personal development only and is not meant for resale, distribution, or any other commercial purpose.

02: HOW TO DEVELOP A NAMING STRATEGY

Formerly The Strategy of Naming

Learn to develop a winning naming strategy, a simple naming brief, and a set of shared criteria for success.

Like people, names can really only do one job well. A namer’s job is to figure out what that job is—and then find the best candidates for the role.

Why have a naming strategy?
What does a name's job tell you about potential naming strategies?
How do you develop a naming strategy?
How can your strategy become shared success criteria (and even naming research parameters)?
How does your strategy help to navigate tricky moments during presentation and consensus building?

—Optional pre-work exercise + reading materials
—Questions + prompts for developing naming strategies
—Recording of the session*
*Please note that those who cannot make the live meetings will get a link to a replay within 48 hours. We reserve the right to edit the recording if attendees share any potentially sensitive information about their clients or client work during Q&A periods in order to allow attendees to speak their minds freely.
Two 90-minute remote classes
Class materials and live instruction led by naming expert Caitlin Barrett
Small group
Live Q&A to clarify and build upon class instruction
With this purchase, you are agreeing to Naming for Everyone's terms and conditions, which can be read here.
By enrolling in this online course, you agree to attend the course respectful of your instructor and other attendees.
All material and course instruction is for personal development only and is not meant for resale, distribution, or any other commercial purpose.

03: How to Create Lots of Good Names

Formerly The Art of Naming

Equip yourself with the right creative tools, tactics, and resources, and you’ll never get stuck in the weeds.

Between trademark challenges, stakeholder demands, and linguistic issues, most naming projects require you to come up with hundreds, and often thousands, of on-strategy names.

Establish a fun and efficient creative practice for name development:
Try out a variety of creative prompts to get un-stuck
Experiment with tactics for building coined and invented names
Get an intro to how to build your own resources, references, and tools
Understand where AI and other tech tools can help (or harm!) your creative process

—Optional pre-work exercise + reading materials
—Guide to developing your own word palettes and personal resource library
—Dozens of prompts for name development
—Tools + tactics for developing coined names
—Recording of the session*
*Please note that those who cannot make the live meetings will get a link to a replay within 48 hours. We reserve the right to edit the recording if attendees share any potentially sensitive information about their clients or client work during Q&A periods in order to allow attendees to speak their minds freely.
Two 90-minute remote classes
Class materials and live instruction led by naming expert Caitlin Barrett
Small group
Live group creative exercise to try on prompts introduced in class and to create a shared creative resource
With this purchase, you are agreeing to Naming for Everyone's terms and conditions, which can be read here.
By enrolling in this online course, you agree to attend the course respectful of your instructor and other attendees.
All material and course instruction is for personal development only and is not meant for resale, distribution, or any other commercial purpose.

04: How to Filter Out OBVIOUS Naming Risks

Formerly The “Science” of Naming

Learn to navigate trademark, linguistic, common law, and other types of risk to increase your names’ chances of winning.

A lot can stand between a “great name” and its success in the market. We’ll cover:

The most common types of conflicts that stand in the way of naming
What namers should know about how trademarks work
Different approaches to filtering names for trademark issues
How to integrate linguistic and cultural issues in your approach to evaluating names
What are common-law conflicts, and how to look for them
Other issues that could stand in the way of a name being successful

—Optional pre-work exercise + reading materials
—Conflict Search Order of Operations Checklist (with resources)
—Checklist for investigating linguistic disasters
—Basic guidance for conducting a desktop search for common-law issues
—Additional resources + methods for exploring trademark conflicts
—Recording of the session*
*Please note that those who cannot make the live meetings will get a link to a replay within 48 hours. We reserve the right to edit the recording if attendees share any potentially sensitive information about their clients or client work during Q&A periods in order to allow attendees to speak their minds freely.
Two 90-minute remote classes
Class materials and live instruction led by naming expert Caitlin Barrett
Small group
Live Q&A to clarify and build upon class instruction
With this purchase, you are agreeing to Naming for Everyone's terms and conditions, which can be read here.
By enrolling in this online course, you agree to attend the course respectful of your instructor and other attendees.
All material and course instruction is for personal development only and is not meant for resale, distribution, or any other commercial purpose.

NEXT LIVE SESSION:

SPRING 2025