Choosing a Domain Name
In 1992, I wrote an RPG with a few classmates of mine for a computer science project. We called ourselves Prism Software. Later, we found the name was already in use so we renamed ourselves to Illusion Software. The name was completely unnecessary but it was fun to put up the piece of paper on Ray’s basement door that called it our head office.
A couple of years later, I continued the name, but changed Software to Designs. Now, over a decade later, I’ve decided that # illusion designs is no longer suitable for me. I may still run a consultancy but if I do, it’ll probably be with a different name. Until that time, I want a home that will be used for my personal site.
Now since kevincheng and all other name like domain names are not available, I’m shopping for the “cool” names. Shopping for a domain name has more nuances than I thought so I took the liberty of collecting some of the factors I think should be considered in such a process. Buying a domain is like buying your home, your drivers license photo and your business card all at once.
- identity: Who is it trying to represent? Is the site being used by more than one author? In my case, it’s representing primarily myself and Kathryn but my brother and other friends are also hosted with us. Therefore, we can allude to our identity but preferably not too specifically. I am leaning towards a name that begins with K.
- content: How narrow or broad are the topics to be covered? We cover topics from design to our travels to movie reviews so something non-specific is probably best.
- audience: Are the primary readers potential clients, your friends, strangers? Depending on who you want to be reading it, you don’t want chocolatesaltyballs.com for your recipe site even if it’s clever and a nice homage to South Park. Our target audience is primarily our friends and family but as the travel writings and other thoughts become more extensive, we’re certainly open to having more visitors.
- pronunciation: How easy is it to say? If you’re trying to tell someone your e-mail or blog address, try saying “kuro5hin.org“. Related to that is how readable the address is. Multiple word domains are great but sometimes difficult to read or recall. For example, names that are a juxtaposition of two words where the second word begins with the same letter as the last letter of the first word (e.g., game engine).
- brand: Does the name imply a brand? Do you want it to or do you prefer to leave if open? What aspects of your identity are you trying to emphasize? Some names are deliberately offensive whilst others evoke a mellow sensation just from the name alone. Both Kathryn and I are in disciplines related to design. We also have a penchant for travelling so something along those lines would probably be best.
- longevity: How long do you expect to use this domain name? Some names might be cool now but rely too much on a current trend or fad and quickly look outdated. Usually, these involve puns of recent blockbuster movies or popular websites. I intend to keep this domain name for a long time.
With those considerations in mind, here are some ideas we’ve come up with. I started with an idea of using the word curiosity because it was broad yet conveyed our lifestyle and general approach to life. Obviously, the word itself is already taken so I decided to try other languages. The Japanese word, according to one website, is koukishin. That has a nice ring to it and is actually available but we’re not Japanese and while we enjoy many things from the culture, we don’t want to become Japanese either. Many Chinese people almost seem to prefer being Japanese and that’s not the kind of image we want to convey. However, the Chinese ping yin of curiosity just doesn’t look very good and is difficult to spell so that was also rejected.
What about the English word? I tried curious, but spelt with a K instead. Both kurious and kuriosity were taken, however. Kuriousness and kuriouser (ala Alice in Wonderland) were not. Kuriouser, going on the rule about readability, looks like “kurio-user” to me so I’m not a fan of that whilst kuriousness looks fine but sounds clumsy.
Using K words seemed to be the best bet, however, and was a nice way to brand the name. I looked into other words and found that kolour and kolourful were also available. This name is still under consideration but may have too much of a print design association which neither of us are. I did like the play it suggested with the design of the site itself, making a colourful website suitable and one that’s not colourful satirically appropriate. Additionally, the Canadian/British spelling gives it more identity but also makes it difficult to spell to people.
In searching for relevant and similar words, I came across the word chimerical, based after the fantasy creature the chimera and meaning fanciful or of the imagination. Unfortunately, even that was taken though khimerical was not. That seemed to be beyond the threshold I wanted to spell verbally, though: “Khimerical – chimerical with a K dot com.” Not so much.
I briefly tried concatenations as well but I wasn’t in as creative a mood as the folks at splorp so I tried kuriouskat which is available and perfect – if the site was only for Kathryn.
Ideas are still being considered so any feedback and suggestions would be appreciated.
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