TWIST: U.S. partner Caitlin Barrett is the guest this week, interviewed by the great Felipe Valério, We Are Naming’s partner from Brazil.

They talk about:

- The importance of brands “just being themselves!” and not trying too hard to conform to trends

- Paths for brands coming into the U.S. with names that carry less-than-positive associations (Would *you* name your baby-diaper brand GOO.N? Probably not, but that’s not stopping a Japanese brand from giving it a try in the U.S.)

- Trademark turmoil and how to plan ahead for the headaches that trademark hurdles can bring

- Caitlin’s favorite “American” brand name, which is a gas station (and why wouldn’t it be!)

Plus Caitlin stumps Felipe with some insider powerlifting lingo, since they both speak English.

Want to go deeper? Read Caitlin’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In the U.S., along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Caitlin

Caitlin Barrett is the founder of the naming studio Wild Geese Studio and the naming education platform Naming for Everyone. They have spent nearly 20 years helping brand teams improve the way they name. Previously, Caitlin was a partner at the brand-language studio Doublebit and served as director of verbal identity and global head of naming at Interbrand. They were also a senior writer at Ologie and a copywriter at Martha Stewart, where they got their start naming scented candles, kitchen towels patterns, and, once, a very expensive ham.

Listen to Caitlin’s other podcast, Big Names in Naming, and sign up for their weekly Naming for Everyone newsletter, as well as their monthly enterprise naming strategy newsletter, The Naming Playbook. (You can also gather with them and dozens of other namers at The Business of Naming conference in 2026—info to be announced soon.)

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

U.S. partner Caitlin Barrett is joined by Sophie Gay, a naming expert from France and the co-founder of We Are naming, to discuss the intricacies of brand naming in the French market:

They talk about:

- Sophie's journey into naming and the founding of her agency, Namibie.

- Four major naming trends in France

- The rise of French-English hybrid names and their impact on brand identity

- Exploration of French cultural references in naming and their significance.

- Sophie's favorite name, Swile

Plus Sophie stumps Caitlin with the tongue twister, “Les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches.”

Want to go deeper? Read Sophie’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In France, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Sophie

Sophie has over 20 years of experience in naming. She worked for the first naming agency in Paris as a Director.

In 2016, she founded Namibie, an agency specializing in Branding applied to naming & identity.Among her clients, both French and international, are Saint-Gobain, EDF, Dacia, Valeo and many others in France & at an international scale.

In 2020, she launched We are Naming, a collective of naming experts operating in more than 10 countries.

Holder of a Master’s degree in Communication and Literature, as well as diplomas in Philosophy, Sophie is passionate about words, verbal expression, and languages in all their forms.

“Every naming project holds a mystery. You can never predict the brand that will be created. Our profession is always a challenge — that of bringing minds to converge at a single point: a name.”

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Pete Dewar about the highs and lows of naming in the U.K.:

- The English language as a blessing and a curse when it comes to brand naming

- What we can learn from the Aberdeen naming case, as well as other smart ways to modernize an outdated or otherwise limiting brand name

- Naming styles that can sound cheap in the U.K.—and when to use those to your advantage!

- Pete’s favorite names in English (one of which is a really wild pick)

Plus Pete provides Caitlin with some Geordie phrases to parse: “Hoy a hamma owa here” and “That lass is proper canny like.”

Want to go deeper? Read Pete’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In the U.K., along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Pete

Pete Dewar is a founding partner and creative director at London-based branding agency, The Clearing. He has been pioneering the importance of words in branding for over 25 years, helping organisations all over the world use language more imaginatively to engage the people who matter to them. Before setting up The Clearing, Pete worked in advertising, and latterly led Interbrand’s verbal identity practice in London – where his journey into naming began (with a project to name, of all things, a genital herpes treatment).

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

We Are Naming’s U.S. partner Caitlin Barrett interviews Sebastian Hotze and Solveig Palis of PalisHotze, our German partners. They talk about:

- Their 18-year naming partnership and what’s made it work

- The German language’s ability to be charmingly descriptive (gloves=hand shoes!)

- And what that means for naming (balancing clarity with brevity and emotion)

- The meaning behind successful German names like Braun and Birkenstock

- German’s ability to express concepts beautifully

Plus Caitlin guesses what “Das ist mir Wurst” means (and they would have totally guessed it right if they’d seen it written down…).

Want to go deeper? Read PalisHotze’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In Germany, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Sebastian Hotze

After completing his studies in German language and literature (and history), he wanted to do something creative with his knowledge but had no idea what.

It was just by chance that he ended up in the naming team at the agency Interbrand in 2007, and that was it for him. Right from the start, he was excited by the fact that naming allowed him to immerse himself in new worlds that were completely unknown to him until then. One week he develops a name for a start-up that is revolutionising spectrometers, the next week a prosthesis for leg amputees. Then Europe's largest real estate company, and next a new type of printer for a packaging company.

In 2012, he co-founded his own agency, PalisHotze, together with his former colleague Solveig. Even though the two have been involved in international naming projects from the outset, they really went global in 2019 when they joined We Are Naming.

In addition to his passion for developing names, his great love is music, music, music.

About Solveig Palis

Solveig’s journey into brand naming began in 1998, when she joined Interbrand Hamburg as a naming consultant. What started as a job quickly turned into a lifelong passion for the craft of naming. Over the years, she has lent her expertise to global naming projects across industries, from automotive to finance and FMCG, always guided by a fascination with language, culture, and strategic thinking.

In 2012, she left Interbrand to co-found a naming agency with longtime collaborator Sebastian. Then in 2019, she joined We Are Naming, bringing with her a wealth of experience.

Solveig studied French and Spanish literature and even dipped into Aztec while studying Ancient American Cultures—an academic journey that still informs her creative process today. For her, naming is a blend of linguistic sensitivity and persuasive storytelling. She relishes a good naming challenge and isn’t afraid to stand up for the names she believes in.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Ignasi Fontvila about what makes naming work in Spain:

- Spain’s linguistic landscape encompasses so much more than just Spanish

- Spanish nickname culture and its impact on brand naming (we loved your name, Mr. Jeff)

- The expansion of transgressive and ironic names

- Ignasi’s own sources of creative inspiration

Plus Caitlin guesses the meaning of the Catalan phrase “setze jutges mengen fetge d’un penjat” and gets one word right (not bad!).

Want to go deeper? Read Ignasi’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In Spain, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Ignasi

Ignasi started doing naming in 1995, as a creative director of Nomen Spain, while he was also teaching at the university. In 2000, he founded Nameworks, then joined Nomen again. In 2010, Nomen closed its Spanish office and Ignasi returned to Nameworks. In past three decades, he’s written, taught and lectured about naming. He has worked one more than 900 naming projects.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Elles Poiesz about the quirks of naming in the Netherlands:

- What locals actually call Amsterdam

- The linguistic landscape of the Netherlands

- The impact of Covid on naming trends, and what’s changed since then

- Exporting the Dutch language and cultural icons via naming

Plus, Elles stumps Caitlin with some Dutch boy band lyric realness: Since een dag of twee, vlinders in m’n hoofd.

Want to go deeper? Read Elles’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In The Netherlands, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Elles

Elles’s love for naming began exactly 25 years ago in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She spent ten years working at agencies Globrands and Interbrand Amsterdam & London, then founded her own verbal identity studio, Sogo (www.sogo.nl).

She’s the proud co-founder of We Are Naming, a global network of brand-language experts from 11 countries and counting. Learn more at www.wearenaming.com.

Elles loves words so much that she wrote her first book, Fifty Beats, and is currently working on a novel (name still WIP). After living in London, Paris, and Singapore, she now living the good life in Barcelona.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Judy Wang about the many nuances of naming in China:

- The fundamentals of Chinese: An ideographic language where speakers often think meaning first

- Three strategic approaches for global brands entering China

- Why Chinese names are non-negotiable

- How cultural preferences shape naming

- How to consider dialects when choosing a name

Plus Caitlin guesses what "道可道，自由老子” means and, you guessed it, is wrong.

Want to go deeper? Read Judy’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In China, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports.

About Judy

Judy is the founder of Chopword brand naming studio. She has 15 years branding experience mixing brand communication and brand verbal identity development.

Since 2010, Judy started to focus on brand verbal identity creation and has served 500+ clients to help them find their brand names and verbal expressions.

Before founding Chopword, Judy worked for Labbrand as creative director of verbal identity department from 2013~2020, leading the team to win several awards and great reputations for home and aboard clients.

Judy believes in the power of language. She leads the development of the “Seven Senses of Naming” theory, which has been successfully applied to numerous projects, helping clients create iconic brand names that win market acclaim.

Judy’s famous naming case includes Tripadvisor 猫途鹰, Nespresso 浓遇, TheChuan 叠川, and ONVO 乐道.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Felipe Valério about the ups and downs of naming in Brazil:

- The emotional and playful nature of Brazilian Portuguese.

- The unique Brazilian love for nicknaming is discussed (who’s “Méqui”? Who’s “Zap”?)

- The vigilance of Brazilian consumers, who have well-developed B.S. detectors

- The linguistic diversity in Brazil

- Tips for international brands entering the market (skip the postcard stereotypes and book a flight!)

Plus, Caitlin guesses what Felipe means when he says “É melhor ser alegre que ser triste."

Want to go deeper? Read Felipe’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In Brazil, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Felipe

Felipe Valério is a Brazilian writer and a specialist in deliveries related to words. He was the Verbal Identity Director at Interbrand São Paulo, where he worked for 10 years.

He is also the Brazilian representative of We Are Naming, an international network of brand namers.

He has named a car, a pizzeria, a startup, a jewelry brand, a supplement, a real estate company, an ancestry test, a green plastic, an investment fund—and even a son and a daughter.

He believes that words and brands have a lot to talk about.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Angela Colucci about the twists and turns of naming in Italian:

- Why sound and rhythm matter

- What’s changed in Italian naming over the last century

- The impact and perception of English names

- How humor and irony show up in Italian naming (Hint: Toiletpaper Shop probably isn’t what you think it is)

- Why a “twist” matters when identifying a great name candidate

Want to go deeper? Read Angela’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In Italy, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Angela

Angela has been working in the branding industry for more than 25 years, managing both local and international clients.

She is currently an independent brand advisor. Prior to this, she was Director of Client Services at Interbrand Milan, where she managed a diverse portfolio of clients — including Nestlé, TIM, Vodafone, Sorgenia, EDF, BPER, Bayer, Pirelli, Alcantara, Bulgari, Samsung, Prysmian Group, Lavazza, San Benedetto, Ferrero, FIAT, Piaggio, Mediaset, Courmayeur, and Trenitalia — across all brand disciplines.

Over the years, Angela has developed deep expertise in brand naming, guiding the creation of distinctive and enduring names for products, services, and corporate brands — from strategic naming systems for multinational corporations to culturally nuanced brand names for local markets. She has contributed to the development and launch of names across multiple sectors, always balancing creative insight with strategic rigor. Her passion for words, languages, and reading fuels her creative process, while her method is anchored in rigorous legal and linguistic checks to ensure every name is trademark-ready, culturally appropriate, and globally resonant.

Angela has been the Italian partner of We Are Naming since its inception, working alongside an international network of naming specialists to deliver projects for both emerging brands and global leaders. For her, naming is not only a strategic discipline but also an art — the first story a brand tells, and often the one people remember the most.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.

In this episode, Caitlin Barrett interviews Olympia Aivazi about the cultural foundations and nuances of Greek naming:

- The richness of the Greek language and its symbolic associations

- The Greek identity paradox in branding

- Traditional naming patterns, and the trends that break them

Plus, Caitlin guesses what Olympia means by "Κάνει πολύ ζέστη οπότε πάω για μια βουτιά.“ (They’re not even close…)

Want to go deeper? Read Olympia’s report, What You Need To Know About Naming In Greece, along with all the other We Are Naming reports, right here: www.wearenaming.com/reports

About Olympia

Olympia's journey into the world of brand naming began in 2013 with her very first naming project—a moment that sparked a passion that continues to evolve today. Over the past decade, she has crafted names for an extraordinary range of businesses, from luxury 5-star hotels to major corporations in the maritime and insurance industries, as well as innovative startups across food, finance, and wellness.

In 2020, Olympia joined WeAreNaming as their partner for Greece, where she discovered that the most valuable part of her work isn't just creating names—it's the continuous learning that comes from collaborating with diverse minds across cultures

Olympia doesn't consider herself a writer or a namer in the traditional sense. Instead, she sees herself as a strategist who believes that behind every great name lies a deeper understanding of purpose, audience, and market dynamics. This strategic mindset, combined with her commitment to growth and curiosity about the world around her, drives her approach to naming as both an art and a science.

Every project teaches her something new, and every client interaction adds another layer to her understanding of how powerful the right name can be in shaping a brand's destiny.

About How the World Names

Building on our “What You Need to Know About Naming in…” reports, How the World Names is a limited-run interview series that dives deeper into what matters most when naming across borders. Each episode spotlights a We Are Naming partner’s home market, unpacking the linguistic quirks, cultural landscape, emerging naming styles, and practical insights that shape brand names around the globe. For more information, visit wearenaming.com.