Ask HN: How do you name software?

by thekashifmalik on 2/10/2024, 7:54:46 PM with 8 comments
I recently released some software and it took considerable effort to name. After the public announcement, I learned there was a preexisting project with the same name. Since my software isn't at v1, I'm back to the drawing board. It is a CLI so my criteria is:

- It has to be short enough to type comfortably.

- It has to have a domain available.

- I have to feel an affinity for it.

That last point is fuzziest. How do other people name software?

  • by stop50 on 2/10/2024, 8:18:50 PM

    I name it depending on the need this software solves. I usually don't care about more absrract names. One software i use has an name which is the polish word for hickup. It for comparing files for removing duplicates.

  • by zzo38computer on 2/10/2024, 10:17:26 PM

    Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes I have had various ways of doing so, but sometimes I don't know. (They say, naming things is the most difficult thing in computers.)

    (At this time, I have an unnamed operating system design.)

  • by DerekBickerton on 2/10/2024, 10:14:42 PM

    I use this: https://www.thisworddoesnotexist.com/