A couple of weeks ago, I sent a short survey to 45 namers, asking them about their naming journey. How did we all end up doing this weird job?
One of the questions: If you went to college, what did you study?
(I got 35 responses, and not everyone went to college, but a lot of them double majored, listed majors and minors, or went to undergrad and graduate school. So if it seems like the numbers below don't add up, that's why.)
Here are some themes I noticed:
The "obvious" majors: Word stuff.
20 of the 35 folks who responded listed some kind of ~word stuff~ as their area of focus. But within that was a range:
Eight studied literature
Four studied creative writing
Four studied linguistics
Three studied Spanish
Two studied journalism
One studied information and library science
One studied radio, film, and TV
One studied speech
One studied poetry
Being interested in how words work—whether it’s because of how they’re organized or their structure, behavior, ability to express complex ideas artfully, or impact on the world—is a trait lots of namers share.
The maybe-kind-of-obvious-majors: Business stuff.
These are majors that may or may not make you aware of naming as a discipline, but that put you on a path toward the places where namers work.
Of the namers I surveyed:
Three studied advertising
Three studied marketing
Two studied economics
There are so many ways to use a business degree. You might pursue writing ads and discover that naming the products is more fun. You go into marketing and learn that the way things are named influences how you can market them. You might try out whatever it is economists do all day (look at charts??? make new charts???) and then realize naming ice cream flavors lights up your brain a bit more.
The artist’s way: Visual, creative, and performing arts stuff.
Words and business aren’t the only way in. Falling in love with the act of creating, expressing themes in unexpected ways, and learning to take an idea in an unexpected direction are all characteristics of namers that can be cultivated through arts.
Two studied architecture
One studied interior design
One studied industrial design
One studied art history
One studied theater
One studied fine art
The bigger surprise (to me, anyway): Brain stuff
Naming is a thinker’s career, but a path I wasn’t expecting was through the art and science of the mind.
Three studied philosophy
Three studied psychology
One studied cognitive science
One studied neuroscience
Being able to think deeply, ponder motivations, and connect different insights are super valuable to naming. But I’d imagine that most of these folks are surprised they entered college to study those majors, and then ended up naming stuff for a living.
N/A
A couple namers skipped college altogether—it's not neuroscience, after all ;)
Which brings us to a couple of questions. Do you need to study something specific to become a namer? No, not at all. Do you need to go to college to do this work? Personally, I don't think so. I wouldn't even think to look into whether someone went to college, or where, if they were looking to freelance on one of my projects.
A skill namers share is knowing how to learn about something quickly. Some people use college as a time to develop skills like research, creative and critical thinking, and connecting wildly unrelated things to create something new. Some people cultivate that on their own.
Happy naming!
Caitlin
*While there isn’t a major in brand naming at any school I’ve ever heard of, there are many fabulous branding and copywriting programs that might get you closer if you already know this is work you want to do. The SVA Masters in Branding is taught by some of the best in the game, Miami Ad School has a copywriting portfolio program that people love, and I’ve heard good things about the VCU Brandcenter.
Want more naming resources?
Take an upcoming Naming for Everyone class
Download free booklets from the Truth in Branding series on naming and trademarks