FROM THE WEB: What's in a (blog) name?

It’s startlingly bright outside this morning, the sky clear and still. Of course, it continues to be cold in these parts, and the backyard remains buried under four feet of snow. Amanda surprised me by making pancakes from scratch for breakfast. They were good — maybe the best I’ve ever had. (I'll post the recipe if anyone's interested.) Over our pancakes, we spoke about the blog she wants to set up to share her quilts, pottery, and other pursuits with art geeks around the world.

The only problem is, she's stuck coming up with a name for the blog. I suggested she name it "Commanda Amanda's Page of Woo-hoo!" but she surprisingly didn't care much for that.

THE "ME TOO" BLOG DILEMMA
The name of my blog isn't particularly neat-o, I admit. Sometimes, when it's in a different font, it looks like it ought to belong to an ISP provider. The name came from a novel I was working on about ten years ago. (That novel, fortunately, has a new name now.) When I started this blog, "Velocity Planet" was rarin' to be used and I didn't care much either way back then. Now I wish I had gone with a different, shorter name. Like "Jug" or something.

Elliot C. Back did a survey of over 33,000 blogs back in 2004 and came up with the top ten words used in blog names:

1. blog - 9.986%
2. life - 2.619%
3. weblog - 1.841%
4. world - 1.296%
5. from - 1.226%
6. journal - 1.139%
7. news - 1.087%
8. thoughts - 1.039%
9. with - 0.670%
10. daily - 0.660%

I guess if you want your blog to fit in with all the little boys and girls, you could name it "Thoughts Journal from Daily World Life" or something like that.

IT'S NOT JUST THE NAME
Then there's the conundrum of the URL. Some blog and website names transfer awkwardly into web addresses. Here are some of the worst (as compiled from the Independent Sources website):

1. A site called ‘Who Represents‘ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is www.whorepresents.com
2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at www.expertsexchange.com
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net
4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com
5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company… www.powergenitalia.com
6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales: www.molestationnursery.com
7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always www.ipanywhere.com
8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is www.cummingfirst.com
9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website: www.speedofart.com
10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at: www.gotahoe.com
    

To end this story, I'll let you know that Amanda has finally chosen a name. She's picked One Girl Factory, which I think sounds pretty cool ... for an art geek blog.