Fritinancy

Name in the Wild: Nevaeh

Spotted at Bed Bath & Beyond:

 

 

From the BB&B website:

 

“Spelled in either direction, this white bone china by Fitz and Floyd® is pure heaven.”

 

“Nevaeh” is an ananym: heaven spelled backward. In 2006, the New York Times reported on “the spectacular rise of Nevaeh” as a girl’s name in the United States: it had broken into the top 1,000 baby names in 2001 at No. 266, “the third-highest debut ever.” In 2005, Nevaeh “was the 70th-most-popular name for baby girls, ahead of Sara, Vanessa and Amanda.” From the Times story:

The name has hit a cultural nerve with its religious overtones, creative twist and fashionable final "ah" sound. It has risen most quickly among blacks but is also popular with evangelical Christians, who have helped propel other religious names like Grace (ranked 14th) up the charts, experts say. By contrast, the name Heaven is ranked 245th.

Nevaeh continued to rise in popularity over the next few years, reaching 25th (according to Social Security Administration statistics) in 2010 before falling off slightly.

Nevaeh’s surge, the Times observed, “can be traced to a single event: the appearance of a Christian rock star, Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D., on MTV in 2000 with his baby daughter, Nevaeh. ‘Heaven spelled backwards,’ he said.”

But there was trouble in paradise.

In 2011, the Baby Name Wizard blog reported that an online survey had identified Nevaeh as “the most-hated name in America.” “Grounds for objection included look, sound and origin, the whole package,” commented blog author and name expert Laura Wattenberg.  

I haven’t been able to find out how long ago Fitz and Floyd (“for half a century … synonymous with excellence in design, quality and style”) introduced the Nevaeh line, which is sold exclusively on the Bed Bath & Beyond website and in BB&B stores.

They Got It Backward

I’ve written previously about badly named shoe styles: the Flubby, the Smirk, the Rodentia. But I hadn’t encountered a truly badly named shoe brand until I discovered GOLC Shoes.

GOLC. Yes, it’s all caps. And yet—hello!—it isn’t an acronym. Nor is it a foreign borrowing: GOLC Shoes is based in Tennessee. (The shoes are manufactured in Brazil.)

GOLC. You can’t say it without gagging.

And yet look at one of GOLC’s styles for Spring 2012, the Samantha:

 

 

Pretty! No gag reflex at all.

So what’s the story? Here’s what the website says:

The name GOLC is Clog spelled backwards. The first products developed were clogs and as the market needs changed new Brands were developed.

(Capitalization sic.)

“Clog spelled backwards” is a terrible explanation for a company name. “Clog” sounds bad enough spelled the right way.

To further confuse matters, all the shoes now bear the label “Mariana by GOLC.” “Mariana” is a blend, we’re told, of the founder’s wife’s name, Mary Frances, and the name of the lead factory in Brazil, Ana.

I have no quarrel with “Mariana” as a brand name. But GOLC should have been eliminated in the first round.

It’s not that backward-spelled names (ananyms) can’t be effective: See Aneres, Lorac, and Harpo. But to work as brands, they need to sound good—or at least appropriate. For a women’s fashion brand, GOLC is neither.

And, paradoxical as it may seem, backward-spelled brand names work best if they’re non-descriptive. (Descriptive names are always weak as trademarks; a backward-spelled descriptive name is still a descriptive name.)

To make matters worse, there have been two shoe companies with a visually similar name: Golo. (The new company; the 1960s-1970s shoe company, still well represented on eBay.)

Your customers don’t care that you’re capable of reverse-spelling a four-letter word. They do care that the resulting name sounds ugly and looks like the acronym for a government program.

 

(Hat tip: Barking Dog Shoes.)

Back to the Backward Brand Names

It’s been a few years since I last looked at backward brand names—or ananyms*, as they’re sometimes called. Here’s a brief update on the state of the sdnarb.

*

Mik Cire is a menswear label launched by Los Angeles designer Eric Kim in February 2010. The brand name is “Eric Kim” spelled backward. (Via You Look Fab, which called the Mik Cire collection “edgy,” fashion-speak for “unlikely to catch on within the next ten years.”)

*

Evitavonni—“innovative” spelled backward—is a UK-based interior-design firm that “offers a world of quiet elegance, subtle and ageless, but with a contemporary edge.” (Again with the edge!) The logo reinforces the backward concept.

 

 

John McGarvey, a copywriter in the UK, alerted me to a post he’d written about Evitavonni. He makes a reasonable point:

I’d love to know what process the company went through before coming up with that particular name. Because I’m struggling to see how backwards innovation can be a good thing. … To me, writing a word backwards implies the opposite meaning. So by that token, Evitavonni suggests a business that’s old-fashioned, change-resistant and set it its ways. Doesn’t it?

On the other hand, “Evitavonni” has an Italianesque quality that’s suitable for upscale home furnishings. And it had me singing “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your tolerance for (a) Broadway musicals and (b) my singing.

(In case you were wondering, it's backward—and toward and upward and forward—in the US. British English adds an “s” to all those words. So both John and I are correct.)

*

Neerg started following me on Twitter, then unfollowed me after I DMd a friendly query about the name’s pronunciation. Well, then. The company, which launched in Venice, California, in 2010, prefers to spell its name all lower case—neerg—and doesn’t provide pronunciation tips: “near gee”? “neerj”? “neergue,” with a hard-g ending? But I do know how the name came about.

See the reflection? Yes, “neerg” is “green” spelled backward; the company is “an ecommerce store and community where producers of all sizes of green goods sell directly to consumers.”

As with Evitavonni, there’s a bit of a logical problem here: if it’s backward green, doesn’t that mean it stands for environmental waste and despoilment? Hmm. In any event, you may be interested to know that neerg organizes its offerings into “categreens.” Cate Greens? No, “green categories.”

Shouldn’t that be cateneergs?

Read my 2007 post on backward brand names.

Read Baby Name Wizard’s master list of backward baby names (for advanced babies, of course).

___

* From the OED: “loosely formed on Greek ἀνά back + ὄνυμα, ὄνομα name, which properly gives anonymn. (pre-occupied by another meaning).”

semaN dnarB drawkcaB

That's "backward brand names," the theme of this post.

I've been thinking about backward-spelled brand names (ananyms) ever since I posted about Serena Williams's clothing company, Aneres. At the time I couldn't think of other successful backward names, so here's an attempt to set the record straight.

Adohr Milk Farms: The Adohr dairy, established in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley in 1916, was named for owner Merritt Anderson's wife, Rhoda--spelled backward, that's Adohr. (I remember Adohr milk in foil-capped glass bottles--delivered to our doorstep--from my childhood. I also remember Adohr's slogan: "Adohr-able milk for Adohr-able babies.") At one time the world's largest milk producer, Adohr was sold in 1990 to Stremick's Heritage Foods, which had already swallowed another (forward-spelled, much-missed) landmark of my childhood, Carnation Dairy.

Serutan: Another oldie. Serutan was a fiber-based "natural" laxative whose slogan was "Read it backwards." It was widely promoted on radio and TV from the 1930s through the 1960s. Apparently it's still on the market.

Harpo Productions, Harpo Films, Harpo Studios: Owned by Oprah Winfrey and based in Chicago. The three companies' shared name is "Oprah" spelled backward.

Lorac Cosmetics: Founder Carol Shaw's first name spelled backward.

Scaasi: Before he was "an American icon," the founder of this couture label was Arnold Isaacs from Montreal.

EDUN: Pronounced "eden" (I think), EDUN--"nude" spelled backward--is an "ethical clothing" line launched by U2's Bono, his wife Ali Hewson, and New York clothing designer Rogan Gregory. From the EDUN website: "Our mission is to create beautiful clothing while fostering sustainable employment in developing areas of the world."

Trebor Mints: "A minty bit stronger," these confections from Cadbury Schweppes date back to 1907; the brand is a reversal of company co-founder Robert Robertson's first name.

Reeb: This pilsener from Shanghai Asia Pacific Brewery (owned by Heineken) is "beer" spelled backward.

Siana Editions: In the mid-1930s, writer Anaïs Nin had a difficult time finding a publisher who would accept her erotic novels. So she--along with Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, and others--founded Siana. It's Anaïs spelled backward.

Nesnah: The custard powder known today as Junket was originally called Nesnah by the product's inventor, a Dane named Christian Hansen who reversed the spelling of his surname. ("Junket" is Danish for "milk with rennet," and yes, it is indeed remarkable that the product has managed to survive two off-putting brand names.)

Sniagrab: It's "bargains" spelled backward and the name of a huge Labor Day ski sale that's been a Denver tradition for more than half a century. Sniagrab was started by local retailer Gart Sports, which eventually took the sale into markets outside Denver. In 2003, Gart was bought by mega-chain Sports Authority, which has continued (and expanded) the event. The "grab" syllable makes this spelling reversal particularly apt, don't you think?

And here's a fictional name for you X-Files fans: ETAP, a brand name that appeared frequently in the series, was an homage to the show's prop-master, Jim Pate.

Finally, one partial-backward name: TruTV, the new name (effective Jan. 1) of Court TV, a division of Turner Broadcasting System. (Court TV's slogan: "Seriously entertaining." TruTV's slogan: "Not reality. Actuality.") (No, I'm not making this up.) In an article published last month, Broadcasting & Cable gave this account of the name change:

Although Turner said it worked with three naming companies[!] that produced 4,500 [!!!] potential names, it was [Court TV General Manager Marc] Juris who came up with “tru.” Not only did it sum up what he and other Turner executives thought the network’s primetime programming was -- true stories -- it is also the last three letters of “Court” spelled  backward. (Brackets and boldface added.)

I can't decide what 's funnier about that story: the cuckoo justification for the dumb name or the fact that Court TV has a general manager named Juris. Wouldn't it be great if his wife's name were Prudence? (Hat tip to POPwink.)

To see more ananyms--including many names of towns and cities--go here. And if you know of other backward-spelled brand names, please leave a comment in the usual place.

 

Names in the News

Seen in news reports during the last week:

• Hot Nosh 24/6 is a line of vending machines that dispense glatt kosher fast food. (Glatt kosher is extra-extra-kosher. Hat tip to Likelihood of Confusion for that link.) It's not a single machine because, of course, you can't have meat and dairy products being dispensed from the same machine. “To make it a little Jewish sounding we called it nosh, and we added the 24/6 to give a little cuteness to it,” company co-founder Doron Fetman told the New York Times. And it's 24/6, not 24/7, because observant Jews don't work or conduct business--or buy food--on the Sabbath. What I like: the snappy Yiddishness of "hot nosh," the internal rhyme, and the catchy quality of "24/6"--it really makes you stop and say, "What's that all about?" The food, however, sounds dreadful.
• Also in the Times, I learned about tennis star Serena Williams's new clothing line, which isn't yet in stores. It's called Aneres--"Serena" spelled backward. This is the rare backward-spelled name (ananym) that actually seems plausible. (More common are clumsy attempts like Nevaeh--"heaven" spelled backward.) Aneres can be pronounced phonetically (Ah-nair-ess), and it looks like the name of an Egyptian deity, which suits the Junoesque Williams. Yes, this name is definitely--sorry, can't help myself--serviceable.
• My brother Michael sent me this L.A. Times story about Nabaztag, a WiFi device from France that looks like Hello Kitty's rabbit cousin. It lights up and waves its ears to tell you that you have email or to play Internet radio. (Naturally, it has a cult following. Watch some YouTube videos here.) I doubt that I'd spend $190 to buy a Nabaztag, but I'm very much interested in the name, which means "rabbit" in Armenian. It's a chunky-chewy, over-consonanted, hard-to-remember name, but still: Armenian. Can you think of any other products or companies that have Armenian names (outside of Armenia, that is)? Frankly, I'm impressed. And I'm charmed to learn that the spokesman for Nabaztag's parent company, Violet, is named Jean-François Kitten. We're talking some serious cute overload here.

Word of the Week: Ananym

Ananym: A backward-spelled name, used as a pseudonym, code, or word play. Example: Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo. For more, visit Michael J. Sheehan's informative site, Wordmall.