Downside to Xobni, Meebo and Squidoo

SAN FRANCISCO — Even if you could say Abazab or Eefoof without snickering, would you want to do business with them?

Would you feel OK owning Wakoopa shares in your 401(k)? Telling potential in-laws you met on Frengo? Relying on Ooma to call Grandma?

Silicon Valley is in the midst of a great corporate baby boom. Venture capitalists have pumped $2.5 billion into 400 young Internet companies since the beginning of 2006, compared with $1.3 billion into 236 companies during the previous two years, according to research firm Dow Jones VentureOne.

These entrepreneurial brainchildren have short life expectancies, destined to fight for revenue with the likes of Google, Yahoo and eBay. But still they are being born — and they need names.

Naming a company is far more difficult than naming a child. The name needs to sound snappy, separate its young company from the pack and provide a unique Web address.

Having two Ethans and three Madisons in a kindergarten class can create confusion, even embarrassment, but giving your startup a name that's already taken guarantees a legal fight you can't win.

Toddlerspeak

The result? New Internet companies are being baptized daily with handles that sound like a blend of toddlerspeak, scat singing and what the aliens will greet us with when they land.

Most Internet company names make little sense, and they roll around the mouth like a marble.

"Old-school ideas about sounding trustworthy or sounding big are not as important as they used to be," said Burt Alper, co-founder of Catchword Branding in Oakland, Calif., which has helped companies pick such names as Vudu (makes a device for watching videos) and Promptu (creates voice-recognition products). "Now it's about sounding different and standing out from the crowd."

Like naming a new baby, the process involves late-night brainstorming, some expert help and a dose of frank feedback from friends.

Choosing the wrong name can kill a multimillion-dollar investment.

Entrepreneurs today pick names they think will help their companies stand out, as do parents of little Zander and Arlo, Eliza and Matilda.

"Naming a company is like naming a celebrity," said serial entrepreneur Jared Kopf, who has helped christen companies including Adroll.com, his online advertising firm, and Slide, a Web photo service. "Made-up words don't come with psychological baggage."

Whimsical approach

One approach is whimsy: picking a name that seems inspired by Dr. Seuss. If the late author were to tell a story about Internet startups, he could pit Qumana and Qoosa (blog editing and Web browsing) against Tagtooga and Tendango (both social networking). Peace would be brokered by Ooma (Internet phone calling). BooRah (restaurant reviews) would hiss, then cheer. Lala (music sharing) would sing.

Call it the Google effect. Thanks to the successful Internet search company with the goofy name, entrepreneurs feel no shame telling people they work for ItzBig (career networking) or asking venture capitalists to invest millions of dollars in Picaboo (a Web site for ordering custom photo books). Who needs the gravitas of an International Business Machines or a General Electric?

Many names come with little context. Firms such as Xobni, Meebo and Squidoo give no hint of what they might do (e-mail management, instant messaging and online recommendations, respectively). Entrepreneurs say having to explain their mission provides a marketing opportunity.

But naming experts say the current crop of Internet companies is in danger of overwhelming customers. Not many will bother to commit to memory that Imeem is a social network for sharing music and videos or that Imbee is a social network for kids.

"Now it's almost like fashion styles, all these vowels and unpronounceable made-up names," said Steve Manning, managing director of Igor, a naming company in San Francisco. "You cannot possibly remember one from another."

Some corporate namers seek a feeling of familiarity by evoking the Internet's biggest success stories.

Google sound-alikes

Elad Hemar, co-founder and chief executive of Yoomba, an e-mail service, said the name was chosen because it echoes the double O in Google plus suggests that the service is about "you." It joins other double-O entries such as Oodle, Renkoo, Kaboodle and Wakoopa, to name a few.

Twitter, which lets users broadcast short, bloglike pronouncements via text message, instant message or e-mail, sought inspiration in nature.

"Every time I listen to birds, I get a sense of that short burst of information," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said.

With his second company, Ariel Maislos didn't want to repeat the problem he faced with his first, Passave Technologies. It was the Hebrew word for "broadband," which is what the chips the company made were designed to improve. But people complained they couldn't spell or say the name, pronounced Pa-SAH-vay.

So his new company, described so far as producing "a breakthrough technology that makes your phone conversations interesting," is as simple as a kid's lunchbox snack. It's called the Pudding.

"Everyone likes pudding," Maislos said.

Google, too, may have sounded silly in its early days, but the name developed a pedigree through good products, Twitter's Stone said. "If these things are around long enough, the name grows up," he said.

And if the name doesn't catch on? This generation of Internet companies so embraces change — "Internet time" is to regular time like dog years are to human years — that it is not averse to changing identity if the name or business model doesn't work out. Riya became Like. Eefoof has been reborn as VuMe.

Name remorse is not uncommon. A few months ago, Bijan Marashi began to wonder if he had erred in giving his San Francisco startup a name that loosely rhymed with "stupid."

Xoopit (pronounced ZOO-pit) was a riff on the word "soup," but it proved tricky to pronounce and for some, baffling to spell.

Could Xoopit, which has yet to launch its service but promises to rethink the way we organize e-mail, grow into a serious company with such a name?

Concerns were so great that a venture capitalist who considered investing in Marashi's business said he wouldn't do so unless the name was changed.

Marashi suggested Phr332 (pronounced like Freak), but that was quickly shot down. So was Flume.

Market research

So Marashi conducted market research. He approached 10 strangers in various San Francisco neighborhoods and asked them to read the name "Xoopit" aloud. Most could. He reported his findings to the startup's eight employees and sought the advice of friends and family.

Marketing experts assured him that X was the new Z.

In July, Xoopit decided to stay Xoopit. The company plans to embrace the name in a marketing slogan: "Don't be stupid. Xoopit."

"Once you pick a name, you have to stand by it," Marashi said. "The baby is born and you have to sign the birth certificate."