Is having a great name for your intranet important?

One of our clients asked me recently, “Do you have tips on a good intranet name?”

At that time, I didn’t. Our intranet at Vialect is called, simply, “Our Noodle.”

But that question sent me on a quest to discover how companies usually come up with a intranet name for their organizations. This blog post is about the different categories of intranet names I’ve found and will hopefully help you with naming your intranet.

Five Intranet Name Types

1. Words that signify the goals/vision of your intranet

Companies set up intranets to help them communicate, collaborate, increase productivity and team work, connect with each other, etc. Any word that conveys these ideals are appropriate for an intranet. Here are some real-life examples:

iConnect (CCE)
myNewport (University of Wales)
hint (Rotterdam University)
Staff (Linneaus University in Sweden)

2. Company name + vision word

This is a variation on the first category. You can combine your company name with a word that carries your vision for the intranet. Examples include:

IFF Connect (IFF)
“¨Hagernet (Hager)
One D-H (Dartmouth-Hitchcock)

3. Famous characters

You could also name your intranet after a famous person or character, whether fictitious or real. The character should embody your corporate ideals, or otherwise have significance to your staff, and relevance to your company’s vision and mission. For instance:

Watson (LPK)

Since we have Watson, I’ve thought of a few other characters that might resonate with certain organizations, such as:

Sherlock (knowledge management agency)
“¨Einstein (scientific company)
Gabriel (religious communication)

4. Acronyms with double meaning

Of course, your intranet could simply have the same name or acronym as your organization. But why not spice it up by adding some double meaning. Examples:

YU Link (York University)
CoSMos (CSM)

5. Words with special meaning

By “special” I mean the word is particularly relevant to the organization, because of the nature of its business, or because the word ties in with their history or background. Some examples are:

Passport (Trip Advisor)
Switchboard (Fossil)
Cube (Singapore company)
Spot (OCA)
Sphere (Canam Group)

I hope these intranet name ideas have sparked some possible names for your intranet. When naming your intranet, brainstorm different names from each category. Come up with as many potential names as you can, before picking your short list.

You could also have a contest for naming your intranet, perhaps in the lead-up to your launch. Do let your staff read this post to help them get their creative juices flowing.

If your intranet already has a name, what is it? Does it fall under any of the categories I listed above? How did you come up with that name?