When creating a new online presence, it’s important to choose a name that’s both memorable and at least vaguely emblematic of your site’s intended purpose. This usually means following one of two broad naming strategies: 1) Choosing a random, possibly foreign word that is spiritually — if not literally — related to your mission (see: Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Hulu, Yelp), or 2) mashing together two or more words that allude to content and purpose (see: YouTube, WordPress, Facebook, Pinterest).

The danger with these strategies, of course, is that they require powerful branding to become household names (or, at least, Web-hold ones). Otherwise, n00bs coming across them for the first time may become confused about what they’re all about. Forthwith, a collection of popular online entities whose names could have easily been co-opted for other purposes had the original ventures failed to make it out of the digital starting gate:

Boing Boing

What it is: An eclectic group blog aggregating various links and stories from around the web

What it sounds like: An X-rated Tigger fan-fiction site

The wonderful thing about Tigger is Tigger’s wonderful thing!

Forexpros

What it is: A comprehensive source for tools and information relating to the financial markets

What it sounds like: A depressing online community of former sports stars consumed with reliving their glory days

GitHub

What it is: A centralized control system for the collaborative development of software

What it sounds like: A British-run revenge site where wives send in stories about their idiot husbands

Gizmodo

What it is: A tech blog covering consumer electronics

What it sounds like: What you get when that adorable snuggle ball from Gremlins mates with the largest living species of lizard on earth

SlashGear

What it is: Another tech blog devoted to consumer electronics and technology

What it sounds like: Where Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees go to buy high-quality bad-guy paraphernalia

UrbanSpoon

What it is: A leading provider of “time-critical” dining data

What it sounds like: A place for lonely city dwellers to cuddle with strangers

Surprisingly, UrbanSpooning very rarely leads to UrbanForking.

YouPorn

What it is: An amateur pornographic video site

What it sounds like: Uhhh, okay, I guess there aren’t a lot of ways you can go with this one

(cross-posted on Brutish&Short)

Connections:

• The 10 Tastiest Things on the Internet
• A Trip Down the Recursive Rabbit Hole
• Is Google Stereotyping the World?