SIMON FAMILY
Naming Project
Forty
Design with depth
SIMON FAMILY NAMING PROJECT
Overview Based on our analysis of your individual responses to our brand questionnaire, we’ve identified four primary values of the Simon family, which seem to be reflected throughout your responses:
Creativity Non-conformity Intelligence Play These values are reflected in the two brand archetypes that best represent the Simon family, the Explorer and the Artist.
The Explorer’s goal is to learn what’s constant in life by constantly changing your environment (such as challenging yourself with new ideas to help you better understand your own beliefs).
The Artist’s goal is to create something of enduring beauty and value (which may or may not be “artistic” in the traditional sense).
Forty
520. S. Mill Ave., Suite 302, Tempe, AZ 85281
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SIMON FAMILY NAMING PROJECT
Inspiration and Filtering In keeping with the “Artist” archetype, we sought out names of well-known and respected thinkers, creators, and troublemakers both from history and popular culture. To these names, we added a variety of other names from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds to appeal to the “Explorer” archetype. (Many of the names actually fit nicely into both categories.) We also include some names we felt might have personal significance or relevance based on Jonathan and Darby’s individual interests, backgrounds, etc. Phonetically, we sought names that were interesting but not excessively difficult. We tended to prefer names with harder
Forty
520. S. Mill Ave., Suite 302, Tempe, AZ 85281
| 480-788-2940 |
sounds such as voiced and unvoiced stops, to balance out the more softer fricatives and nasals of “Finn” and “Simon.” We then went through a brainstorming process to research and list as many effective, evocative names as we could find, within these guidelines. We then removed any names that met the following criteria: • Included in the top 100 male baby names of 2012 (too trendy) • Didn’t sound good with “Secretary of State” (just in case) • Would be constantly pronounced or spelled incorrectly
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SIMON FAMILY NAMING PROJECT
Metric Considerations A person’s name is like a very short poem. One of the first elements we looked at was the poetic meter of the name, or the pattern of stressed syllables. This is one of the most important elements that gives poetry a certain rhythm or feel. The name “Simon” has its stress on the first syllable, making it a trochee (highlow), which sets the tone for the rest of the name. Because you’ve already selected a first name “Finn”, that narrows things down, because we know we’re starting with a stressed syllable. Our best bet, then, is to stick with trochaic meter (e.g., high-low, high-low, high-low). One option for fitting “Finn _____ Simon” into a trochaic meter would
Forty
520. S. Mill Ave., Suite 302, Tempe, AZ 85281
| 480-788-2940 |
be to use an amphibrachic (low-highlow) middle name, which would create a trochaic pattern overall (high, low-highlow, high-low). Another option would be to use a monosyllabic middle name, which would have a slightly secondary stress compared to the first name. Maybe not technically trochaic, but it would be close. You could also do two middle names, which introduces some additional variations as well. There’s also the option of varying the first name into a longer form. For example, the name Finnegan (nickname “Finn”) is a dactyl (high-low-low). It’s not uncommon to end a dactylic line with a trochee, which creates a musical, dashing feeling.
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SIMON FAMILY NAMING PROJECT
Primary Recommendations mono + mono + trochee
mono + amphibrach + trochee + trochee
solid, powerful
stately, important
Finn Dade Simon Finn Clark Simon
Finn Orion Ryker Simon Finn Evander Golden Simon
mono + amphibrach + trochee
mono + iamb + amphibrach + trochee
colorful, interesting
complicated, unexpected
Finn Cornelius Simon Finn Orion Simon Finn Evander Simon
Finn Jerome Ezekiel Simon Finn Adair Cornelius Simon dactyl + dactyl + trochee
mono + mono + trochee + trochee
musical, dashing
tumbling, accelerating
Finnegan Washington Simon Finnegan Atticus Simon Finnegan Abraham Simon
Finn Bell Ryker Simon Finn Jude Maxwell Simon Finn Clark Walker Simon
Forty
520. S. Mill Ave., Suite 302, Tempe, AZ 85281
| 480-788-2940 |
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SIMON FAMILY NAMING PROJECT
Appendix: Additional options Monosyllabic Bell Dade Clark Thorn Jay Jude Karsh Iambic Adair Jerome Pascal Jamal Dactylic Washington Abraham Nikola Atticus Alister Addison
Forty
520. S. Mill Ave., Suite 302, Tempe, AZ 85281
Amphibrachic Cornelius Evander Ezekiel Orion Lorenzo Marcellus Musashi Akira Trochaic Dashiell Golden Maxwell Rudyard Ryker Walker Belmont Ansel Anton Axel Barrett
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Trochaic (continued) Clifford Dagur Derby Dmitry Driscoll Gordon Hiro Kimball Riker Rufus Strider Truman Viktor Wesley