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But That’s a Car Name!
A few years ago I was hired to name an apple. Not an Apple: an apple, the kind that grows on trees. This particular apple was a new cultivar that needed a name to compete against Golden Delicious and Pippin and Winesap in supermarkets. My client was the growers’ group that had developed the fruit.
I presented several names, including one I thought was an especially strong candidate: Avalon. The name had an excellent and appropriate story, I told the client. The word comes to us from Welsh afal, which means “apple.” (Etymology doesn’t always matter, but in this case it was too perfect to ignore.) In the Arthurian legends, Avalon is the island where Excalibur was forged. Power, magic, legend: all positive attributes. Avalon was sometimes called “the Fortunate Isle.” (Happy apples!) Add to that, I said, the fact that the word rolls deliciously off the tongue.
There was silence on the other end of the phone line. Finally, the client’s spokesman spoke:
“Avalon,” he said tentatively. “Isn’t that a car name?”
During my career as a name developer I’ve heard “But it’s a car name!” more times than I care to recall Car, shmar, I want to say (but don’t).
Yes, I told my apple client, it’s undeniably true that Avalon has been the name of a Toyota sedan since 1995. Avalon is also the name of hotels in Beverly Hills…
