What do namers call themselves?

We're namers. We come up with a lot of things.

I very proudly call myself a namer. But I flip-flop between calling myself a naming expert (which is maybe an accurate way to convey that I have a lot of expertise around all things naming) and an expert namer (which feels more comfortable, since I feel more like a namer than an expert…).

And calling yourself a namer can feel limiting. I get that.

I still call myself a brand-language strategist, too, because that is more inclusive of the total work that I run through my studio, Wild Geese Studio. We still do brand positioning, messaging, copywriting, and voice work. We only accept work with naming at its core, but we often take on scopes that step outside of naming.

You'd think, as a namer, I'd have all this squared away by now. But you (and I) have the flexibility to experiment with language, including what we call ourselves. Maybe over time I'll settle on one thing. Probably not :)

I surveyed a couple dozen wonderful namers last year about what they call themselves. I'm sharing most of the verbatim responses from they survey below.

Many of the answers to "What do you call yourself?" reflect a similar dilemma to the one I face: "I mainly do naming, but I do other stuff, or the naming I do is in the context of other work."

Some people that I consider to be among the best namers I know don't call themselves namers at all. If you're struggling to figure out what feels most accurate to the work you do, I hope these responses help you find something that feels like a good fit, or something close to it. Or to at least help you realize a lot of us are still figuring it out ;)

• A poet with a good dayjob

• An author and writing coach

• Brand Advisor, I don't focus solely on Naming

• Brand consultant (I still do strategy, web copy, verbal ID and am an independent contractor)

• Brand Consultant, Verbal Identity expert

• Brand Strategist / Naming Expert

• Brand Strategist and Verbal Identity Expert

• Brand strategist specialized in naming

• Brand strategy consultant

• Creative Copywriter and Namer

• Creative Director (or just Founding Partner)

• Founder & Managing Director

• Founder and Chief Creative. Also, a brand naming specialist.

• Freelance Brand Writer

• I don't really identify as a "namer," not because I don't love naming, but because I find it a bit more niche and reductive than I like to consider myself professionally. I call myself a brand consultant and that's more inclusive of strategy, naming, voice, messaging, and all the things I like to do that contribute to the strategic positioning and creative expression of brands

• I'm a writer who names and a namer who writes!

• In conversation, I usually say I'm a naming consultant. My agency title is Naming Director.

• Identity strategist & integral coach, but that’s very in flux

• Kinda depends on the project, but I feel most comfortable (which is not very comfortable) calling myself a designer, I guess. Although, and this might be a cop out, lately I just refer to myself as a Founder, in the sense that I've founded a creative studio, which offers design, naming, etc. Maybe Creative Director? Haha idk titles are tricky

• Name Consultant and Freelance Namer

• Namer, and sometimes Verbal Strategist

• Namer/Creative Director/Brand Poet depending on the weather

• Naming & verbal identity expert

• Naming and Verbal Identity Specialist

• Naming Architect. I also do a good bit of brand architecture, and I enjoy having a job title that people can't really place in the [Junior copywriter -> Executive creative director] spectrum.

• Naming consultant

• Naming Expert

• Naming Expert / Terminologist / Information Architect

• Naming Expert, Senior Naming and Brand Consultant, Founder/Principal/CEO

• Naming Strategist

• "Nombrador" in Spanish, "Namer" in English

• Professional Namer

• Retired [Namer]? And Substacker.

• Senior Associate, Brand Strategy and Naming on formal platforms. To my friends and family I say I'm a professional namer OR a brand strategist who specializes in naming (since I also do projects that are more than just naming).

• Senior Partner, Brand Strategy, Head of Naming

• Verbal Strategist (I must confess I create more verbal identities than names).

Happy naming!

Caitlin

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