What's in a name?

[Rick Smith]

Not to be combative with another poster but I don't consider "My Aniane" silly at all. As stated earlier the name will not decide who does or doesn't buy. Follow you gut Danny.

[sunburst]

Maybe you could have a label inside or a card given to owners that says "Pronounced..." as a way of getting it spoken correctly.

This whole thread has had me thinking about an old ad for D'Addario strings that had the pronunciation in the ad; da-dairy-o.
How many times have you heard de-a-dairy-o instead?

I don't think there's much chance of getting people to pronounce it correctly. It's up to you whether or not that's a problem. (I'm sure Aniane is already "used to" hearing her name mispronounced anyway.)

[thistle3585]

My experience has been that my last name has created confusion when people search on the internet. They generally search for "German Mandolins" instead of "Jerman Mandolins." I thought about changing it to my company name, but my wife pushed me not to. If you have the oppurtunity to pick a name prior to having developed name brand recognition, I would choose one that is easy to pronounce and easy to decipher the spelling. My whole life people have heard my name, I spell it for them, and they still write it with a G. I can tell them several times in a row and they still are thinking G, so thats what they write. Personally, I don't like "MY" or "THE" used before any name.

[salleyann]

I think it is a terrific name!! At least it's not another
"The Something". Seems you have already built a connection with the mandolin community under that name and changing it this late could cause unnecessary confusion. I wouldn't
change a thing.

[PaulD]

So what are you going to do now... tally up all our answers and see which is most popular? I'm going to vote for what you've already got: My Aniane. I didn't know how to pronounce it either, or what the significance was (although I think you've answered that question before). I think it's distinctive and it is a very cool name. I never would have thought to put "My" in front of it but I like it, it's original, and distinctive. How many folks have done "The XXXXXX" to death? Nothing against the name "Smith" but I don't think it sounds as exotic or distinctive.

All that said, I think I suck at coming up with names. I've tried to name several ventures and I hate most of what I come up with. My name is original enough (Doubek) so I usually settle back on that or some use of my initials ("pd" has kind of a Yin-Yang pattern going so I've done things with that since about 1988... "PD" doesn't have the same appeal to me).

Another thing about putting your (or your wife's) name on your product kinda forces you to strive for quality... at least it does for me. In fact I worked in a cabinet shop were we had a couple folks who were doing sloppy work due to laziness and anonymity. I started having everybody initial each cabinet at every stage of the build process and our repair/rework pretty much went away. Most of the builders took pride in their work anyway and were pissed off that one or two folks were giving them a bad name (the "door department" screwed up instead of "so and so" screwed up). Granted, you could call it "The Woody" and sign the label to get the same effect.

Speaking of names, I like Arches as a way to pick up on a local geographic feature of Southern Utah where Chris builds. Baird would be a good mando name too, but Arches works well and allows Chris to grow or even sell the company at some point without just tying it to his name. I think Flatiron (another good name IMO) came from Flatiron Peak in Idaho... not far from the original Bozeman MT shop. Oldwave is also pretty cool, but I wonder since the term "New Wave music" is passé if it has the same meaning to younger folks (maybe that's not what Bill had in mind in the first place, but that's what comes to mind for me). Not that it matters... it's a good name. Names I don't care for are "The Loar" and "Morgan Monroe"... I'm not dissing the instruments but the names strike me as cheesy. Now you could go with Smith-Tone... that's got a good retro feel to it.

Okay, I'm done rambling for now...

pd

[Alex of the North]

I don't think it really matters that much, it is a pretty name and it will work fine. That being said, I think it does sound more like a flute than a mandolin. I like the geographic thing that the poster above me mentioned in regards to Arches.

[EdSherry]

I would second (or third, or ...) the suggestion to leave out the "My." IMHO, "Aniane" is (a) lovely, (b) a fitting tribute, and © a better choice for a product line than "My Aniane."

[SGraham]

I can imagine saying, "I'll bring my Eastman tonight to the jam." or "I'll bring my Gibson."

I CAN'T imagine saying, "I'll bring my My Aniane." People will think I'm stuttering or emoting.

Steve

[salleyann]

Steve,
What would be wrong with saying, "I'll bring the My Aniane
to the jam tonight"? Most of your pickin' buddies are going
to know you're talking about YOUR mandolin, so "my" would
really be superfluous in this case.

[PaulD]

I can imagine saying, "I'll bring my Eastman tonight to the jam." or "I'll bring my Gibson."
I CAN'T imagine saying, "I'll bring my My Aniane." People will think I'm stuttering or emoting.

I still don't see a problem with with including "My". I don't think that folks would think it odd if you just said "I'll bring my Aniane to the jam" any stranger than the fact that people don't say "I'll bring my The Gibson to the jam" or "I'll bring the The Gibson to the jam."

pd

[SGraham]

Sorry. Feeble attempt at levity.

your Steve

[Bill Snyder]

Likewise, in Texas (and maybe elsewhere), Schlitz beer is pronounced "Slits."

Forgive me, I know that this does not pertain to the discussion at hand but I just have to say that I have lived in Texas for all of my 44 years and I do not recall anyone pronouncing Schlitz as Slits. After all a high percentage of the original settlers in Texas came from Germany.

[Chip Booth]

There is a Smith company building electric basses. You could go with your first intitial as well, something like "R. Smith".

I don't care for the "My", but then again I don't like "The" in instrument names either. I am undecided about Aniane, but I agree that a more generic, pronounceable name such as Arches or Flatiron may be a better option if you can find something that speaks to you.

Chip

[mriley]

For what its worth I like it, it's a musical sounding name.
Cheers Mike

[eadg145]

My $0.02 (since I'm sitting home recovering from a bad cold) is that I prefer "Smith" or even the "R. Smith" (which may sound a little classier to my ears) for your company. I then recommend that this model be called "Aniane." So, to my ears, I'd be looking for the famous "Aniane" model from R. Smith Lutherie.

Problems I have with the name are:
I don't care for the "My"
I couldn't figure out how to pronounce it.
I can't say I'd remember the spelling.

So count one vote for the "Aniane" model from R. Smith Lutherie!

cheers,

David

[Bill Snyder]

There you go Danny. Call your company R. Smith Lutherie or you could use D. Smith but that is not near a classy sounding as R. Smith.

[dstretch]

Wow, such a myriad of responses. And I am very appreciative. I have been thinking about this all day long, and after reading all the posts I think I will.....

I think I will use the name "Aniane", without the "My". And when I develop a web site I will put the pronunciation on the opening screen, and on the business cards as well. I think as many said it is unique, and once known will be remembered. I just learned how to pronounce "Passernig" last weekend, but I definately won't forget how to now.

I really appreciate all the ideas and input. That is what makes this forum unlike any other on the web. I don't think you could find another forum where experienced and established luthiers, or for that matter craftsmen (and women) of any sort are willing to help someone to the extent that you see here.

[Chip Booth]

So how do you pronounce Passernig?

[dstretch]

Pass-sir-nig. I, with my dislexic midn pronounced it Pass-ering.

[GTG]

Aniane - YES
My Aniane - NO
The Aniane - NO

Other options that would be ok, IMO
D. Smith
A. Smith
Smith-Aniane (I know that makes it sound like 2 last names, but I like it)

The Danny
(just kidding! That's a no.)

[Potosimando]

Good choice to drop the "My". #Man, I love the correct pronunciation of Aniane (just beautiful...thanks for sharing that); hope you can get the pronunciation across as time goes on. But...

D'Addario isn't "de-a-dairy-o"!! #All these 15+ years of getting it wrong, wrong, wrong! #"Da-dairy-o", "Da-dairy-o", "Da-dairy-o", gotta practice, gotta practice.

How do you get something a deep-rooted as "de-a-dairy-o" out of your brain, for crying out loud?

[Yonkle]

I love the comment about "The POS" classic!
I think the only confusion with that name is I too thought it was a different spelling of Annie. So if one never saw the spelling and was looking for your site they may be typeing in Onyawnee or something like that and never find you. It is a pretty name, just not spelled as one would guess. I have thought of changing mine to "Yonkle" only because it is different and kind of fun to say and it is my Jewish name, means John in Yiddish.
My last name I got teesed a lot as a kid, you know change "son" to daughter, you get the picture!

[markishandsome]

I think there's a big difference between a man bringing in a little extra income during retirement by making a few mandolins and a big corporation that needs to sell 1000 instruments a year to stay afloat. Ask yourself if you really need to dumb down your work to make it appeal to the broadest possible audience.

Even if it is inlaid on the headstock, I wouldn't think most people would refer to one of your mandolins as a "My Aniane", just like they don't say "I Play a The Flatiron".

People in different parts of the country (and the world) pronounce words differently because they have different accents, not because they don't like foreign sounding words. They were taught to read and pronounce words a certain way and grew up hearing people speak with accents. It's learned behavior, not an intentional rebuff of all things foreign. I personally think it's a little pretentious when people pronounce things the "correct" way, like "Cheelay" or "Einshteen". It's just showing off.

[Jim Broyles]

I like Aniane, but maybe as a model name engraved in the truss rod cover, with another name - why not D. Smith?- for the make.
Curt - that no va thing is a myth.
Forte, as in tremolo is not my forte, originally was supposed to only have one syllable. You'll NEVER get people to pronounce it that way, and if you say it correctly, everyone will think you are mispronouncing it. All pronunciations of it are now standard, but the one syllable version is listed as number 1.

[cooper4205]

I can imagine saying, "I'll bring my Eastman tonight to the jam." or "I'll bring my Gibson."

I CAN'T imagine saying, "I'll bring my My Aniane." People will think I'm stuttering or emoting.

Steve

I agree