namingIs there a service somewhere which can check if a new business name exists as a word / noun in other languages? I couldn’t find an online dictionary which could search multiple languages at once.
The use case is :
I want to check that my new business name e.g. ‘hooli’ does not mean something unfortunate in other languages which share the same or similar alphabet.
If this service doesn’t exist, would others find it useful?
A poor man's attempt would be to use translate.google.com for your business name and check the langauges for areas that you will consider as possible markets. You can also look up your name against registered businesses in most states.
The whole issue of branding, logo checks, copyright, trademark, and service mark development is also one that often may be handled by engaging with companies who do this research for a living ... (consider that a cost of doing business).
While you may be just looking to avoid trying to create a car branded Nova to market in Spanish language speaking areas where no va means "does not go" .. the issues are much larger than just your company or product name.
ErstwhileIII has a great solution, but you can also do an “any language” search in Google search proper.
However, that won’t catch homophones in non-latin alphabet languages. ErstwhileIII brought up the Nova as a great example.
For that, I would recommend choosing a few language priority countries-areas that you plan to expand into–and going onto Reddit with your top choices to see if any passionate linguists would be willing to give their opinion.
For example, China speaks Mandarin and Cantonese primarily. You could ask forums such as /r/askReddit or /r/Chineselanguage for assistance, or offer a small wage in exchange for finding a decent translation for your name into your target language.
Protip: do not trust Google Translate for Chinese, it’s too contextual a language.
Let me comment on a business side of this idea. A service like that would be useful, but I doubt many would pay for it. Usually, people don’t open companies on a daily basis. At least not companies where names matter. So there’s no need for an automation or monthly subscription. I would rather pay someone to do the search for me once than to buy some automated service.
Free service like that would be nice though.
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