5 Tips for Picking the Best Intranet Names

Choosing a cool intranet name is one of the most exciting tasks for the intranet development team. (By the time I am writing this I am still struggling to choose name for my baby, perhaps it’s not quite the same…)

I am seeing there are few interesting patterns based on what our clients decide in the end for names for their company intranet names

Here are some great intranet name examples to get the creative juices flowing.

5 tips for finding the best intranet names

1. Greek mythology

Intranet system named after a Greek gods and goddesses, or Greek influence is definitely the most popular.

• Athena – from the Greek goddess of wisdom, the arts, industry, justice and skill.
• Atlas – Atlas was made to bear the weight of the heavens, or was it the earth, this is what will become our own Intranet, and perhaps we’re hoping atlas can help us bear the weight of daily project work and pressure from clients.
• Odyssey – An ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer. Our customers at Prometheus Real Estate named their intranet after this.
• Eureka – Exclamation used by Ancient Greek scholar Archimedes. Used by Care UK, this is an apt name for their intranet as it has a scholar and research flavour to it. Care UK are hoping their intranet will become the source of finding information for the entire organisation where every member of staff can say “eureka!” (translation: “I have found it!”).

2. Net-isation

Putting “net” at the end of a chosen word seems quite popular. It’s a nod to networks, transmission, and exchange of information. Here are some popular examples: Infonet, datanet, skynet. Or you can simply attach “net” to your company name.

3. Synonyms and popular culture

Intranet platforms are a virtual place where information is stored. Recently many companies are pushing collaboration throughout their intranet, making popular culture references a popular choice:

• The Matrix – Albany Group named their intranet “The Matrix”. Apart from an obvious reference to the popular sci-fi movie, in cyber culture ‘matrix’ also means the internet and other networks that flow into it.
• Nexus – This is one of the most popular names for an intranet and is used by many of our customers. It comes from the Latin “nectere” meaning “to bind”.
• Dimensions – Babcock Infrastructure Services named their intranet “Dimensions”. Perhaps their vision is to make a multi-dimensional working space.
• Basecamp – This is the name of The North Face’s intranet, who visualise their intranet as a basecamp of outdoor lives.

4. “My”

Adding “my” in front of company name emphasises a sense of belonging and ownership. There are several companies who named their intranet with MY+Company name, such as “MySunPower” or “MyGFI”.

5. Play on words and acronyms

Tiggle – This is a clever acronym from “Tussauds Intranet Global Gateway Linking Everyone”, an ntranet name for Tussauds Group.

Inflo – Interesting play on word. A combination of “info” and “flooring”, Preferred Brands (a flooring franchise business) chose “Inflo” as their intranet/extranet name.

I am hoping this post will inspire many companies who are thinking about choosing the best name for their company intranet software.

Why not run a intranet naming contest to find out who produces the best idea within your company?