What Igor Naming Agency does

Igor Naming Agency is a private professional services firm founded in 2002 in Sausalito, California, that specializes in creating brand names for companies, products, and agencies. The firm is co-led by Steve Manning, who has been quoted as a naming expert in over 120 articles in publications including The New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and Fortune, and who previously served as Managing Director of A Hundred Monkeys beginning in 1997.

The agency's core product is a structured brand naming service built on a proprietary methodology that includes positioning analysis, competitive taxonomy charting across functional, invented, experiential, and evocative name categories, name development, and worldwide trademark screening. Notable named brands in the portfolio include WHOOP, Tru TV, ARIA Las Vegas, Wynn, Pursuit, Gogo, and several Arm platforms (Neoverse, Ethos, Trillium, Pelion), spanning hospitality, television, consumer technology, AI, semiconductors, healthcare, gaming, and nonprofit sectors.

Igor generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements, with industry-reported pricing typically in the $65,000–$75,000 range per naming project and certain enterprise projects reportedly exceeding $1 million. The firm operates an enterprise field-sales motion with no intermediaries, engages clients directly via phone and email from its Sausalito headquarters, and supports lead generation through a content-marketing blog, a downloadable Naming Guide PDF, earned media, and a Bluesky social presence.

Name

Igor Naming Agency

Legal name

Igor

Website

https://igorinternational.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Igor Naming Agency is a Sausalito-based professional services firm, founded in 2002, that creates brand names for enterprise companies, startups, and agencies using a proprietary naming methodology, with notable work for WHOOP, Wynn, ARIA, Tru TV, and Arm platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sausalito

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Naming Project Services: Professional naming consulting services for companies, products, and agencies. Fees typically range from $65,000-$75,000 per naming project, with some enterprise engagements potentially exceeding $1 million.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Igor Naming Agency creates breakout brand names for companies, products, and agencies. The firm delivers professional naming engagements that include brand positioning analysis, competitive naming analysis, name development across functional, invented, experiential, and evocative categories, and worldwide trademark availability screening before names are presented to clients.

Product overview

Igor Naming Agency is a professional services firm that provides brand naming services for companies, products, and agencies. The agency operates as a single unified service offering centered on strategic brand naming, rather than a platform with multiple modules. Services include brand positioning, competitive analysis, name development across four naming categories (functional/descriptive, invented, experiential, and evocative names), and trademark screening. The agency's portfolio includes named brands such as WHOOP, TANGO, TRU TV, PURSUIT, ARIA, GOGO, NEOVERSE, FRESCO, WETWARE, and WYNN. The agency also offers a downloadable Naming Guide PDF and publishes educational content through its blog.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Naming Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients have achieved viral brand recognition through provocative naming strategies

Named customers25 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Catchword: Long-standing boutique naming and branding agency working on company, product, and service naming. Comparable in size, methodology, and client mix to Igor; named in Igor's own competitive taxonomy chart.
• Eat My Words: Boutique verbal branding agency specializing in company and product naming, tagline development, and brand strategy. Direct competitor in the small naming-agency segment with overlapping methodologies.
• NameLab: Long-running boutique naming agency with a linguistics-driven methodology. Direct competitor in the small naming-firm segment, listed in Igor's competitive taxonomy chart.
• Lexicon Branding: Established naming agency with proprietary linguistic and brand-strategy methodology. Comparable as a premium-tier boutique with a similar enterprise client base and a science-driven naming process.
• Tanj: Boutique naming firm also listed in Igor's competitive taxonomy. Comparable in size, focus, and pricing tier; competes for the same enterprise and mid-market naming engagements.
• A Hundred Monkeys: Steve Manning's former firm, founded in 1997. A direct predecessor and still-operating naming agency using similar positioning, taxonomy-based methodology, and pricing ($65K/name) — the closest comparable firm in the boutique naming niche.

Broad incumbents

• FutureBrand: Global brand consultancy offering naming within a wider portfolio of strategy, design, and experience services. Comparable on enterprise naming work, though broader in scope and larger in scale.
• Interbrand: Global brand consultancy with naming, brand valuation, and strategy services. Competes for enterprise naming engagements at the high end of the market but operates as a much larger, multi-disciplinary firm.
• Brand Institute: Specialized in pharmaceutical and healthcare naming (drug and brand names). Comparable in focusing on regulated naming environments, though much larger and more concentrated in life sciences than Igor's diversified portfolio.
• Landor & Fitch: Global branding consultancy with a naming practice (e.g., HP/Agilent) alongside broader brand strategy, design, and experience work. Comparable as an enterprise-tier naming provider, though much larger and broader in scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IgorNaming
• LinkedIntwitter.com/igornaming

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Igor Naming Agency