The Frilliness Scale of Naming Community Services

If you’re starting a new service, project or community group and struggling to decide on a good name for it, this guide is for you.

Often, choosing a name can be a surprisingly high-stakes decision and everyone seems to want to weigh in.

Which means there’s a lot of overthinking that goes on, and some services end up with unfortunate, frilly names that don’t really do what names are supposed to do.

Which is - help people who’ve never heard of your service before find you and know you’re the right folks to ask for the help they need.

So this Frilliness Scale (Patent Pending) is the tool you need to pick a name that works.

Finding it tricky to agree on a name?

I find behind most frilly names is a team that got stuck over-analysing all the options. A good name deserves a bit of thinking, but if you don’t have a criteria for what makes a good name, how do you know when to stop?

Sometimes people can get really emotionally invested in naming things because it brings a sense of ownership and connection. And, although it’s a branding decision and should really be led by experienced professionals, we’re all so familiar with branding as consumers that it’s something pretty much every stakeholder feels they could contribute to. Those two things combined can mean everyone’s keen to get involved.

On the plus side, that makes “choosing a name” a great hack to get busy or disengaged key stakeholders to a meeting - if you build it into the agenda, they will come!

But it also means that what might seem like a fun activity that everyone can contribute to at the start of a project, can actually end up being quite stressful.

Now, considering all of this, it can be tempting to “ask the audience” but let’s not. It’s already far too common for performative attempts at ‘this co-production thing’ in organisations that can’t bear to relinquish an ounce of control but still want to look like they’re engaging with the community. I don’t recommend outsourcing the naming of your service to the public, not just because you might end up with a winner like Boaty McBoatface, but because there are more meaningful ways to involve stakeholders in your project. You shouldn’t need a poll.

All you need is a clear definition of what makes a good name. And what makes a bad one. The Frilliness Scale is a bit of fun, but it’s also an easy way to weigh up the options. You could write your ideas for names on post-its, and as a team pop them on this scale and see which one you agree is closest to the centre.

Back to basics: What is a name for?

This sounds like a really simple question, and since we’re surrounded by brand names every day, it’s a pretty familiar concept, but we’re often more familiar with commercial branding, which has slightly different goals than community services. Most commercial brands want to encourage repeat sales, so the name itself isn’t as important as the work they do to keep it at the front of your mind. For us, we’re usually helping people in difficult circumstances so we probably hope they only need our help once! The name might have just one chance to connect with people.

So let’s focus on your goals. When you think about the people you’re creating this service, project or group for, what do you want the name to achieve for them?

The three key things for me are:

1. When people hear about the service for the first time, they can tell by the name whether it’s relevant to them or not.

   So even if it’s only a passing glimpse of a poster as they’re walking by, it’ll catch the attention of someone who needs our help.

   Or that professionals can signpost people to the service without spending the whole appointment explaining what it is!

   For that, the name needs to say a bit about what the service is, or does.

   An example might be food banks - In two words, it communicates that this is a place where you can deposit or withdraw food. Or the charity Shelter, which in only one word says it’s about both the roof over your head, and a sense of protection.
   

2. For people who didn’t need the service when they first heard about it, but now they do, the name is easy to remember.

   So that when they do need to use the service, it comes to mind. And they can recall enough of the name to search online, or ask a friend.

   For that, the name needs to be memorable.

   There’s lots of ways a name can be memorable, but probably one of the most appropriate for community services is association. Think about how Derren Brown does some of his memory tricks - linking a word you’re trying to remember to an existing memory makes it easier to recall. If you can find a name that the people you aim to help will associate with something familiar, and relevant to your service, it might be easier to remember.

   An example might be GoodGym. It’s not actually a gym, they do all sorts of activities, but it helps when you’re thinking “what was that thing where you do exercise but for a good cause? It was like a good… gym…”. Or the Blue Cross, an animal charity which is easy to remember because it’s like the Red Cross but for animals.
   

3. When people haven’t heard of the service, and they look for help, they find it.

   When they type in what they need help with, our service comes up in the search results. Or the way they describe the help they need prompts people to remember the service and suggest it.

   For that, the name needs to use the same kinds of words people use to describe what they're looking for.

   The many health charities named quite simply after the conditions they help with are a good example.

   When you're diagnosed with a health condition, the name of it is probably the first thing you'll type into search, or ask people about. So it'll be easy for anyone to remember they've heard of a charity for that condition. “Diagnosis UK… or was it Diagnosis Society…?” And it's a safe bet that either or both will come up when you search for “Diagnosis”.

And that is the centre of the Frilliness Scale: A name that connects the people you’re aiming to help, with the service that’s going to help them. It feels familiar and approachable, and tells them a bit about what the service does.

The Frilliness Scale

1. No Frills

A name that so bluntly describes what the service is, that you’d imagine it was only ever supposed to be a quick working title for the project and they just forgot to update it.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation is quite a good example here.

For those who aren’t familiar, Pulmonary Rehabilitation is a programme of exercise and education for people with lung conditions like COPD or bronchiectasis. It’s available on the NHS, and people are usually referred by their GP or respiratory team.

If you know the word ‘pulmonary’ is something to do with lungs, and that ‘rehabilitation’ is about restoring your health, the name probably makes a bit of sense when you hear what it is.

But not everyone has those words in their vocabulary. I’d love to hear how this programme got its name, I can only imagine it was described this way in academic papers first, and it stuck?

2. Low Frills

A name that basically describes what the service is. Does what it says on the tin. Very helpful for the 2% of people who will know exactly what kind of service they need.

For example, Books on Prescription (Now called the Reading Well Booklists, thankfully)

If you’ve not come across it, Books on Prescription is a list of books on health topics recommended by health experts, available in libraries. The idea is that healthcare professionals can “prescribe” you a book from the list, or you can choose one at your local library.

When you know what the service is, the name makes sense.

The problem is if you're hearing the name for the first time, it doesn’t really. I've signposted a lot of people to this service, but I can't remember a single time I didn't have to say, “oh no, it's ok, you don't actually have to get a prescription”

Of course, for healthcare professionals the word “prescription” means something you offer, an advised course of treatment. From this perspective, books are elevated to the status of medicine.

For the general public though, “prescription” more often means something restricted. An item you can only get through the Kafkaesque fetch quest that has become the current state of primary care. You might imagine that these books have been moved to a secure section of the library, where you'll have to awkwardly announce your name and address in front of everyone else in a waiting room before being handed the books in a paper bag.

3. Appropriate Frills

A name that describes what the service can do for you, in a way that’s appealing to the people who need it. They’ll have given some thought to what people are looking for, so that the name makes the service easy for people to find and understand.

I quite like Men’s Sheds as a name (and as a general concept for that matter). In a world of ‘social groups’ and ‘activity clubs’ it stands out for a few reasons:

1. It uses normal everyday words. If you ask someone what they’re doing at the weekend, they might say “seeing friends”. Saying “going to a social group” means something subtly different. Something a little less casual, potentially less authentic. A lot of people don’t mind the difference, but you’re generally likely to find more men among those that do.
   But no-one’s going to bat an eyelid if you say “going down the shed”.

2. It uses a familiar concept, so it’s easy to understand and memorable. Everyone knows what a ‘shed’ is, but to the folks this initiative aims to reach the word will mean something more - a much needed third place. And I think that’s what the ‘group’ and ‘club’ type things overlook - the beauty of the name ‘shed’ for me is that it refers to the place, not what you do there. It places no expectations on you, no pressure to fit in or be good at anything.

3. It refers to what people are looking for. In this case, even though a lot of sheds welcome all genders, the word “men’s” is an important green flag for many of the people they’re aiming to reach. Where a big barrier to joining any kind of club or group is the fear you won’t be welcomed and included, having something to say ‘this is for you, you’ll be comfortable here’ is important.

   Another beautiful example of this is a group called Chat Over Chai, which if you haven't guessed is a very welcoming and inclusive cross-cultural social group.

4. Mostly Frills

A name that gives a general idea of what the service is, or can do for you, but dressed up in a pun or play on words. May be the kind of acronym where they decided on a snazzy word for the initials to spell first.

A lot of the NHS Talking Therapies services had these kinds of names before they were brought under one consistent brand.

You could find a lot of puns and wordplay around your mind, thinking and talking, like: Health in Mind, Healthy Minds, Mind Matters, Talking Change, Talking Changes, Forward Thinking, TalkPlus.

There were some nice nods towards the concept of achieving positive change in your life, like Positive Steps. And as it was 2010 when “Phones4U” was still on the high street… Steps2Wellbeing and Steps2Change (Also iPhones were still fairly new, so we also got iCope and iTalk in the mix).

It’s not that they’re bad names (well, maybe a few!) it just seems like the focus was on coming up with something that sounded good, rather than something that helped people find and understand the service.

When you look for counselling in your local area, there’s not much to differentiate some of these service names from the private providers that will show up in your search results, or other types of services like mental health support groups or complementary therapies for mental wellbeing. It’s difficult enough to find support when you’re in distress, without needing to click on every option to see what they actually are. The new name ‘NHS Talking Therapies’ might be a bit low frills, but at least it’s descriptive!

5. All Frills

A name that sounds impressive, but has little or no relevance to what the service is or does. May have some deep symbolic meaning only clear to those who are already very familiar with the service and have a degree in philosophy.

I had trouble finding an example for this one that wasn’t currently in use - I don’t want to name and shame a service that’s obviously put a lot of thought into their name and still love it!

So I’ll give you some made up examples, and I’m sure you’ll get the kind of name I mean.

Earlier I referred to the charity “Shelter” as an example of a name that communicates a lot in one word. It’s great because it’s a common, familiar word and it’s associated with two very relevant concepts for the charity.

Some services seem to have ended up at All Frills by trying a bit too hard to achieve this kind of meaningful name. Like, if I look for words that mean housing or protection for too long, I might end up with some little used term like Commorancy, or obscure references like Aegis, a shield used by Zeus in Greek Mythology. Or looking for symbolic flora and fauna like Juniper which is sometimes associated with protection, or a Tailorbird, which stitches leaves together to make its nest.

These kinds of references aren’t automatically frilly - like how the Alzheimer’s Society uses the Forget-Me-Not - it’s symbolic but it’s also nice and obvious in the name. Or the The Eve Appeal, where the story of Adam & Eve will be familiar to most (and at least it’s easier to spell than calling it the gynaecological cancers charity!)

What tips it into All Frills territory is when, if you saw the name written down, it could be anything from a new brand of soap to an internet service provider. If you find yourself having to add a tagline alongside your name, like ‘Tailorbird, support to make a home’ you know you’ve gone a bit too frilly.