A Questionly
Why do so many web startups have “ly” in their name?
Seriously, it's a trend that has become more and more apparent to me as I've researched the industry over the last month or two. Here are some examples off the top of my head:
Now, as far as I can tell, all of those bar Forkly are Y-Combinator companies. Is there an in-joke that I'm missing? This post is a genuine question — I really want to know why they're called this!
My initial hypothesis that it stemmed from the .ly Libyan domain name (bit.ly etc.) seems to be completely invalid as none of these companies seem to use that. Is it just a trend? A joke? Does it subtly say “I'm a Y-Combinator company” and therefore garner more respect based on affiliation and reputation? I just don't know.
It's certainly not the first trend in web startup names. Dropping vowels (Flickr, Tumblr) and splitting up words (del.ico.us) come to mind. All I can think is that it would immediately date your company. Like all those white cars from 2008, you'll be able to spot them a mile off.
Edit — Just a thought. Could it be to do with ‘easily’? Are startup names subconsciously saying to potential customers that their products are easy to use?