The Persuasive Function of  Company Names : Examples from Four Different Business Sectors

This paper presents a study of company names from four different business sectors – dental practices, real estate agencies, cleaning companies and restaurants. The different nature of the sectors means that they use different resources in their company names to perform a persuasive function. The following resources were selected for study: personal names, locality, seriousness or humour and choice of language used in the company name. The results show that the most important similarities exist between on the one hand, dental practices and real estate agencies, and on the other, cleaning companies and restaurants. The former more often feature family names, seriousness and the Swedish language, while the latter feature more first names, distant places and humour in their company names. The results are discussed within a frame of social and ideological issues