The last time you found yourself wandering around one of our local big-box stores, did you ever wonder where on earth some of the products peering at you from all those shelves got their names from? I did (of course).

So, just how do companies decide what to call their newest offerings before unleashing them on the shopping public? The answer is they use a combination of art and science, with the science part being something called “sound symbolism,” or the sounds of letters and the associations we have with those sounds.

For example, one branding expert says that high-value Scrabble letters, such as Z, Q, X, J and K, are the least used and, therefore, the most memorable when used at the beginning of a product name.

Others in the naming game contend that people perceive brand names beginning with “voiced consonants” B, D, G, V and Z to be harsh, while those starting with the “voiceless consonants” F, K, P, S and T are seen as more soft and mild. H and W evoke friendliness.

And then there are those who assert that consonants with almost no variation in pronunciation, including B, D, F, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V and Z, are good choices for beginning letters.

“Sound is universal,” says branding expert David Placek, “‘V’ is about aliveness and vitality.” For this reason, in 2008, Toyota decided to name its new SUV “Venza.” Of course there are exceptions to picking “V” for vitality. “Verizon” was created because it combined “veritas” (truth) and “horizon.” The letters “B” and “T,” on the other hand, are believed to communicate more reliability: Think BlackBerry or Black and Decker.

A product’s name, says Placek, who’s created hundreds of product names including Swiffer and Febreze, should be “something that makes people think, ‘There may be something different here, something better for me.’”

One exception to all this theory is the development of a new medication’s generic name, which is one that comes from its chemical makeup. This name describes its structure, function and molecular targets.

For example Tylenol’s generic name, acetaminophen, is derived from “N-acetyl-p-aminophenol,” from which, if you look carefully, you can pick out the letters that spell “Tylenol” almost perfectly.

But Tylenol seems to be the exception to the rule when it comes to devising a new drug’s brand name. Once the powers that be have sorted out the new medicine’s generic name, then it’s usually back to the realm of hocus pocus to come up with a brand name.

Two of the most popular drugs in the world are fluoxetine and sildenafil citrate, which are better known respectively as Prozac and Viagra. Prozac got a positive sounding name because it had fewer side effects than other antidepressants of the time.

Arlene Teck was thinking of “vigorous” (there’s that “V” thing again) and “Niagara” when she named Viagra back in 1992. (Both Prozac and Viagra now have entries in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

But even with a new drug’s brand name, the Food and Drug Administration still has the final say. According to CNN, “The FDA rejects names that seem too fanciful or overstates a drug’s effectiveness, and puts the kibosh on names that might stigmatize a patient (or condition).”

I suddenly feel the need to go create a brand name for myself — hopefully one that doesn’t overstate my abilities.

Jim Witherell of Lewiston is a writer and lover of words whose work includes “L.L. Bean: The Man and His Company” and “Ed Muskie: Made in Maine.”

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