brainstorm-names

Files (3)

• SKILL.md
• WORDPLAY.md
• openai.yaml · agents/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Brainstorm and evaluate names

Find names whose sound, meaning, and visual possibilities fit the audience. Clever spelling is not automatically a spoken joke or a viable brand.

## Establish the brief

Read the concept, purpose, audience, languages, tone, prior batches, selected identity, and rejected directions. Derive naming criteria from this brief. Examples demonstrate traits or mechanisms; identify which traits matter rather than inheriting their culture, subject, humor, or source vocabulary. Distinguish primary names, titles, character names, jokes, and feature labels; they tolerate different levels of obscurity and reference dependence.

Choose analysis, a reusable naming prompt, generation, or shortlist research according to the request. Do not replace a naming-prompt request with candidates.

## Build from sources and sounds

Choose naming approaches that fit the brief: descriptive, evocative, metaphorical, abstract, invented, compound, reference-based, or playful. For wordplay, use [WORDPLAY.md](WORDPLAY.md) to distinguish mechanisms and record transformations. Build source and semantic banks from the concept and intended audience, not from prior projects.

- Compare pronunciation, rhythm, syllables, and stress, not spelling alone. Prefer recoverable changes when recognition matters.
- Preserve references accurately. Verify unfamiliar names, quotes, meanings, and cultural claims from primary sources or knowledgeable speakers; label supplied but unverified dialect words.
- Record the intended language, pronunciation variety, and audience. Treat languages and communities as distinct; a cultural reference is useful only when it serves this brief.
- Use approximate respelling when helpful. Give IPA only when supported; do not fabricate precise dialect or celebrity pronunciations.
- Explore ordinary words, double meanings, concise compounds, and invented words as well as puns. Do not force mascots into every name.

## Generate and select

Explore mechanisms, then reject weak recognition, awkward pronunciation, repeated jokes, forced compounds, and the wrong product implications. Match batch size and fields to the request. Candidate counts, category quotas, and numerical scores are optional brief choices.

For finalists, show name, source/construction, sound or meaning change, fit, and tradeoff. Test ordinary speech appropriate to the use, such as introducing a work, announcing an event, or recommending a product. These are design checks, not evidence of audience preference.

For another round, avoid earlier names and spelling variants. Keep a compact prior-candidate record in established naming notes when useful. When the brief needs related names, develop a family around its actual works, offerings, sections, or subjects.

## Separate judgment from availability

Rank creative quality independently from collision risk. For a recommended commercial shortlist or requested availability check, research current use through relevant official sites, registries, stores, and domains. State what was checked. Search absence is not trademark clearance or domain availability. A borrowed reference can be funny while unsuitable for a primary brand.

Use `define-art-direction` when the selected name's visual identity is requested. A batch does not authorize renaming the project or replacing assets.

From JoseArron/skills, MIT.

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