Naming Knives?

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
5,703
How important is it? Some people do, some don't.
What do you base the name on? Shape, purpose, old girlfriend? ;)

Pad
 
My naming convention is based on bodies of water. Don't know if it's an original idea or not. Guess that doesn't really matter. It happened kind of naturally as the first knife I made was a hunter model and I grew up along a stream named "Dry Creek". So I called it "Dry Creek Hunter" then came "Wind River Bowie". There are a few others as well. I have a new model coming up that I am making for my Marine buddy that served in Afghanistan. He lost one of his men in the Pech River Valley. This one is going to be named in honor of those that served and sacrificed in that battle.

Rick
 
I found it necessary once I got my website up, in order to understand which knife a customer wanted. But, I hate naming stuff. It always sounds either pretentious or corny to me. I've been thinking about a letter/number system lately - H1 (Hunter, design @1).

I think you should run with the ex-girlfriend idea..."the Bloodsucker," named for my ex-wife...what's a neurotic knife look like anyway?
 
fludunlimited said:
mine just come to me. names like alein artifact, dragon tamer and
toad and princess are for one offs and I dont realy make diferant models.
I like sounding pretentious, it makes me feel impotant. lol
http://fludunlimited.com/gallery1.aspx
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I'm with you on how you do it. it kinda depends on the mood your in when your making it. Like my most popular model the "2nd Amendment", I was feeling in a rebellious mood with all the anti gun and knife stuff going around that i wanted to make a ultra rugged good looking strong knife that you could carry and be proud to bear arms and defend your 2nd Amendment rights with.
 
A lady at whose cutlery shop I consigned one of my knives requested that I name and number it, as she thought it was more likely to sell that way. I named it Cobey Creek Bowie #1, after the creek that flows through the property my shop was on. A week later she had sold it for significantly more than I was asking... but I sure don't name them all. It's kind of like a car to me, some cars that I had a name just popped into my head for it, like if I broke down and was swearing at it and a curse word stuck as a name. Other cars I just didn't get a vibe from or didn't own for long or didn't have memorable experiences in so they remained anonymous.
 
I try to never repeat any designs for the most part so there's way to many names id have to come up with.

another way to think of it is, the doctor dosent name the babies he delivers , the parents whom take the babies home do.....:D

Also it never been my thing......andrew
 
I'm with tito and Rick on this one.

I think it's pretty silly.... unless it's a dedicated model you want to be known for.... think Fisk Sendero... or if it's something really important.

I had to get into naming them for BladeGallery. And, like Rick, I normally name them after water around here. I spend as much time as possible outdoors here, and that keeps me around stuff like the Toutle River, Bear Creek, etc. :)

Normally I'd just prefer "hunter," "fighter," "bowie," etc. ;) :)
 
Yeah, I gotta agree I'm not really into the whole name thing. Names to me belong on fantasy knives. I have a hard time taking a knife with a name seriously.
 
Based on the wierd-a$$ radio show I'm listening to, I'm gonna name my next fighter the "Coast to Coast Alien Slayer". I'll probably get sued, though :rolleyes:

I often find knife names annoying, especially the tactical and fantasy types. But if that's the market you want to serve, it's probably a selling point. As for outdoor-oriented knives, names based on bodies of water make sense, but there's already so many out there that they kind of blend together. I tend to just call them Field Knife 5 (5-inch blade), Hunter 4, etc. Just describe it based on how it's meant to be used.

Maybe I'm the one being pretentious for judging such things! :D

I guess if you're going to name a knife, you better make sure it's original. Most of the names that make sense have already been used. (Campanion, for instance... kinda wish I'd thought of that)
 
I try to name them if I'm going to make more of that pattern. Others I just call one off's. Usually the name comes natural, just pops into my head. I had to work for the name for the Woodsman, and actually ran a thread about it to get suggestions. I don't like aggressive names, dangerous sounding names, or names based on Indian tribes or Indian culture. A name allows users to pick and follow a model he likes. It allows them to start thread, take and post pics, and be able to discuss a particular knife. Its a valuable tool for selling more of that pattern.
 
I haven't given much thought to it but I do try to think of something funny to call the knives that I make. Like "alabama back scratcher" for a huge bowie. I think just an accurate description should suffice.



Rick Baum said:
My naming convention is based on bodies of water. Don't know if it's an original idea or not.
Rick
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Intel does or used to name their chips after bodies of water or rivers.
 
On the ones that I have applied names to, its always been based on something that struck me at the time...usually an event or circumstance that was happening while I was building it. Things like "Prairie Storm" was an early mosaic bowie that I was forging while a wild storm was gong on. "Ice Out" was a bowie that I was building during our spring thaw one year, I took a break and walked to the river behind our place, where the ice was just starting to break up.....when I etched that blade, the pattern looked just like the thawing ice.
Some names that came from circumstance were the name "Progression" which I apply to a model of folder I make. I had wrecked a number of them, trying to get it right. A friend was in the shop when I was whining and moaning about how I couldn't get them right, and said... "At least your making progress." And finally, the latest series of folder went the same way. The same friend was here, and asked me what the name for the new folder was. I told him that it was "so new" that I hadn't thought about it....hence the name "Sonue".

From what I have witnessed, if a knife is named, and worthy of being named, it lends a certain value in some customer's eyes. I personally think its the story behind the name that people enjoy. It gives the piece a "personality" in the eyes of many customers. It also gives a collector a neat story to tell when he is showing off his collection of knives.
 
I think you are on the mark with, "if the knife is worthy of a name"

Many of the really nice ones get named by someone other than the maker.

This would be my preference.

Fred
 
Sometimes the name chosen can actually be detrimental to selling it. I named a bowie of mine "Rebel Bowie" based on the star pattern in the mosaic pins and the red, white and blue sheath with eagles head and stars on the sheath. It didn't sell. When I put it back up with the name "Sow Belly Bowie" based on the grind pattern, it sold fairly quickly.

Sometimes, a name is just a name. Sometimes, a name has more meanining to a certain person.
 
Rick Baum said:
My naming convention is based on bodies of water. Don't know if it's an original idea or not. Guess that doesn't really matter. It happened kind of naturally as the first knife I made was a hunter model and I grew up along a stream named "Dry Creek". So I called it "Dry Creek Hunter" then came "Wind River Bowie". There are a few others as well. I have a new model coming up that I am making for my Marine buddy that served in Afghanistan. He lost one of his men in the Pech River Valley. This one is going to be named in honor of those that served and sacrificed in that battle.

Rick
Click to expand...

you know there is a river in S. Dakota named "angry woman river" and a small town named "angry woman". We love to drive through there when we go on road trips. anyways, you definitely need an "angry woman" knife.

-Josiah
 
J-siah said:
you know there is a river in S. Dakota named "angry woman river" and a small town named "angry woman". We love to drive through there when we go on road trips. anyways, you definitely need an "angry woman" knife.

-Josiah
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In northeastern Wyoming between Buffalo and Gillette there is a river names "Crazy Woman Creek". I've always found that humorous. That part of the U.S. does have some very unique names for their rivers and creeks.
 
There's a Bloody Dick Creek in Montana, a Murderers Creek in Oregon and quite a few Jackass creeks throughout the west. I guess some of the pioneers brought a sense of humor with them when they headed west.
 
Sounds like crazy woman creek would be a good name for Loraina Bobbit's infamous knife or whatever she used! Then again, maybe Angry Woman creek would be more appropriate! Sounds like both creeks eventually join up with Bloody... Well, I think you all get the idea. Maybe I' d' better start using mtn.ranges or something. Sheesh! :)

Rick
 
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