Ask HN: Importance of website name?

Here's my question: how important do you feel the name of a website is. Obviously it helps slightly on the SEO front, but that doesn't really matter.

Should the name/domain be descriptive of the service/content provided. For example, if I was starting a news website, should I chose "news.com" over "gawker.com", on the logic that people will find it easier to remember (thinking just in terms of if it is relevant, not easy of spelling, length etc), and on the logic that when chosing a new site to use, people will pick the domain that seems the most logical.

My belief is that it is not important, and the success of sites like Yahoo, Google, Gawker and so many others backs me up, in my opinion.

Do you agree or disagree with me?