Ask HN: What is the reason that many startups end their company name in "ly"? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is the reason that many startups end their company name in "ly"?

5 pointsrexreed11 comments

Just trying to understand if there's some good thinking behind this or if it's just a fad whose time will come and go and date a company.

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I think it's a little of both - driven by a lack of available good .com/net/org domains and by the increasing popularity of sites like bitly. It's little like how startups are jumping on -ify naming fad.

It makes me think of Ned Flanders' "oke-ly doke-ly." I don't see it as particularly clever, but then again de gustibus non est disputandum.

- 'ly' is used in English as part of many adjectives.

- There's a CCTLD for Libya called 'ly' with domains available.

But most of the company names are not using 'ly' in the adjective / adverb form? I don't get it. Why not use any other modifier ending, like 'ing' or 'ish' or 'vore' like:

Chargish Bitvore Spoting

If it's the availability of domains and the CCTLD, why Libya? Wouldn't Liechtenstein be better? It ends in 'li'. Or even better, Switzerland, since you can make so many more words that end in 'ch'?

eatmu.ch cin.ch

Puzzled.

Seems so random to me.

- Why not use any other modifier ending, like 'ing' or 'ish' or 'vore' like:

See point #2 - I bet if .ish was a CCTLD they'd do exactly this.

- Libya? Wouldn't Liechtenstein be better? It ends in 'li'.

See point #1. :^) Pardon if it wasn't obvious but both these facts combined for handy 'sniglet' (fake but realistic English word) domain names.

How about .ch -- doesn't it address points #1 and #2? Anyways, you did a good job answering my question. I guess it's really just the intersection space in the Venn diagram where set #1 is A Good/Memorable Company Name and set #2 is An Available Domain Name. I guess Libya was fortuitous in that way. I think Switzerland might make a better choice, but that's me.

It's a fad, nothing more than that.

Just a trend.

jeah its just a name affix

Well from where I see it, I believe it's because a lot of .com, .net, .org domains are taken.

For example, if your startups name was Twitterly, you would choose Twitterly.com, but obviously it would be taken, so they chose to use Twitter.ly

That's what I believe.

why not just tack "-olovich" on the end of everything, that's what we did when we were 10yrs old.

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