The funny thing is that for a time I was actually employed as a professional namer. And to answer your questions: 1) yes, that’s a real job 2) companies actually pay a lot of money for a good name. I’ve named cars, computer chips, sandwiches, lingerie, and even a professional baseball team. But nothing was more frustrating than naming my own company. A name is like new shoes, you have to wear it a little before it starts feeling comfortable. Joobili was no different, but I’ve gotta say that I love the name now.
Joobili is a playful misspelling of “jubilee”, meaning an anniversary or a season of festivities. It captures the elements of time and celebration, which is exactly what Timely Travel is all about. Plus, the name is fun to say and nearly every European language has a variation of the word jubilee. But what’s up with the funky spelling you ask? Here’s a little factoid. There are 500,000 words in the English language and an average person has a vocabulary of 20,000 words. There are 150,000,000 websites and blogs. That’s a long way of saying that finding a real word .com URL is nearly impossible (unless you’re buying it). And if you ask me, the Joobili spelling gives it some extra playfulness and energy. But maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, that’s the story behind the Joobili name. Feel free to express your love or hate for the name in the comments section. One thing naming did teach me is that you never want everyone to like your name. If everyone likes it then the name is too boring. So I’m hoping some of you hate it:)
