( Mashable ) -- There are no rules to naming a startup . And most entrepreneurs do assume that the name they choose will change before their businesses really start to gain momentum . Consequently , it does n't shock us that some of our favorite startups were sired by picking names out of hats , by throwing out odd proper nouns that might be cheap domain names and by haphazardly removing vowels . Ever wonder what a `` Twitter '' is , or who the `` Hipmunk '' is ? We 've asked nine startups to share the story behind their names . 1 . Twitter . The name Twitter was picked out of a hat . A small group of employees from Odeo , the San Francisco podcasting startup where Twitter initially began , had a brainstorming session . They were trying to come up with names that fit with the theme of a mobile phone buzzing an update in your pocket . After narrowing down the options ( which included Jitter and Twitter ) , they wrote them down , put them in a hat , and let fate decide . Fate decided on Twitter ( because clearly asking someone if they saw your latest `` jeep '' is just weird ) . 2 . Foursquare . Dodgeball , Dennis Crowley 's first attempt at social networking for mobile phones , was acquired by Google in 2005 . When Google killed the project , Crowley founded an improved location-based social game he named Foursquare . Does Dennis Crowley have some sort of unresolved childhood issues relating to playground games ? As it turns out , no he does n't . `` Dennis chose to name both companies after playground games because they were both designed to be fun and playful , '' said Foursquare 's PR manager in an email . Apparently , Foursquare was always Crowley 's first choice , but the domain name was n't available at the time he founded Dodgeball . 3 . Aardvark . Aardvark has been a sleek website where users can type or email their questions , to then be answered by the appropriate people in their own social networks . But co-founder Max Ventilla 's idea began as a chat buddy that could intermediate conversations with people you know online . There were advantages to having this name at the top of the buddy list , a spot which was occupied on Ventilla 's buddy roster by his friend Aaron . Alphabetically speaking , there are n't many options that trump Aaron . `` Aardvark '' is one of the few names that could shoulder him out . Other factors the name had going for it were its ability to conjugate the invented active verb `` vark , '' and being an animal that people recognized but typically did n't have strong associations with . `` We also felt that an animal had the right positioning as helpful but not perfect , '' said Ventilla in an email . `` If we chose a human or a robot mascot people would spend their time trying to make it look stupid , but they 'd cut an animal more slack . '' Google recently announced it would soon shutter Aardvark . Users have until September 30 to retrieve their data . 4 . Spotify . Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon crossed `` spot '' and `` identify '' when they named their digital music service . 5 . Twilio . `` In the early days of the company , the name does n't really matter for anything . You always assume you 'll change it later ... You should be able to own a word for your company . You should not have any baggage associated with the name . `` What we started doing is saying , we want to invent a word , we know that , so let 's just start making syllables without faces and when we have something that sounds good , check and see if the domain name is available ... We 'd just make these weird sounds and then run to the computer and see if it was available . We bought the domain name for $ 7 . '' 6 . Zynga . Zynga is named after CEO Mark Pincus 's late American Bulldog , Zinga . The name means African warrior princess . 7 . Etsy . From a spokesperson : . The origin of the word `` Etsy '' is shrouded in mystery . Only our founder Rob Kalin knows for sure , and he often throws out red herrings . Some widely-publicized ( and certainly fabricated ) versions of the story include : a reference to a magic word in a Fellini film , the name of his grandmother 's favorite childhood pet , and something about a Unix directory , I think it 's `` /etc , '' pronounced `` et-C. '' Other fun facts ( some of which may actually be factual ) : Phonetically , Etsy has many homonyms too . It can mean : . -- `` and if '' in Latin . -- `` horny '' in Japanese . -- A slur for `` loose woman '' in Russian-speaking parts of Bay Ridge / Brighton Beach . -- Oh , and it rhymes with `` Betsy . '' 8 . Scribd . Scribd CEO Trip Adler says the company picked Scribd ( pronounced `` skribbed '' ) beause of its ties to writing and publishing . More interesting is how the coppany decided on the name of its mobile reader app , Float . `` We wanted something to highlight the floating reading experience , '' Adler says . `` Namely , the idea of reading without boundaries . '' 9 . Hipmunk . After discarding names like `` BouncePounce '' ( if there were a good travel deal , you 'd pounce , right ? ) and Truvel ( travel , but true ) , Hipmunk co-founder Adam Goldstein was discussing the naming roadblock with his girlfriend . She suggested they go with a cute animal so that they could have a cool logo . Hipmunk.com was auctioning for about $ 70 at a time , and so the name -- and admittedly adorable logo -- were born . See the original article on Mashable.com . © 2013 MASHABLE.com . All rights reserved .
Some of our favorite startups were created by pulling brains out of hats . " Crowley chose to name both companies after playground ##s . ` ` Aardvark '' came out ` ` ' '' at the top of a buddy list alphabetically .