A lot of folks ask me, what does Corios mean, and why did you choose that name for your firm’s brand?
As this blog marks the start of a new chapter for the Corios brand, I feel that this initial post is the perfect opportunity share my thoughts on the topic, and to answer the burning question that sits at the top of your mind.
Why ‘Corios’?
In this post, I’ve outlined four goals I had in mind when selecting a name for my business, and some context for why (and how) the name ‘Corios’ meets each of them.
1. Emphasize the Science
First, I wanted to emphasize the science behind what we do, which includes mathematics, statistics and economics. Common to all those fields is the notion of correlation and correspondence. Both terms refer to the way real world phenomena relate to each other and move in concert, like price and demand, or offer volume and risk. Both terms start with the word stem “cor”, which is where my search for a great company name began.
2. Emphasize the Art
Second, I wanted to emphasize the art behind what we do, which is executing complex ideas involving lots of people in a way that looks simple, seems effortless and tells a beautiful story. That made me think of choreography, and again, there’s a link back to the word stem “chor”, which serendipitously sounds just like “cor”.
3. Make it meaningful
Third, it turns out “corios” is a word from an ancient language that I found while reviewing a variety of online dictionaries and lexica. The literal translation of “corios”, which is Gallic (meaning, from Gaul, the area roughly equivalent to France, Netherlands, Belgium, northern Italy and western Germany during the Iron Age and the Roman era), which in turn is a variant of ancient Celtic, means “to be armed”, “to be prepared”, or “army”. I’ve never been very engaged by the notion of the Corios brand as an army, but I do like the reference to being prepared.
Sidebar: Frequently, people assume that “Corios” is Greek, which isn’t a big deal to me, since the ancient Greeks played an enormous role in the development of science.
4. Make it memorable
Fourth, there is the practical side of choosing a name for a brand. My criteria included that the name should be short, unique, easy to pronounce, hard to misspell, not an acronym, and available as both a web domain and a corporate name in the State of Oregon. In our case, it was unfortunate that “corios.com” was already taken, so we selected “coriosgroup.com” as our web domain.
Another sidebar: It’s a commonplace situation that some folks think “Corios Group” is our legal and brand name, but that is just a natural implication of selecting a practical alternative to get our business started and on the map. The brand name is “Corios”, and our legal name is “Corios LLC” as registered with the State of Oregon.
Want to know more about the Corios brand? We’ll discuss more about who we are, what defines our work, what we love to do, and where we’re going in future episodes of our blog. And don’t hesitate to contact me directly!
