A Hundred Monkeys

Based in Berkeley, California, A Hundred Monkeys is a naming and writing studio that has operated since 1990. The team works with founders and organizations across sectors — from healthcare AI and software to micromobility — typically engaging directly with company leadership on individual naming projects rather than large marketing departments. Its stated focus is distillation: using language economically to capture attention and communicate clearly, rather than pursuing broad-spectrum advertising or brand campaigns. The core service is naming and renaming, illustrated by projects such as developing the name Abridge for a clinical-conversation AI platform, Codex for an OpenAI natural-language-to-code model, and Olto for an e-bike from a micromobility company. Its process includes building naming architecture that can extend across a client's current and future product portfolio, generating multiple rounds of name candidates, and running preliminary trademark screening in the US before handing off to legal counsel for deeper clearance. Work also extends to checking domain availability and advising on URL strategy as part of a naming decision. Beyond naming, the studio's listed services include brand messaging and writing, digital strategy, web design, SEO, and advertising, though the case studies provided center specifically on naming engagements and the reasoning behind each chosen name.