Mitsubishi Pajero → Montero
In Spanish slang, pajero means "wanker". Mitsubishi sold the SUV as the Montero in Spain and much of the Americas, and as the Shogun in the UK.
VerdictFit index
Clear
Brand name screening · 25 languages
Hear your name before the world does.
Earshot checks a proposed name for vulgar lookalikes, hard sounds and awkward scripts in 25 languages. Run it before you buy the domain, file the trademark or print the box.
Report ER-00000
Subject Sparkbite
25 languages
Audiogram · fit per language, 100 = lands cleanShaded columns are in the free report
01
Landmine scan
Checks the name against a curated lexicon of vulgar, insulting and unfortunate words. Matches can be exact, contained in the name, at the start of the name, close in sound, or produced when the letters are spelled aloud.
02
Pronounceability
How easily a speaker reads the name as written, from the sound rules of each language: missing sounds, letters read differently, clusters that get a vowel inserted. 100 means no friction.
03
Script renderings
How the name could appear on packaging in six non-Latin scripts, read as spelled.
Approximate, rule-based transliterations. A native check is included in the paid report.
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Screen the whole shortlist.
Naming rounds produce dozens of candidates. Paste them one per line and Earshot ranks them with the same engine as the report above. Studio runs up to 500 names per CSV upload.
Ranked safest firstFit index
Pricing
Start with the free check. Buy a full report when a name makes the shortlist. Agencies and product teams screening many names use Studio.
Free
Check
$0
For a first look at any name.
- Fit scores for all 25 languages
- Full findings for your 5 highest-risk languages
- Script renderings in 6 alphabets
- 3 names a day
Per name
Report
$49 per name
For the name you are about to commit to.
- Full findings in all 25 languages
- Native-speaker sign-off within 48 hours
- PDF report for founders, counsel or clients
- Corrected native-script spellings
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Teams
Studio
$199 per month
For naming agencies and product teams.
- Unlimited names
- Team workspace with shared shortlists
- API access
- Bulk CSV screening, 500 names per run
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Why this exists
A name gets expensive to change once it is printed, registered or launched. Professional linguistic checks exist, and they often take days and thousands of dollars per round. Earshot gives you the first pass in seconds. Each case below carries an honest grade.
Toyota MR2 → MR
Spelled aloud in French, "MR2" is èm-èr-deux, which runs straight into merde. Toyota sold the car in France as the MR. Earshot spells alphanumeric names aloud for exactly this reason.
Honda Fitta → Jazz
Honda planned to launch its small car in Europe as the Fitta. In Swedish, fitta is a vulgar word for female genitals, and Norwegian has a near twin. The car launched in Europe in 2001 as the Jazz.
Chevrolet Nova and "no va"
The story says the Nova flopped in Latin America because no va means "it doesn't go". The car sold well in Mexico and Venezuela, and Spanish speakers read nova as one word. Earshot flags the myth and tells you it is one.
What the free check does, and what it doesn't.
Every rule in the engine is written down and checkable. When a finding is uncertain, Earshot says so and leaves the call to a native speaker.
0
Curated lexicon
Vulgar, insulting, scatological and death-related words, entered only when the meaning is well established. Strong words are masked on screen. Short words match only exactly or at the start of a name, to keep noise down.
0
Sound rules
Per-language rules for missing sounds and syllable shapes: no "p" in Arabic, "l" and "r" as one sound in Japanese, an added "e-" before "sp" in Spanish, clusters split in Mandarin.
3
Limits to know
- Trademark clearance and domain availability
- Tone, connotation and slang that moves fast
- Innocent words that happen to contain a flagged string. A native speaker clears those in the paid report.