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The Tetris of words: naming a pharmaceutical

Behind every name for a business, product or prescription drug is someone writing hundreds of possible names. Lieba Golden-Koulendros has made a career out it.

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"There may be regulatory requirements that you have to encode the name of the generic into the pharmaceutical name," said Lieba Golden-Koulendros.
"There may be regulatory requirements that you have to encode the name of the generic into the pharmaceutical name," said Lieba Golden-Koulendros.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images

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Lieba Golden-Koulendros got into the naming business by accident.

“I met up with an old friend who happened to be working at a branding firm where they had just developed the name Viagra,” said Golden-Koulendros. ” I asked him to give me a try.”

But an accident doesn’t count out destiny. Golden-Koulendros always had a flair for words. She adores crossword puzzles and puns. She sees the work as similar to playing a game of Tetris or solving a Rubik’s Cube.

A woman with grey hair in a black shirt smiles in front of a grey background.
Lieba Golden-Koulendros.
Golden-Koulendros

Now 20, years later, Golden-Koulendros continues to name products and businesses, and creates taglines for companies big and small. Like many other people in creative industries, she also suffers from “word” block.

“When I’m feeling stuck, I dig into my Latin studies,” Golden-Koulendros said. “I go online and look at other brands. I may go to other countries online and look at their brands. I’m just a super word nerd, always capturing a turn of phrase that catches my eye or my ear.”

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