Brand name — how does it sound to American ears? [closed]

I work for a European tech start-up, and we are currently choosing a brand name for the US market. We obviously want the name to be unique, succinct, and memorable, but most importantly we want it to have zero culturally ignorant, obscene, or strongly irrelevant associations. Since we lack the deep cultural background of native speakers, we would like to ask an opinion on our two final options. Here they are:

• Tortu
• Fabble

We will very much appreciate any comments, associations, impressions — any thoughts whatsoever — especially if you’re an American English speaker. Thanks for your time!

Solution 1:

Native American english speaker here with several years of experience working in brand marketing.

Tortu invokes ideas of a tort, which is a legal term. If your brand is related to the legal field, this could be a good choice. There are no offensive or related terms that come to mind that would cause any issues.

Fabble sounds a bit childish and to me. I wouldn't choose this one unless the product is directed towards children or made to be childish in nature.

Neither term has "culturally ignorant, obscene, or strongly irrelevant associations", but Tortu sounds better to me than Fabble.

Just my 2 cents. Cheers from America!

Solution 2:

Native American English speaker here, too. As someone who works at an American tech startup, I like Fabble. Neither one sounds particularly off, but it's easier for me to say Fabble as opposed to Tortu. I also didn't know a tort was a thing, so I think in the tech space, that name would be fine as well. Tech startups are known for having fun names, so I don't think Fabble is too childish.

Solution 3:

The name "Tortu" reminds me of the word "torture"; I don't like it for that reason. The "u" at the end also makes it sound distinctly foreign.

The name "Fabble" sounds like, perhaps, a cross between "fabricate" and "babble". It makes me think of a person speaking quickly and saying lots of falsehoods (in other words, babbling fabrications).

Other Americans will have different impressions, of course, but these are mine.