What's in a fragrance name?

How much the name of a perfume calls for attention? How close is the name related to the harmony of the scent? How deceiving could the name be?
I am not talking about leathers (cuir) or tabaccos or soliflore. Their names are straight as an arrow. No confusion there.
But what about "Putain des Palaces", Angelique Sous la Pluie etc. You can also think about some ones. What determines the name of a perfume?

Seems that some have nothing whatsoever to do with the fragrance, while others are either aptly named or at the very least, an attempt was made to give it a face.

The "human condition" is such that, when a fragrance has an interesting or mysterious name, it piques our interest just enough to either discuss, sample or purchase.

A case in point: "Mitsouko". There are the stories about how the name came about, because there is certainly nothing Japanese about the fragrance, but I personally think it was a sort of a marketing ploy of its time when rich European folks were high on japonaiserie and chinoiserie and consumed anything even hinting at ~oriental~ ~exoticism~ with gusto. In other words, same thing that goes on today, since the name is part of the marketing. Also in niche perfumery.

ADDENDUM: I also think about this when non-French perfumers give French names to their products. It's the lingua franca of perfumery but it still comes off as somewhat pretentious when there are 6500 languages in the world to choose from.

I must admit that a perfume´s name does catch my eye - more than the bottle.
It is the name that I try to derive the perfume´s character from. For example, names with "noir"/"black", "midnight" or "oriental" etc. give me the impression that this might be a heavy, sexy and/or simply oriental fragrance full of patchouli, amber and incense.
That is the theory

Of course, names do not always live up to my expectations. "Erotique" by Dita von Teese, i.e. is such a name. Beautiful scent (a very nice smell-alike of Wonderwood) but by no means sexy IMHO.

I also admit that reading a perfume´s name sometimes initiates some sort of a "mini movie" in my head, telling me the "storyline" of the scent. Actually, I like that.

In order to be interested, to sniff or to buy, I need a name.

Not a number. See this link
olfactoriastravels.com/2013/12/03/terroir-perf umes-by-richard-luscher-britos-a-perfume-launc h-in-zurich/
describing the line of Terroir perfumes. It is not very tempting to choose a bottle with a number. The scarves would have been most interesting in the exhibition. In the replies most everyone mentioned the scarves. Why? Because they were visual. To find out where your perfume is located, one has to consult the map??

Maybe it is not too late to update the Marketing. Just add a name and in parentheses put the location. Then the concept is preserved and the customer does not have "to work so hard".

A label (name) should draw the prospective buyer IN, a number does not do it. (I did recently a course of statistics and the numbers Sigma this, Sigma that ... bored me to death.) Perfumes are fantasy items. They need poetic names.

Moreover, (the worst is) that not many people know that Terroir in this context means territory. Only winemakers may be familiar with that. So, at first blush, the French word Terroir is too close to the English word "Terror" = fear and that might make an unfortunate association. It's possible.
Sorry.

Some examples of poetic fantasy inspiring names -

MDCI Paris - "Enlevement au Serail" Ha hah ... now there is something to fantasize about.

Isabey - "La Route d'Emeraude" how the merchants traveled the green route to bring back spices from the Orient.

MDCI Paris - "Vepres Siciliennes" named after the opera.

Bond No. 9 brings out perfumes reminiscent of NYC neighborhoods, like "Little Italy" and "Manhattan" and "Chinatown" etc.

That was already started in Paris, with
"24, Faubourg" and "Montaigne" and "Jardins de Bagatelle" etc.

The labels LOVE ... PARADISE ... GOLD ... SEXY ... are used endlessly.

Dear Pipette,

Yes, I agree...and increasingly also "Royal", "Imperial" and the like. It sounded exciting in the beginning (admitted, Armani Privé can pull off such adjectives) but it is getting annoying with more brands adopting this nomenclature.

Also admitted : "noir" has been used inflationary as well....but it still appeals to me somehow.

United Scents Of America has "New Jersey", "Texas", "Hawaii", "New York", "Massachusetts", "Florida" and "California". Those names have wanted to make me sample them.

I'd like to think that I'm name neutral.

I looked past the kitschy little name "Fancy Nights" didn't I?

But I do admit that single word names that sound exotic or literary are attractive to me. Some examples:

"Theorema"
"Coromandel"
"Samsara"
"Shalimar"
"Chergui"

Who remembers the scene from A Fish called Wanda where Archie employs every Russian non sequitur in rapturous verse to arouse the wonderful Wanda? I think Dulcemio is on to something

I'd like to think that I'm name neutral.

I looked past the kitschy little name "Fancy Nights" didn't I?

But I do admit that single word names that sound exotic or literary are attractive to me. Some examples:

"Theorema"
"Coromandel"
"Samsara"
"Shalimar"
"Chergui:c1abfa731b]
I have a bottle of FN coming with some Arpege. Fully shipped to the bottom of the world for $40 US. I love the computer age

Mr Triffid doesn't bother to learn the names at all, instead referring to "the red box", "the blue box", "that oud one" etc. Marketing is totally lost on him!

Correct pronunciation of French perfume names can be an issue for me. In our early teens, my older sister was given a bottle of Anais Anais by a boyfriend and was very precious about it - I was forbidden to even touch the bottle. I thought it was hilarious that she should be given a perfume that sounded like 'Anus Anus'. "Wouldn't want to touch it anyway!" was my response to my now doubtful and distraught sibling.

Caught between an Irish Mother, a Father from London and a Kiwi upbringing I can mutilate French perfume names. To the rescue:
fragnameoftheday.blogspot.co.nz

Bela contributes to Bois de Jasmin and now has over 1020 perfume names in sound bites so that we can get it right…attempt to get it right

My boss and supervisor are both French but have been in Oz for 14 and 19 years respectively. Their accents are still impenetrable sometimes and I still need them to repeat things, especially over the phone. At least I have someone to ask about French pronunciation now!

There was also a scene in that awesome movie where Kevin Kline's character spouts a bunch of randon Italian words right before he and Jamie Lee do it, and then goes cross-eyed! A running theme, I guess.

And by the way, remember when Kevin Kline was in flippin' everything? Ah, those were the days. *sigh*