A Man, a Plan, a Canal, a...Savas!

Chris Russo on background

Chris Russo

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Previously, on our who we are page, I gave you a taste of the meaning of Savas. Now, let’s take a deeper dive.

For those who know me, they think I’m zany. For those who know me well, they know I’m zany. For the select few who know me really well and/or have worked with me, they know I have an odd obsession with palindromes.

This is why, when we asked Harbor to help us come up with a company identity, including designing our logo and assisting us with our name selection, “palindrome” was naturally a category of options for names… e pluribus unum ?

Really though?

While the original impetus for choosing a name that is a palindrome did stem from previous wholesale high-regard for palindromes, I began to appreciate the balance and symmetry that they represent aesthetically and, therefore, thematically for our company.

It fits really well.

“Savas” was actually a low-ranking option early on due to our initial, internal feelings on the connotation as it was presented to us, but after holding a focus group on top contenders, we discovered people found it alluring and also tied it to “savant” and other words that made them think of knowledge from the French word savoir.

Fun palindromic facts

  • Our area code in Durham, NC is a palindrome: 919
  • One of the team’s house numbers is a palindrome. I am not going to tell you who or what.
  • In writing this, I learned a new literary term: Semordnilap, which is a word, when read backward, is a different word! E.g. repaid
  • The world’s longest palindromic phrase, at least so far, and according to these guys, is 17,826 words!

Previous top-name contenders

  • bespoke
  • Nivelo

Interested in why? Inquire within or request another blog post!

I want to thank my mom and dad for the inspiration!