Well, I haven’t seen any encouragement from anywhere within the team to get behind another name. It seems to me that when someone comes along and expresses concern for the name or offers suggestions, they are basically told “well, we’re just going to stick with Couchers for now.” There has never been alternatives, as far as I know.
Saying that you’d consider changing the name if everyone can get behind it isn’t really fair, since there’s no way we could ever come to a unanimous agreement. But I do think it’s worth having a stronger push for name ideas and discussion about it. And I absolutely think we should be spending energy on it, since the name itself has already turned people away (I’m speaking anecdotally here, just feedback I’ve received from people and stuff I’ve read online about us).
I just think we can do much better for marketing and out of respect for the French meaning of coucher, and it’s a bit sad to see pushback from the top every time, which imo is overshadowing the people who might prefer a different name but since there’s nothing to rally behind, everyone who might want a different name is kinda scattered.
I initially thought Couchers was uncreative and does a disservice to what we are building - something much broader than of or having to do with couches. On top of that, there are many people (and women in particular) who have negative feelings about couch-surfing or “Couchsurfing” and associate the terms with freeloaders, creeps, and at worst, sexual predators.
The “reclaiming” idea means well and is ideal, but my feeling is that it may not work to diversify our userbase. In fact, it could have the opposite effect of attracting the same people who misused CS to begin with.
All that said, people will get probably get used to/accept any name at all, eventually. Even I did, but mainly because I didn’t see anyone else as opposed to it as I was. Perhaps I am still unique in that aspect
That would avoid the francophone kʊʃ ɜ:ʳ, claims kaʊtʃ-surfing while being ridiculous enough to keep away creeps, only evokes the mental image of a kaʊtʃ, which seems quite different than a couch - and looks creatively international!
It’s not an uncommon opinion at all, but in the hospex world that would put you more in the Bewelcome philosophy. I remember one of the founders of BW saying that BW and hospex is so much more than the couch. Needless to say, more than 10 years after, BW still has no activity.
Countless waves of refuges have fled CS to BW, but none has sticked around. Those who start something new are necessarily the most opinionated and principled, but you also need the casuals to create a diverse community.
Itsi, you are saying that you haven’t been able to find agreement about any name besides Couchers; but it seems like there is also a lack of agreement around “Couchers” as a name, so what exactly makes that the default option?
I get the idea of reclaiming “couchsurfing” as a term, and you actually convinced me that it’s not too bad that the names are similar. However, people in this thread have brought up extremely valid problems about the name Couchers. Also, just looking at this thread, some good name ideas have been thrown around that didn’t get the chance to be “backed up” since all we can do here is like posts and reply to them. Why not ask community members to submit names (even in a Google form!) and have the leaders of the group decide on them with an open mind? It doesn’t even have to take more than a week, so I don’t see how the urgency of platform release is affected.
Referring to the “failure” of BWelcome and other platforms as a defense of the name “Couchers” seems to suggest that the only reason these platforms haven’t had people stick around is that their name wasn’t similar enough. I don’t think that’s true! This platform here has a lot of unique elements that differentiate it from CS and enhance the community aspect, so, if it succeeds, it will not be because of the name. (Also, unlike BWelcome, this platform here will benefit from the timing of its release).
I think anything with ‘host’ in it scares people away because of the idea of having to let strangers in your home.
Anything reminding to travel does not cover what we are standing for. (Don’t forget the community part.)
Names too much linked to a particular culture should also be avoided.
I think we should find a name with ‘surfing’ in it as that has positive annotations and the relation with ‘couchsurfing’ is easily made.
I think it’s just default because it’s the name they came up with initially and have been using it everywhere already. I’m disappointed because at the beginning it did seem like changing the name would be an eventuality, but so much time has passed that it’s getting harder and harder to imagine a different name.
Still don’t think it’s too late though. As they say, the best time to plant a tree was yesterday. The second best time is now!
@Jesse, I’m guessing for the names you listed the .orgs were also available? Maybe ever cheaper?
Yes, last time I checked! I think getting both a .com and .org is essential. If we get .org but not .com someone else could grab the .com and misdirect others (or sell it to a competitor).
As english is not my native, can you explain me: both (host/surfer) would be just couchers than?
First i also didnt like the name couchers! once i had a bad experience with a host. He called all Surfers “couch”, bc he didnt remember names and his english was terrible. To me it was dehumidifying. And couchers reminded me on that.
Just wanted to update you that the volunteers team has considered everyone’s opinions here, discussed extensively, and ultimately voted on whether or not we should change our name.
Last week, 88% of volunteers who voted elected to stick with our current name, Couchers.org or Couchers for short. Therefore we are going to move forward with Couchers, and hope you’ll support us in promoting and standing by it!
Hi Hiperplank I don’t know if you saw my latest update but I was trying to point out that we’ve already moved on from changing the name and we’re sticking with Couchers, haha. Not that I don’t appreciate your input, though. Hopefully you like Couchers enough to support it! It took me a while to come around but I’ve accepted it now!
I want Couchcrash! Can already see a wonderful logo for that!
just joking… how about closing this topic as it seems resolved? we could move on to a new one, like Couchers AU fan fiction so we don’t limit anyone’s imagination!?
Well you never know when someone will come along with a great alternative name and start a revolution, or on the contrary bring up some dealbreaker that none of us had considered before… I still want to leave it open for people to discuss how others have reacted to the name too. If possible
the name. I think it’s genius! 
