A few days ago, I launched a contest to rename my flagship product, CaRP Evolution. I had no idea the amount of emotion this would generate!

On the one side are people who think it's a fantastic idea -- that the old name had..."issues", that a more descriptive name is needed, etc.

On the other side are people who think it's a terrible idea -- that the old name is fine (or even great), that the old name is so well established that it would be foolish to abandon it, etc. One of the comments on the blog post announcing the contest says that renaming of established products rarely succeeds. A few people suggest that my reasons for wanting to rename it aren't sufficient to make it worth doing.

What do you think? Feel free to answer generally or talk specifically about CaRP...or some other product:

* Is it smart to rename an established product if the old name doesn't communicate what the product is (except to people already familiar with the name, of course), or am I a raving lunatic to even consider it?

* Have you ever renamed a product or watched as a product got renamed? Did it help the product or hurt it? What happened that made the renaming succeed or fail?

* What hurdles can you think of that someone renaming a product might need to clear? What might they try to help clear them?

If I go through with this (I'm still planning on it so far), succeed or fail, it should make an interesting case study!