Where do all the fonts get their names from?

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Where do all the fonts get their names from?

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5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Usually from the font designer/designers. But a lot of time the words in a font mean something. So, for example, Times New Roman was a new style of Roman font that was invented for the Times (they dont actually use it anymore, I don’t think). Comic Sans is a comic font that is sans serif (which means without [serif](https://www.97thfloor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Serif-Sans-1-04-1.jpg?width=1000&height=399&name=Serif-Sans-1-04-1.jpg)). A font family is slight variations of the same font. So, Helvetica Neue is an updated version of Helvetica. And Arial Bold is a bolded version of Arial. Some of the words you might see in fonts, like, Gothic, Sans, Serif, Italics, Slab, Script, Stencil, Calligraphy, Blackletter, Dingbat, Monospace, etc, all tell the user something about how the font looks. Its sort of like naming shoes sneakers, clogs, mary janes, oxfords, or stilettos. If you know shoes (or fonts), then you know something about that shoe (or font) just from the name.

As for how names are specifically chosen, it’s often just a random word that suits the style of the typeface (or that looks good in the typeface). Futura is a futuristic-looking, modern font… Well, it was futuristic looking in 20s or 30s when it was made. Lol. If there’s a unique letter or ligature (two or three letters that appear differently when typed together – different from kerning, which is the spacing between letters), then the chosen name will often display this special attribute. This is especially true of fonts that are made by a single artist or designer and sold on a small, individual scale, rather than fonts produced from a major forge (the somewhat humorous name for a company that makes fonts. Font forge). So, for example, the W in [this font](https://creativemarket.com/DesignSomething/104244-Winchester-Condensed-Font) and the BR in [this font](https://creativemarket.com/TobiasSaul/1963894-Brilon-Font-Extras) and the I, M, and E in [this one](https://creativemarket.com/mlkwsn999/3437201-Empires-Graffitty-Street-Brush). This just effectively shows off the uniqueness of a font when people are scrolling through. It represents the font in its best light.

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