What's in a name? Architecture firm names that shouldn't a-been:

On the slant of what is architecture I thought I would pass on some firm names I had run across. Back in the olden days, professionals would attach their own name to the firm. This (supposedly) gave the firm a sense of legitimacy as one could easily discern who the person in charge was as well as added the professional air, similar to a legal firm. When architecture firms would pass on to new owners the name would either change to reflect the new ownership or the old name would be kept, reminiscent of the firm's past work and established roots. Which choice was better? I don't know if one could decide.

However the influx of wacky names to promote some hi-tech ideas or to give the name some catch or zing is all the rage and doesn't have to change when the firm ownership does, meaning that established firms can maintain whatever ethical/aesthetic guidelines they were founded on while changing ownership (and the whole thing isn't designed to stroke personal egos).

Sometimes though I see names that while self descriptive in some manner are a little, well, odd. I was going to compile a giant list but to be honest I haven't the time to parse every firm out there. Instead I thought I would get the ball rolling:

Greeen!Architects (I think the "green" thing officially got out of hand in 2007. Yes the "e's" stand for something)
AAA Architects Inc. (Follows the Yellow Pages mentality to be located at the top of the list)
Architectural Design (So, what do you do there?)
Architectural Design Group
Architectural Design Guild (I am a 42level dark elf drafter)
Architectural Design Inc. (like KIDS incorporated)
Architectural Design Matrix (Keanu Reeves jumps on the celebrity architect band wagon)
ArchiTexas
Architique (this is running with the "architecture" remix branding exercise a little too fast)
Architron (fighting the Master Control Program since 1982)
Art and Architecture by Design (The business card reads like a bad pick up line waiting to happen)

Feel free to add to the list in comments as you want. As you can probably tell I just started going through a list of firms (and giggling).