Kuthay: Sgaw Karen meaning to educate

One of the hardest things to do when starting a business is finding a name.  It's especially difficult if you want to use that name as your website domain name as well.  Believe me, I spent hours looking at the home pages of many websites that said "This domain is for sale.  If you want to purchase this domain...".

It was frustrating, to say the least.

While taking a break from name searching, I came across a website for open source software called Mahara.  Mahara means 'think' or 'thought' in the Te Reo Maori language, which is spoken by the indigenous population of New Zealand.  This got me thinking in a new direction and soon I was on the phone with a very dear friend who lives in Denver.  My friend was born in Burma, is ethnic Karen, and speaks five different languages.  It didn't take long to come up with "Kuthay", which means "to educate" in Sgaw Karen.  As a bonus, "Thay" also happens to be a Vietnamese word for “teacher”.

So, I found a word that isn't too difficult to pronounce in English, is not a registered domain name, and has something to do with the focus of the company.  Kuthay it is!