After developing and marketing what promises to be the world’s first mass-produced extended-range EV, the folks at GM are too tired to come up with names for all the paint colors, so they’re asking for your help.

Apparently not satisfied with “kinda silvery and greenish” as a description of the exterior color of the pre-production Chevy Volt shown above, the General is asking for help from the general public to officially name the color for press and marketing materials. You can enter — and eventually vote — at chevroletvoltage.com.

The three top vote-getters win a trip to the L.A. Auto Show, while first prize gets their own addition to GM’s paint codes and the chance to drive a pre-production Volt. Props to anyone who submits “Autopia Emerald.”

So, how about it? For professional namers, coming up with a new name for “that same weird metallic green color you see on every other car” should be a snap. (Despite the fact that the car doesn’t really look green at all, to me.) Here are our suggestions, and we encourage you to leave yours in the comments. Have at it!

Kelp
Sea Foam
Seahorse Poop
Pelican’s Briefs
Green Guano
Pregnant Mermaid
Jellyfish Rash
Moldy Caviar
Cataract green
Limeaid
Limerick
Smoggy Everglade
Greenade
Gangreen
Seth (green)
Forest Spore
Mucous
Phlegm
Sputum
Not Quite (green)

BONUS: At the GM Volt website, they have posted some YouTube videos to help us all feel part of the process of developing the Volt. The name of this video is “How GM Chooses Vehicle Colors”, but they never actually explain how they choose colors. What’s much more interesting is Chris Webb’s accent. Dude, where you from?

Sierra Schlesinger smiles easily while selling two pounds of shelling beans at the farmers’ market in Berkeley, California. “People know us as the dirty girls – even Joe (the farmer) gets tagged as one although he bristles a little at that….They remember us,” she says. The farm gets its name from the original owners, two women who tried to call it Fan Tan Farm in 1995. Local farmers nicknamed them the “dirty girls” and the name stuck. Today Dirty Girl Produce and its Early Girl dry-farmed tomatoes have become legendary in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. “Sometimes people don’t even bother to look at the signs,” says Dirty Girl worker Steve Wright, “but they know what they’re looking for and ask you: ‘Are these the Dirty Girl tomatoes?’”

The recent movement to eat local and organic has people thinking a lot more about where their food is coming from and how it’s grown. And distinct, creative farm names help smaller farms differentiate their produce from that of their industrial agribusiness competitors (whose produce usually isn’t labeled in the supermarket). Agricultural brand naming also makes it easier for consumers to feel connected on a personal level with the people who grow their food, “putting a face” on what’s often seen merely as a commodity.

Bay Area farmers’ markets are a heaven of fruits and vegetables in summer, showcasing a kaleidoscope of luscious produce from farms along the state’s central coast. A walk down the line reveals some of the farms’ intriguing brand names: Ella Bella (named after the owner’s daughter, Ella), Full Belly (need we say more?), Blossom Bluff, Gospel Flat. And while the names may be branding products that are worlds away from commercialized big business, they follow principles of brand name creation that are familiar to those of us from professional naming firms. Unique company names like Frog Hollow Farm, (whose yellow peaches are indescribably delicious) and Flying Disc Ranch (where the fresh, soft dates are more delectable than fine caramel) suggest superior produce, grown with great care. They draw you in for a taste and make it easy to remember the brand later.

Such company names also pique your curiosity and make you want to know more about the farms themselves. And the farms are enthusiastic about sharing. The family that owns Gospel Flat Farm-named after the four churches that once stood on the property-regularly invites students from the nearby middle school to see sustainable agriculture in action. (Here the farm looks more like an enormous garden than an actual commercial farm, with organic crops thriving next to rows of flowers.)

Bottom line? People remember engaging names and when the produce is consistently good, they develop a fervent loyalty to those farm brands.

It seems everyone’s jumping on the green brandwagon. Trademark filings incorporating “green” jumped 143% between 2006 and 2007, versus under 5% for “red” and “blue.” Clorox’s recent introduction of Green Works, a line of biodegradable household cleaners, exemplifies the trend.

“Eco” and “earth” names also showed huge gains (almost doubling), while more general terms like “nature,” “natural,” and “pure” grew less than 20%.

What does all this mean for marketers, going forward? Are “green” names still golden? Or are there greener pastures? Here’s our take on green naming:

Top 5 Green Naming Tips

1) If you’re going to go (or say) “green,” it’s got to be credible. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy at evaluating green claims and increasingly dubious about green names from companies without solid eco-bona fides.

2) Green is an amazing word, communicating nature, vibrance, sustainability, eco-awareness, and more in one friendly syllable. But aside from overuse, in the not-so-distant future the claim itself will become a point of parity. Marketers will have to look to other naming differentiators.

3) If you must say “green” in your name, be sure to pair it with an interesting, even unexpected second word. And by all means, avoid forced constructions like “Greenovation” and “Greengevity” which undo the beauty and simplicity of the word.

4) Better yet, look for ways to say “green” without saying “green.” Consider names that key on the end-benefits of going green, both to the planet and the consumer living healthier, saving the world, giving to future generations, doing the right thing. Brands like Seventh Generation, Burt’s Bees, and Tom’s of Maine subtly yet evocatively suggest eco-friendliness.

5) Whether or not you adopt a “green” name, be sure to use packaging (or lack thereof), logo design and other visual cues to telegraph eco-consciousness. A brand like Method successfully conveys “green” entirely through non-naming marketing tools.