All product and service names carry a personality. Sometimes it’s a bad one.

The harder a name is to pronounce – and the more unfamiliar the wording is to the reader – the more risky prospects will perceive the product or service to be, says a recent study by psychologists at the University of Michigan.

Example: Students in the study read a list of fake food additive names and were asked to rate which ones they thought were high-risk.

The harder they were to pronounce, like “Hnegripitrom,” the riskier they were rated.

How does a name like “Xcyte” make people feel?

For some, the word is foreboding because it takes a second to realize it’s pronounced “excite.”

That’s a dangerous second for any company, according to the study. A split-second of confusion can turn prospects off entirely.