Is this a good fictional organization name?

[Writer’s_Magic]

Hey, gals and guys! I’m planning a mystery web series at the moment, too. My two protagonists work for a fictional police department. Of course, I have to name this division. Well, I thought about it, but I don’t know if it’s a good name. The name, which I thought about, is “Bureau of mystery crimes” (Short: BMC). Is this a good name? How do you name fictional organizations?


P.S.: The genres are Sci-fi; horror; thriller; fantasy; mystery; and cryptozoology.

 

[Laurence]

Something about “Mystery Crimes” sounds slightly childish to me - though BMC sounds good.

Perhaps just “Bureau of Mysteries” or “Bureau of Criminal Mysteries” would work if the emphasis must be on the mysterious.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Laurence The series is going to be a little bit á la X-files. But with much more mind-fuck! And non-real world scenarios e.g. Video Games.

 

[evolution_rex]

Any crime that is unsolved is a mystery, so I don’t think it works. You need a word describe the unusual sci-fi aspect.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

evolution_rex Maybe. But I didn’t decide if it is set in the present or future yet.

 

[Heliotrope]

True to all of my posts thus far.... keep the name for now. Change it later of something better comes up.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Heliotrope Ok! For the first script, I should keep the name. And later editing.

 

[Ban]

Explain the organization and we may be able to come up with a better name together. If you have doubts about the name, it's time to think about up in my opinion.

 

[Miles Lacey]

If the law enforcement organisation is going to investigate crimes that occur outside of the world as we know it then you can always call it the Bureau for the Investigation of Non-Terrestrial Crimes (BINTEC).

Alternatively go for something so bland and unassuming that it will stick in the minds of readers precisely because of it.

Everyone knows the name James Bond but most people don;t know that Ian Fleming chose the name because it was the most boring, unassuming name he could think of. And can you think of anything less interesting but as well known as the 00 section of Mi-5?

 

[ThinkerX]

The 'mystery' part doesn't work. I'd suggest something like:

'Department 13' (D-13)

or

'Division X' (DX or 'Dex')

 

[CupofJoe]

And there would probably be more than one name.
There would be the Official Name: The Centre for Unexplained Crime; and its initials CUC.
Then there is how it is known to the people that like/work with it The Kooks .
Next is the name that is used by the people that don't like it or are its target [and this could be anything, riffing off something about them; their uniforms, or lack of them, how they operate, the weapons they use, the time of day they strike, if people ever come back from being "visited" by them...].
And add to Miles Lacey; don't forget the cover name that MI5 used for its operations was a company called Universal Exports...
How bland can you get?

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Ban Ok! Then I’ll try it. But I can’t give the guarantee that you understand following words 100%. Well, the organization is kinda an FBI for paranormal phenomena. That police examine the different cases. It can be everything! Serial killers, aliens or even vampires. I hope I explained it well…

 

[Penpilot]

What kind of tone are you going for?

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Penpilot I don’t know. Are the genres a tone, aren’t they? But I believe I’ll also write more mind-fucked and darker than x-files.

 

[Penpilot]

Genre and tone are independent. For example, you can have comedy horror, dead serious horror, and all the stuff in between. How you name something can swing things in one direction or the other.

I mean if you keep your name Bureau of mystery crimes (BMC), knowing there's kind of a redundancy in the title, it gives it a less serious tone.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Penpilot Well, I already wrote the genres in the first one. But I can paste them for you here again: The genres are Sci-fi; horror; thriller; fantasy; mystery; and cryptozoology.

 

[Heliotrope]

Give an example of what it is "like"......

For example, my gothic mystery has some "horror" elements to it, but not "Paranormal Activity" horror, more like "The Green Mile" horror. Do you see the difference? One had a shock value tone, and plays to cheap thrills and scare tactics. The other horror is more subdued, and more grounded in real themes and emotions.

 

[Writer’s_Magic]

Heliotrope Like X-files.

 

[pmmg]

Bureau of Mystic Crimes (Still BMC)
Bureau of Paranormal Investigations
Bureau of Supernatural Occurrences
Bureau of Strange Occurrences and Investigations.
Strange Occurrence and Investigation Unit

 

[summondice]

I don't know if you ever decided on a name, but a couple other things to think about would be what esteem this bureau is held in and what approach the investigators take to solving the crime.

That is, the X-Files were not a well-respected bureau and so they got a name that reflects what they do without giving the public at large any real idea that such a section of the FBI exists. Easy denial of the work they do.

And likewise, in Criminal Minds, the characters work for a section that defines itself by how they solve crimes.

Might give some ideas on how to name this one.