Naming Studio Ceta

Choosing a name

When I decided to turn my studio into a bed and breakfast, choosing a name became a bit of an obsession.

In a previous chapter of my life, I worked in product design and spent years naming furniture and home products. I learned that a name can quietly shape how people feel about something. A new name becomes part of our vocabulary, should be easy to say, pleasing to look at graphically, and still feel right years later.

So, I put every idea through that filter.

A whale name

Whales seemed like the natural place to start. They are part of everyday life here at East Point on Saturna Island. Although they weren’t the reason I first came to the island it didn’t take long before I was completely captivated. What began as simple fascination gradually turned into learning, volunteering, research, and eventually, conservation and advocacy. Sometimes this property is the epicentre of that work.

The word Ceta comes from Cetacea, the scientific order that includes all whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Around StudioCeta, the cetaceans we see most often are humpback whales, orcas, and harbour porpoises. They are grouped into two distinct groups: Humpbacks belong to the baleen whales, while orcas and harbour porpoises are toothed whales. Together, they’re all cetaceans.

I’ve always been drawn to short names, especially four-letter ones. There’s something balanced and timeless about them. Ceta felt clean, memorable, and quietly connected to this remarkable coastline without being too obvious.

Before whales

The word ‘studio’ was just as important. Before it welcomed B&B guests, this building had several lives. It was once a workspace for whale researchers, and computers processing field data. Before that, it was my photography studio, my design studio, and occasionally my painting studio. Creativity, curiosity, and discovery have always lived within these walls.

Sounds like the sea

People ask how to pronounce it. I say “sea-ta,” while others naturally say “set-a.” Both feel perfectly right to me, and I like that it sounds like the sea.

After a few weeks of living with the name—writing it down, saying it aloud, seeing it on sketches—it simply became StudioCeta. It no longer felt like a name I had invented. It felt like the name that had been waiting for this place all along.

It became real

I registered the business name, purchased the website domain, and made sure there was no trademark infringement. And finally, it was official and real.

And now, it’s a place where guests can watch the sea, and if they’re lucky, see and hear the cetaceans that inspired its name.