Icon naming conventions that scale

Names are how people (and code) find icons. A messy naming scheme makes a set unusable at scale; a consistent one makes the right icon a search away.

Principles

• Describe the object, not the meaning — trash not delete, because one icon serves many actions.
• Be consistent — pick trash or bin and stick with it.
• Use modifiers after the base — arrow-left, arrow-up, chevron-down.
• Lowercase, hyphenated — predictable and URL-safe.

Add aliases

People search by intent. Map synonyms to the canonical name (delete, remove → trash; cog → settings) so searches succeed even when the mental model differs from your naming.

Avoid

Brand-specific names that change, ambiguous abbreviations, and encoding meaning into the base name. Keep the base literal and let aliases and context carry intent.

Frequently asked questions