This paper presents a pilot study of how brand names and product namesare recognized in commercials. Previous research has primarily focused oncommercial names from the perspective of the enterprise, whereas we inthis study shift focus to a user perspective. The paper also presents a newmethod for onomastic study which was used in the pilot study: eye tracking.Eye tracking implies digitally registering and analyzing patterns in eyemovements in order to explore how particular features are recognized andcognitively processed in interaction with other features in the context. Thepaper describes the eye tracking method and its theoretical foundation aswell as apply it in a small pilot study. Six advertisements containing a totalof 12 commercial names and different visual structures were presented to10 study participants. Basing on the results of the eye tracking analysis, wediscuss how names in different visual settings have been recognized andremembered and identify potential research questions for future research.We also evaluate the utilization of the method as such and discuss itsimplications for future onomastics. © Respektive författare 2023