There is a science to the way names sound. I forget what it’s called. Vader was not only a great villain, but his name sounded perfect. Vader. Intimidating. Succinct. Hard to forget, and very appropriate.
Another great example I can think of is Anne Stanton in All The King’s Men.
Unfortunately, it seems this science is being lost on younger generations. Snoke doesn’t do it for me. I can’t really explain it, and I wonder if anyone can help out here. But even besides the terrible CGI design, the name just doesn’t elicit fear. And as we all heard, it sounded pathetic when Leia and Han said it in TFA.
I felt it was an attempt to borrow from Harry Potter. “Snape” for instance. In that universe it would sound more correct, but in this one, yeah, it sounds a bit cute-ish. I might name a mischievous kitten Snoke.
I’ve previously thought they might be trying to invoke a kind of Voldemort-ish dynamic, which is a somewhat appropriate comparison, naming conventions aside.