What's in a Name

Microsoft’s search engine, Bing was named “Kumo,” during development, but Microsoft went with Bing after focus groups said it reminded them of “the moment of discovery.”

Yelp  - The “yel” in “Yelp” comes from “yellow,” and the “p” comes from “pages.” The business listings and ratings site is like an Internet version of the Yellow Pages.

Twitter - It is a microblogging site and users’ posts cannot exceed 140 characters. Those short messages reminded company founders of birds chirping or twittering. Individual posts are known as tweets and the logo is a bird.

Wikipedia - “Wiki” is Hawaiian for “quick,” and “pedia” comes from “encyclopedia.” It is a quick encyclopedia added to and edited by almost anyone.

The Onion - It began as a college newspaper, and founders Tim Keck and Chris Johnson had so little money they ate onion sandwiches. While planning the paper, Keck’s uncle saw them eating onion sandwiches and reportedly said, “You should call the newspaper The Onion.”

Skype - The video phone via Internet service got its name from a shortening of the phrase “sky peer-to-peer,” as users connect person-to-person via the cloud (Internet).

Etsy - Rob Kalin, founder of the marketplace where users buy and sell vintage and handmade goods, wanted a nonsense word, but as he was watching an Italian film, he noticed characters often said “etsi”, which means “oh, yes.”


Pinterest - The name is a combination of “pin” and “interest,” which reflects how the site functions. It is a social network where users share pictures of things they find interesting by “pinning” them on their pin board.