How programming languages got their names
Tags: writing, codenewbie, beginners, etymology
Published: 2020-01-04 13:31:32

Phil Karlton once said there are only two hard things in computer science: "cache invalidation and naming things" and it's because of the latter that we have so many weird and wonderful names in technology. In this post I'm going to explore the names of a handful of common programming languages, revealing why they were chosen and where the words came from.

## Perl

Perl was created by American developer Larry Wall in 1987. He initially chose the name Pearl because he felt it was short and memorable word with positive associations. However, as there was an existing language with the name, he changed the spelling to Perl. One existing backronym (an acronym created after the name) for Perl is Practical Extraction and Reporting Language. The word _pearl_ came via the Old French _perle_ meaning 'a bead' or 'something valuable' and the Latin _perna_ meaning 'leg' which extends to the name of a mollusc apparently shaped like a leg of mutton.

![Perna](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/gabx9aeou5xtjh7396be.jpg)

## Ruby
Ruby, the language the [Dev.to](https://dev.to/) site was developed with, was created by Japanese developer Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto in the 1990s. Influenced by Perl, he also wanted to use the name of a precious stone and choose Ruby because it was the birthstone of a colleague and the next birthstone in the monthly sequence after Perl: June's is pearl and July's is ruby. The word _ruby_ comes from the Old French _rubi_ meaning a 'reddish precious stone' from the Latin _rubeus_ meaning 'red'.

![The June birthstone Pearl and the July birthstone Ruby](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ff21t5oy903v28v1ynus.jpg)

## Python

Dutch programmer Guido van Rossum designed Python in 1991, naming it after the British television comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus because he was reading the show's scripts at the time. He wanted a name that was ["short, unique and slightly mysterious"](https://docs.python.org/2/faq/general.html#why-is-it-called-python). The word _python_ comes from the ancient Greek _Puthón_, the name of a huge serpent killed by the god Apollo. It has been used to refer to various large, heavy-bodied, non-venomous snakes that constrict their prey since the early 19th century.

![A poster from Monty Python's Flying Circus and the Python logo](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/b2x81picra3arehnqvzi.jpg)

## Java

Java was designed by James Gosling while he was working at Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. The project was initially called 'Oak' before a highly caffeinated brainstorming session produced the name 'Java' (although they very nearly went with 'Silk'). _Java_, or _Jawa_ in Indonesian, is the name of a large island in Indonesia that produces strong, dark and sweet coffee. It’s name can be traced back to the Sanskrit word _yavadvip_, _yava_ meaning ‘barley’ and _dvipa_ meaning ‘island’. Java has been a slang term for coffee in the United States since the 1800s. 

![A map of Java](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/l9edmvnnj6aqg3ver4w1.jpg)

## Kotlin

Kotlin, the language released by JetBrains in 2011, takes its name from Kotlin Island in Russia. The team wanted to use an island name like Java had - although it was technically named after the coffee rather than the island! Kotlin (Котлин in Russian) used to be part of Sweden and was known as _Kettusaari_ by the Finns, meaning 'fox island', and _Ketlingen_ by the Swedes, which possibly stems from the lower German _kettel_ meaning 'cauldron'. After Peter the Great and his Russian forces won control of the island in 1703 it was renamed _Kotling_, later shortened to _Kotlin_.

![Kotlin island map](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/x525kky30nhvlvxdfwgv.png)

## Swift

There is no clear answer to why Apple chose the name Swift but it's definitely not named after Taylor Swift as [someone asked](https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Swift-programming-language-named-after-Taylor-Swift) on Quora! My guess is they wanted to give the impression of something fast. The word _swift_ means 'moving with great speed or velocity' and can be traced back to the prehistoric _swipt-_ meaning to 'move in a sweeping manner'. The swallow-like bird became known as a swift from the 17th century and is used as the programming language's logo.

![The swift bird and the logo](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/3eyatbq4dvgh9otejby4.jpg)


## Find this interesting?

If you found this interesting, I've posted an infographic of the origins of more programming languages [here](https://i.redd.it/5piswsrtir841.jpg). See low-res version below:

![A map of lots of languages](https://i.redd.it/5piswsrtir841.jpg)

You can follow me on Twitter at [@TheStrangeRoots](https://twitter.com/thestrangeroots) for Tweets about the origin of different words used in technology.