July 25, 2006 at 12:45 am
Naming things is really hard. While developing Solon, I simply called it Checkbook. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep that name, since it's already taken by another OS X app. As development began wrapping up, I decided that I needed a different name. I tried various plays off financial terms, only to find that they're essentially all taken.
I found Solon when looking through a list of ancient greek people. The name seemed ok, and a quick Google search didn't seem to reveal any products using the name, so I went with it.
Difficulties arose when it was suggested that I register www.solon.com. Apparently it's registered but doesn't have a site on it yet. In fact, a quick whois shows that it's been registered since 1994. Apparently there's a UK-based company using the name.
I wonder if it might be a good idea to rename the app before releasing it. I'm tempted to go the Xerox route and just make up a word.