
Origin of the name “Google” - crivabene
https://graphics.stanford.edu/~dk/google_name_origin.html
======
lightx
Check the html source for this additional tidbit

 _> The following day, Tamara entered the office she shared with Sean and
Larry, and saw "google.com" as the final name remaining on their whiteboard.
Recognizing the misspelling, she brought it to their attention. Sean checked
the domain name registry for "googol.com" and found that it was already taken.
Larry said he preferred the "google.com" spelling anyway, and when he and
Sergey later received their first angel investment check for $100,000 from
Andy Bechtolsheim, it was made out to "Google Inc."_

~~~
foldor
Weird, I wonder why this was commented out? Was it something the author
preferred to leave out and didn't do it properly? Or was it just an editorial
mistake?

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jordigh
I can't remember if I knew the word "googol" before I knew this story or not.
I think I may have encountered it in World of Mathematics in high school. Or I
may be misremembering and making up a pretty story to make myself sound
smarter than I am.

Human memory is so weird sometimes.

~~~
soylentcola
I did know "googol" and "googolplex" but only by virtue of picking it up as
trivia when I was a kid. Pretty sure it was a kid named Mike in grade school
who enjoyed one-upping other kids on nerdy facts who told me it was "the
biggest number". Then again, this was the same kid who later on told me that
the actual biggest number was "inthidity".

I have no idea why I remember this but it's just a memory that sticks out for
some reason. He must've only heard the word "infinity" but not seen it written
out because it wasn't like a speech impediment or anything. Later on I
remember learning about the word/concept of infinity and realizing that
must've been what Mike was talking about.

Anyway, sorry for the grade school flashback. Just one of those things I
haven't thought about in ages.

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philliphaydon
Back when you could register the domain you wanted because some dickhead
didn't squat it to try get 75k out of your idea for a startup.

~~~
ck2
If it's not a trademarked word, registering a domain name is like investing in
real estate.

Or is every property owner who doesn't live on that property a "dickhead" ?

~~~
BillinghamJ
Absolutely yes! It's a nightmare in high-density cities like London.

~~~
ck2
Then why don't they make laws that you have to live on a property to own it?

~~~
logfromblammo
It would likely be more popular to institute a land-ownership tax that
includes leased properties and exempts up to 80 acres, plus 10 additional
acres for each additional person if the size of your household exceeds 8, but
only for land in the same county/parish as your official domicile, or within a
50 mile radius of it.

In theory, that would allow rents extracted from the local economy by
(presumably non-voting) absentee landlords to be recovered.

A straight ban on absentee ownership would simply lead to workaround legal
arrangements, such as strawman purchasers who can then turn around and sign a
99-year "peppercorn" lease to the true buyers. You would be playing whack-a-
mole with evasion tactics and corporate shell games.

If you just introduce an economic penalty, people would only evade/avoid to
the extent that it produces a profitable bottom line. Rich people and
foreigners could still buy up all the available local property, but they would
at least have to pay to keep it unavailable to the local market.

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ZeroGravitas
I read something recently that claimed that Googol (the mathmatical term) was
in fact a corruption of Google in the first place, though the evidence is
thin, it's vaguely plausible:

[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/05/15/comic-
bo...](http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/05/15/comic-book-urban-
legends-revealed-155/)

~~~
mohawk
That seems to be wrong, look here for the details:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol)

The terms googol and googolplex were first published in 1940.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I'm not sure if you read the link or not.

The word "Googol" was coined in the 1920s. There's speculation that the child
who came up with it was inspired by a Comic book character called "Barney
Google" who was famous at that time.

~~~
JorgeGT
> how likely is it that Sirotta came up with the world “googol” on his own,
> and was not influenced by the massively successful comic strip of the same
> name, which was EVERYwhere (comics, cartoons, toys, you name it)? I say the
> odds are extremely unlikely, to the point where _I think it’s safe enough to
> say that he DID get the term from the comic strip_

To be honest, that's just wild (and a bit arrogant) speculation on the part of
the author. I knew about the comic book, so I expected at least an ounce of
evidence, not just the author convincing himself...

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drivebyubnt
One of the early pop-culture mentions of googol was Peanuts, 23rd Jan 1963

[http://www.peanuts.com/search/?pubdate=&sort_by=bydate&seaso...](http://www.peanuts.com/search/?pubdate=&sort_by=bydate&seasonal=&startdate=&enddate=&selectcharacter=&keyword=googol&type=comic_strips)

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chrismcb
What are the incorrect origin stories the author referred to?

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jdauriemma
Why didn't Sean just google the spelling of "googol?"

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insensible
Douglas Adams.

~~~
xxgreg
“I described myself as the second greatest,” intoned Deep Thought, “and such I
am.” Another worried look passed between the two programmers. Lunkwill cleared
his throat. “There must be some mistake,” he said, “are you not a greater
computer than the Milliard Gargatubrian at Maximegalon which can count all the
atoms in a star in a millisecond?”. “The Milliard Gargantubrain?” said Deep
Thought with unconcealed comtempt. “A mere abacus - mention it not.”

“And are you not,” said Fook, leaning anxiously forward, “a greater analyst
than the Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity
which can calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a
five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?”

[https://books.google.com/books?id=cUSqB1xA8OkC&pg=PT89&dq=go...](https://books.google.com/books?id=cUSqB1xA8OkC&pg=PT89&dq=googleplex+star+thinker&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBmoVChMI58i9l4ysyAIV4xqmCh2jMwxW#v=onepage&q=googleplex%20star%20thinker&f=false)

