Amazon: what's in a name? How Jeff Bezos named his company

Amazon is today one of the most relevant companies on the planet. An online store that reaches all corners of the world and that has made Jeff Bezos the richest man in history.

In fact, there will be few people who do not know Amazon. But where does the name of the great online store come from? Why did Jeff Bezos choose this name and not another? Everything has an explanation and, as usual in these cases, an economic logic behind it.

In April 1994, Jeff Bezos left his position as vice president of a Wall Street firm and moved to Seattle, where he would begin working at what is now known as Amazon.

Just three months later, in July 1994, the businessman created Amazon, except that at that time, it was known as Cadabra.

Cadabra was a digital book store whose name was an abbreviation of 'Abracadabra,' a nod to magic books that would not end up working as Jeff Bezos expected.

Jeff Bezos' lawyer recommended changing the name, as it sounded like a reference to black magic. In addition, many customers confused the name of the company with an unpleasant word -cadaver.

Thus, in September 1994, the entrepreneur and Mackenzie Bezos changed the name to Relentless, but it did not work out either. According to those close to him, it sounded sinister and complicated.

Just in case, Bezos had also registered the domains awake.com, browse.com, and bookmall.com. In fact, all of them still redirect to Amazon.

Both Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos were clear that they needed a powerful name related to the sale of books, and that began with the letter 'a,' to appear in the first positions of the internet and online store guides.

So, they took out the dictionary and looked for words beginning with 'a' until they reached Amazon. The largest river in the world seemed like a perfect metaphor for his business, as he aspired to have the largest online book store on the planet. In addition, it had an exotic, different feel and included 'A' and 'Z.'

(Photo: logos-world.net)

Later, in June 2010, Amazon included in its logo the smile with an arrow that leads from 'A' to' Z,' making it clear that its store has all the products in the world, from 'A' to 'Z.'

On November 1, 1994, Jeff Bezos would register the domain amazon.com. It would not be until July 5, 1995, almost a year later, when the change from Cadabra to Amazon would take effect. More than 25 years later, it seems clear that the change was effective.