# Why Is It Called "Google"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388 "2002-03-27T16:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/1 "2002-03-27T16:03:40Z")
Is the name “Google” some sort of bastardization of Googol- which is 10 x 10 x 10… one hundred times? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/2 "2002-03-27T16:12:56Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/3 "2002-03-27T16:18:29Z")
Thanks. Why do you suppose they changed the spelling? ---
**Author:** ![Beastal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Beastal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/4 "2002-03-27T16:23:10Z")
Coz it’s “cool”. Like how I wrote “Coz” instead of “because”, also, makes me look cool. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/5 "2002-03-27T17:11:59Z")
It’s easy to trademark the name “Google,” while real words are hard. Now that MS is finding out the hard way when they sued Lindows for trademark infringement. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/6 "2002-03-27T19:18:30Z")
If ever there was a question that begged for the answer “Look it up on Google,” this is it. > [@](#): > > [http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html](http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html) > > Google is a play on the word “googol”, which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, to refer to the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. A googol is a very large number. There isn’t a googol of anything in the universe. Not stars, not dust particles, not atoms. Google’s use of the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite, amount of information available on the web. ---
**Author:** ![CzechHistory411](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CzechHistory411](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CzechHistory411)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/7 "2002-03-27T19:27:03Z")
The word “Google” also brings to mind words like “ogle” and “goggles” that have to do with looking and eyes. That may be another–perhaps unintentional–reason why it works so nicely as a search engine name. – CH ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/8 "2002-03-29T04:21:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > \*\*Thanks. > > Why do you suppose they changed the spelling? \*\* My guesses: 1. There already was a [googol.com](http://googol.com) 2. The average person who heard the word googol would probably spell it “g-o-o-g-l-e” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-google/100388/9 "2002-03-29T06:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 23skidoo \* > \*\* > > My guesses: > > 1. There already was a [googol.com](http://googol.com) > \*\* Yep, there is (it’s not a porn portal or anything like that, go ahead and check it out if you wish).