How Did Google Chrome Get Its Name?

How did the Google Chrome web browser get a name like Chrome? Well, according to Glen Murphy, a Design Lead for Google Chrome, one of the leads on the Google Chrome project decided on the name.

Glen Murphy described what happened, and how the Google Chrome name was decided:

“We had a ‘pick a codename’ vote early in the development cycle – the names that came of that competition were so terrible that we were all pretty happy when one of the leads overrode it and declared that the codename would be ‘Chrome’, presumably because he likes fast cars.”

I don’t know what the codenames were that were so terrible, but it would be interesting to hear some of those codenames that didn’t make the cut. But I could imagine some of them maybe being:

• Google Browser
• Google Black
• Google White
• Google Shiny

Well, yes, I did make those up. But nonetheless, it’s interesting to note that Google Chrome got its name because they couldn’t come up with a better name. And one person came up with the name and overrode everyone else.

For more about Google Chrome and how other prominent products got their names, check out the GitHub page.

Another Opinion about Google Chrome’s Name

After I wrote this post, I did get some great feedback from several people about Google Chrome’s name. It turns out that there are some other reasons and reasoning why Google Chrome got its name. Robert Hansen commented on my Facebook post:

It’s because the UI elements of a browser is called “the chrome”. Not the part that shows the web content but the donut of controls around that window. It was okay when it was called “chromium” but became a real pain in the ass when they branded it Chrome because hardcore web guys use that term to apply to the UI of the browser. Basically this is calling a car “drivetrain” which completely pisses off all mechanics who work on cars. Silly stupid name that still causes problems to this day.