Might not bother you if you could convince yourself that it isn't a metaphorical reference to ping(8) but instead was a reference to a sonar ping, or tossing a pebble at a tank to see how full it is -- to former being where the program got its own name in the first place!
'Ping' (the word) is older (as in: 1835 old) than the 'ICMP Ping'.
I always thought it came from old fashioned submarine sonar. What would it have meant in 1835?
It referred to a "high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound" (the bullet pinged off his helmet). SONAR uses noises that sound similar, so SONAR emanations became pings and then it became associated with echo/response at that point.
I thought it came from ping pong. As in you send a "ping" and it responds with a "pong".