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Comment by D13Fd | Hacker News Reader

It’s extremely silly, but I don’t really like the name Julia for a programming language. It’s just a bit uncomfortable to have a programming language with a particular, kind of formal-sounding human name like Julia (or like Michael, Lauren, or Jonathan).

It just feels weird to me. I know a number of people (family, friends, colleagues) named Julia.

I honestly think it could have an effect on adoption. People have to say the name a lot in making a choice to adopt a language for a project. Names like C, C++, Java, Python are fairly neutral. “Julia” is just an awkward name in this context, in my opinion.

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What about "Ada", "Miranda" or "Haskell"? First names, too, albeit ones much less common these days. ("Linda" the language isn't even in that category, popularity-wise, although the source of the name seems to be a weirder story)

I had no idea that “Ada” and “Haskell” were intended to be people names. Those are not super common names. And I had totally forgotten about Miranda, which I agree has the same issue.

I see, that's what I thought. No problem with naming languages after people, but it's easier if it's an homage to a certain person. Common first and last names alone often point to confusing people, and there might be a certain dissonance between the mental images ("I pulled some Julias pigtails in kindergarten, now I have her name on a CV?").

The same problem would probably arise if the last names would be more common, too. "Pascal" and "Turing are probably rare enough ('though "Pascal" was a bit in fashion as a boy's name in Germany when I was young).

I agree that it's easier when it's an homage to a certain person, and a last name, like Pascal. I actually knew that about Pascal but never gave it a second thought.

According to Wikipedia at least, "Julia" is not named after anyone in particular.

Pascal is also a first name in France even though in the case of the programming language, it is named after Blaise Pascal last name.

Ada was named after Ada Lovelace, for context. And it’s definitely not a common name anymore, at least in the US. It dropped off significantly through the 20th century with a spike several years ago.

You forgot Pascal. :)

Alas, I also forgot poor Yorick.

(And combining both Wirth and Shakespeare, technically speaking Oberon is a valid first name, too)

There's also Chuck, Idris, Karel, Joy, Tom and arguably Euclid, Janus and Mercury.

The jury's out on "Rexx" and "Nial"…

With colleagues I've discussed some thought to come from a person name where others thought to come from Julia sets (which in turn are named after the mathematician G. Julia).

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