Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce giant, wasn’t always known by that name. In 1994, billionaire Jeff Bezos originally envisioned his e-commerce service under the name “Relentless.” According to Reader’s Digest and the biography “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon,” Bezos even purchased the domain name Relentless.com for this purpose. However, due to concerns from his inner circle that the name sounded too aggressive, he ultimately decided against it. In November of that same year, he referred to the dictionary to find a more suitable option, landing on Amazon.
Interestingly, Bezos also considered the name “Cadabra,” inspired by the magical incantation “abracadabra.” He had registered this name in July 1994, but later revealed in 2018 that his lawyer misheard it as “Cadaver,” which means “corpse.” Realizing this could carry negative connotations, Bezos quickly sought to change it.
Other names that briefly crossed Bezos’s mind included “Awake.com,” “Bookmall.com,” and “Browse.com.” Ultimately, in a quest for a name starting with the letter “A” to optimize online searches, Bezos was drawn to the Amazon River. He believed it aptly represented his vision, stating, “The Amazon is not just the largest river in the world; it’s many times larger than the second largest, and it surpasses all the other rivers.”
With a clear vision in mind, Bezos didn’t consult with others and registered the domain name we now recognize as Amazon.com on November 1, 1994. And thus, Amazon was born.
