Names of founders and builders
The people who built the companies you use every day, and the names they carry. Silicon Valley turns out to be full of genuinely unusual names: Elon, Jensen, Sundar, Satya, Palmer, Vitalik. Alongside them, the ones who built empires out of fashion, media and biotech. No other baby-name site covers this ground.
Elon Hebrew for oak or terebinth tree, and the name of a judge in the Book of Judges; famously borne by Elon Musk, who founded SpaceX and leads Tesla.
Jensen Danish patronymic meaning son of Jens, now used as a given name; famously borne by Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
Sundar Sanskrit and Tamil for beautiful or handsome; famously borne by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
Satya Sanskrit for truth; famously borne by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
Palmer English surname for a pilgrim who carried a palm branch from the Holy Land; famously borne by Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus VR and Anduril Industries.
Alexandr Spelling of Alexander, Greek for defender of the people; famously borne by Alexandr Wang, who founded Scale AI and now leads AI at Meta.
Tobi German short form of Tobias, from Hebrew for God is good; famously borne by Tobi Lutke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify.
Vitalik Slavic form of the Latin vitalis, meaning of life or vital; famously borne by Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum.
Jack English pet form of John, ultimately Hebrew for God is gracious; famously borne by Jack Ma, the adopted English name of Alibaba founder Ma Yun.
Steve Short form of Stephen, Greek for crown or wreath; famously borne by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple.
Bill Short form of William, Germanic for resolute protection; famously borne by Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.
Jeff Short form of Jeffrey, a Germanic name of disputed meaning, often glossed as peaceful district; famously borne by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
Larry Short form of Lawrence, Latin for a man from Laurentum, a town named for its laurel trees; famously borne by Larry Page, co-founder of Google.
Sergey Russian form of Sergius, an old Roman clan name of uncertain, possibly Etruscan origin; famously borne by Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.
Reid Scottish surname meaning red haired, from Gaelic ruadh; famously borne by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
Evan Welsh form of John, ultimately Hebrew for God is gracious; famously borne by Evan Spiegel, co-founder of Snap Inc.
Patrick Latin patricius, meaning nobleman; famously borne by Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe.
Marc Latin form of Marcus, likely tied to Mars, the Roman god of war; famously borne by Marc Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce.
Peter Greek petros, meaning rock or stone; famously borne by Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir.
Max Short form of Maximilian, Latin for greatest; famously borne by Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and Affirm.
Naval Hindi and Sanskrit name often linked to nava, meaning new, though the root is debated; famously borne by Naval Ravikant, co-founder of AngelList.
Ritesh Sanskrit compound generally meaning lord of rites or customs; famously borne by Ritesh Agarwal, founder of OYO Hotels and Homes.
Vinod Sanskrit vinoda, meaning delight, pleasure, or amusement; famously borne by Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures.
Marcos Spanish form of Marcus, likely tied to Mars, the Roman god of war; famously borne by Marcos Galperin, co-founder and CEO of MercadoLibre.
Masayoshi Japanese name combining characters for correct and good; famously borne by Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank Group.
Daniel Hebrew for God is my judge; famously borne by Daniel Ek, co-founder of Spotify.
Kunal Sanskrit name usually translated as lotus; famously borne by Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech company CRED.
Whitney English surname turned given name, from Old English words for white and island; famously borne by Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble.
Sara Hebrew for princess or noblewoman; famously borne by Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx.
Anne French form of Hannah, Hebrew for favor or grace; famously borne by Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of 23andMe.
Sophia Greek for wisdom; famously borne by Sophia Amoruso, who built the Girlboss brand and the fashion retailer behind it.
Katrina Variant of Katherine, a Greek name often linked to purity though the ultimate root is disputed; famously borne by Katrina Lake, founder of Stitch Fix.
Payal Hindi word for a decorative ankle bracelet, used as a given name; famously borne by Payal Kadakia, co-founder of ClassPass.
Neha Sanskrit and Hindi name generally meaning rain or love; famously borne by Neha Narkhede, co-founder of Confluent.
Arianna Greek name related to Ariadne, often glossed as most holy though the root is debated; famously borne by Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post.
Diane French form of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and moon; famously borne by Diane von Furstenberg, fashion designer and founder of DVF.
Miuccia Italian pet form of Maria; famously borne by Miuccia Prada, the designer who built Prada into a global luxury house.
Vera Russian for faith, sometimes also linked to the Latin word for true; famously borne by Vera Wang, fashion designer.
Rihanna Linked to the Arabic Rayhana, meaning sweet basil or fragrant herb; famously borne by Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, who launched Fenty Beauty with LVMH.
Reshma Persian and Urdu word for silk; famously borne by Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code.
Melanie Greek for dark or black, from melas; famously borne by Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva.
Lucy English form of Lucia, Latin for light; famously borne by Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI.
Falguni Sanskrit name tied to Phalguna, a month in the Hindu calendar; famously borne by Falguni Nayar, founder of Nykaa.
Cristina Portuguese form of Christina, Latin for follower of Christ; famously borne by Cristina Junqueira, co-founder of Nubank.
Luiza Portuguese feminine form of Louis, Germanic for famous warrior; famously borne by Luiza Helena Trajano, who built Magazine Luiza into a Brazilian retail giant.
Odunayo Yoruba name from Nigeria meaning year of joy; famously borne by Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder of the Nigerian savings platform PiggyVest.
Ruzwana A spelling of Rizwana, feminine of the Arabic Ridwan, meaning contentment or divine favor; famously borne by Ruzwana Bashir, co-founder and CEO of Peek.
Anousheh Persian for immortal or eternal; famously borne by Anousheh Ansari, co-founder of Prodea Systems.
Oprah Biblical Orpah from the Book of Ruth, respelled; her birth certificate reads Orpah, but Oprah stuck; famously borne by Oprah Winfrey, founder of Harpo Productions.
Martha Aramaic for lady or mistress of the house; famously borne by Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
Padmasree Sanskrit compound of lotus and splendor; famously borne by Padmasree Warrior, founder of the social reading app Fable and former CTO of Cisco.
Sheryl A modern coinage, likely a blend of Cheryl and Shirley; famously borne by Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org.
Kiran Sanskrit and Hindi for a ray of light; famously borne by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of Biocon.
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