Oracle, a major software company by market value, was originally incorporated under which name in 1977?

Oracle, a major software company by market value, was originally incorporated under the name Software Development Laboratories in 1977. Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates founded the company in Santa Clara, California.

The founders developed a relational database management system inspired by a research paper on relational database concepts written by IBM researcher Edgar F. Codd. Their early work led to a commercial database product based on the ideas that became central to Oracle's business.

The company changed its name to Relational Software, Inc. in 1979 and later adopted Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982. The name Oracle came from an earlier project for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, which had used “Oracle” as a project name.

Oracle Corporation is the modern corporate name. Because the company has used several names, questions about its founding name can produce confusion. Software Development Laboratories is the name associated with its original 1977 incorporation, not the later Oracle brand.