Guido van Rossum named the programming language Python after Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Van Rossum began developing Python in the late 1980s as a successor to the ABC programming language, and he started implementing it in December 1989. He was a fan of the British comedy group Monty Python, so he chose the short, memorable name while working on the language rather than naming it after the animal.
The comedy connection appears throughout Python culture. Official examples and programming discussions have often used names such as “spam” and “eggs,” echoing the famous Monty Python “Spam” sketch. Python documentation and community materials have also included references to the group and its routines.
Java, Perl and Ruby are all different programming languages with their own histories and naming stories. Python’s name is not an acronym and does not refer primarily to the snake, although the snake imagery became a natural visual association later. The canonical answer is therefore simply Python.