What was Amazon's original name before being renamed?

Amazon was originally named Cadabra, Inc. Jeff Bezos incorporated the company under that name on July 5, 1994, before it became the online retailer known as Amazon.

Cadabra was inspired by “abracadabra,” matching Bezos’s early vision of an internet business with a touch of magic. The name did not last long: Bezos’s lawyer reportedly warned that it could be misheard as “cadaver,” an unfortunate association for a company trying to establish credibility.

Bezos considered alternatives, including Relentless, and registered the Relentless.com domain. He ultimately chose Amazon after consulting a dictionary. The name evoked the Amazon River, which he viewed as suitably vast for his ambition to build the world’s biggest bookstore.

“Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” was an early marketing slogan, not the company’s original legal name. AuctionWeb was the earlier name of a separate marketplace that became eBay, while Relentless was considered but never became the company’s public name. Amazon’s website opened to customers in July 1995.