What was Oracle’s original company name when it was founded in 1977?

Oracle was founded in 1977 as Software Development Laboratories.

Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates established the company in Santa Clara, California, to develop and sell database software. The founders were influenced by research describing a relational database system, and the company’s early work focused on commercial database technology.

The business changed its name to Relational Software, Inc. in 1979. It adopted the name Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982, reflecting the growing importance of its database product. The company later became Oracle Corporation and expanded into enterprise applications, cloud infrastructure, and hardware.

People often remember Oracle as a database company founded under the Oracle name, but that name came later. Its original legal identity was Software Development Laboratories. Oracle’s history also predates the widespread commercial use of the internet, making its database business part of the foundation of modern enterprise computing.