Reddit co-founder reveals meaning behind site's 'horrible name' as people are only just realizing what it stands for

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has revealed that the social media platform's name was criticized when he first proposed it in 2005, despite his belief that it would eventually become part of everyday conversation.

The name was inspired by the phrase 'I read it on Reddit', a play on words that Ohanian hoped would catch on as people shared information they had discovered on the website.

In a post on X on October 22, 2026, Ohanian explained that he overruled objections to the name and stuck with his original idea.

Ohanian wrote that people had initially dismissed the name as a poor choice, but he believed the wordplay would make sense once the platform became established.

"21 years ago I named 'Reddit' and everyone said it was a horrible name," he wrote.

He went on to explain that he had anticipated people saying they had 'read it on reddit', adding that he had used his 'CEO-privilege' to overrule the opposition and keep the name.

The post was prompted by a joke published by Reddit's official account on X.

The account wrote: "I'd tell you a joke, but you've probably already Reddit."

Ohanian pointed out the connection between the joke and his original thinking, saying the company's social media team had made the reference without knowing the story behind it.

The exchange has brought renewed attention to a decision made when Reddit was still a fledgling startup, long before it became one of the internet's best-known platforms.

When was Reddit founded and who created it?

Reddit was launched in June 2005 by Ohanian and Steve Huffman, who were college roommates at the University of Virginia.

The pair developed the website as a place where users could submit links, vote on content and discuss subjects with other people online.

Rather than relying entirely on traditional editors to decide what deserved attention, the platform allowed its community to influence which submissions became prominent.

Reddit was part of Y Combinator's inaugural startup batch. The company was acquired by Condé Nast in 2006, just a year after its launch, and Ohanian later returned to serve as executive chairman before resigning from the board in 2020.

The platform subsequently went public in March 2024, marking another major milestone in its development.

Ohanian's account of the naming decision also echoes a story he previously shared about Reddit's early beginnings. In a post on his personal blog, he recalled coming up with the name while studying at the University of Virginia's Alderman Library.

He wrote: "I was in my beloved Alderman library when "reddit" came to mind, as in "I reddit on reddit" (although this slogan was courtesy of PG). I'd also registered reditt because I couldn't decide which one was better. Granted, I was worried about how poorly it was spelled, but it seemed easy enough to remember.

"For a time, it was just added to a long list of potential names. We spent the first month of YC without a confirmed name, but I always stuck with reddit despite being repeatedly told how terrible a name it was :-)

"Finally Steve acquiesced and we went with reddit. This was after wasting a solid 2 entire days just hunting for domains -- not a great use of time, I must say."

He registered the name in April 2005, before the website officially launched that June.