Background:

We have been meaning to rate this name for sometime, not because it is particularly good or bad, but because we have always wondered why AMD did not put out the full story behind the name of their processor. This is not necessarily a criticism, as we are the first to applaud anyone who wants to simplify their messaging. But it does stir up the language juices of a naming firm, especially one whose principal is named Athol!

AMD's official story, if we recall correctly, is that Athlon is from the word Decathlon - like the super hero event in the Olympics. Well we all know, that "dec" means ten, like in decimal (yes, even in December when we used to have 10 months in a year). And Decathlon is the 10 events in 2 days at track and field meets around the world. But ten what? And, as they say, here is the rest of the story:

The Greek root word to perform is Athos. From this root we get the goddess of performance Athena, the city of Athens, the words Athlete and Athletics, the town name and proper noun Athol, and the word Athlon - which is actually the trophy that was given performers. So Athlon, a computer chip designed to perform, is aptly named.

We realize Athlon is a sub-brand by necessity of AMD, and therefore does not get special graphics treatment. Hence our mediocre presentation rating here.

Separately, there is an excellent marketing communications firm in New York, also called Athlon, and they have an excellent logo - and a great name. See www.athlon.com. If we had been rating this agency's name, they would have been a perfect 10/10.

Finally, our research on this name helped us discover that the root was not the separate word Athlone. This is a company name, major town in central Ireland, and the name is seen in other British colonies, companies and schools. This word comes from Ath Luan, or the ford of Luan, in ancient Irish. More details at athlone.ie.