Google "history of S" to find this document
<http://www2.research.att.com/areas/stat/doc/94.11.ps>
www2.research.att.com/areas/stat/doc/94.11.ps

with the following quote:

By July, 1976, we decided to name the system. Acronyms were in abundance at
Bell Laboratories, so it seemed sure that we would come up with one for our
system, but no one seemed to be able to agree with any one else’s
suggestion: Interactive SCS (ISCS), Statistical Computing System (too
confusing), Statistical Analysis System (already taken), etc. In the end, we
decided that all of these names contained an ‘S’ and, with the C programming
language as a precedent, decided to name the system ‘S’. (We dropped the
quotes by 1979).

Kevin Wright

On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 7:30 AM, John Sorkin <jsorkin@grecc.umaryland.edu>wrote:

> I appeal to those entrusted with the keeping of the R flame, the S flame,
> and the S-Plus flame to relate a bit of history. How did S, S-Plus, and R
> get their names? Going from S to S-Plus appears clear, a commercial company
> purchased rights to S, developed a product that they wanted to indicate was
> related to S, but was more fully developed. This leaves me with only a rumor
> how S got its original name and how R got its name. Some sources suggest
> that R is named after Robert Gentleman and Ross Ihaka the titans who gave
> birth to R. The origin of the name S is less clear. Citations would be
> appreciated, so to would statements from the titans from the days of yore.
> Thank you,
> John
>
>
> John David Sorkin M.D., Ph.D.
> Chief, Biostatistics and Informatics
> University of Maryland School of Medicine Division of Gerontology
> Baltimore VA Medical Center
> 10 North Greene Street
> GRECC (BT/18/GR)
> Baltimore, MD 21201-1524
> (Phone) 410-605-7119
> (Fax) 410-605-7913 (Please call phone number above prior to faxing)
>
> Confidentiality Statement:
> This email message, including any attachments, is for ...{{dropped:18}}

