Philosophers work well too: leibniz, spinoza, kant, russell, quine, nietzsche. At various times I have used European capitals, characters from Futurama, chara

Philosophers work well too: leibniz, spinoza, kant, russell, quine, nietzsche. At various times I have used European capitals, characters from Futurama, characters from Dr Who (although everyone fought over who got 'k9'). Naming machines can be a lot of fun, and helps building a friendly organizational culture. It also ascribes some personality to what would otherwise be a deployment of 'lobotomized Unices.'