If you are an iPhone or iPad user, by now you are familiar with Siri, Apple’s personal digital assistant app. This app allows you to give verbal commands to your iOS compatible device. You can ask Siri to make phones, send messages, manage your calendar, search the web, and a whole lot more. For information on how to use Siri, check out this article.
While you may already be acquainted with her many charms, you may not know where she got her name. In this article, we answer the questions, “what does Siri stand for” and “what does Siri mean.”
What does Siri Stand for?
Some say Siri stands for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. This would be an awesome acronym considering that this is exactly what Siri does. However, I am skeptical about this being the case. If Siri was truly an acronym, wouldn’t Apple refer to the app as SIRI instead of Siri?
Also, I have yet to see Apple use the language “Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface” any time it refers to Siri. Thus, I believe the Siri name came about in a different way (see below).
Where did the Siri name come from?
According to this Tech Crunch article, Siri’s co-founder, Dag Kittlaus came up with the name. Apparently, Siri means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory” in Norwegian. The Norway native Kittlaus wanted to name his daughter Siri. After his firstborn child was a boy, Kittlaus opted to use the name for the app.
When the Siri app was acquired by Apple, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Apple would keep the name. In the end, Apple decided to keep the name and the rest is history.
Are you a fan of the Siri App? Want to learn how to use Siri? Check out our full list of Siri commands. Also, check out our list of funny things to ask Siri.