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(This question toes the line between belonging here and belonging on the Retrocomputing Stack Exchange.)

Here is the quote; sometimes the first sentence is omitted:

The most important thing in a programming language is the name. A language will not succeed without a good name. I have recently invented a very good name, and now I am looking for a suitable language.

It is always attributed to Donald Knuth. Some instances date it to 1967.

What is the original source? I can't find it anywhere. The earliest reference I can find online is in a manifest for a programming languages course from 2000. Even if the ultimate source is not a published document, but rather a statement in a conversation or in some other form that was not recorded, we should expect earlier references, especially if the quote really is from 1967.

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    $\begingroup$ I can commiserate: I love the "R" stats language, but that's a horrible name when it comes to 'net searches, disk searches, etc. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jun 3, 2021 at 12:40
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    $\begingroup$ On Wikiquote, this has been relegated to "talk" and marked "unsourced" in 2009. en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Donald_Knuth $\endgroup$
    – Gerald Edgar
    Jun 3, 2021 at 14:39
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    $\begingroup$ @CarlWitthoft It's shocking how many languages have a 1-letter name, give or take punctuation searching software may also struggle with. $\endgroup$
    – J.G.
    Jun 3, 2021 at 17:06
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    $\begingroup$ Here it is claimed that the quote is from a talk at UCLA: quora.com/… $\endgroup$
    – Hermann Gruber
    Jun 7, 2021 at 22:06
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    $\begingroup$ Chapter 11 of Knuth's Selected Papers on Computer Languages, which is an unfinished report from 1966, contains the statement "Finally, and perhaps most important of all, a good language should have an appropriate name that aptly characterizes its personality and mystique." $\endgroup$
    – texdr.aft
    Jun 12, 2021 at 16:13

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