How Did The Robinhood Founders Come Up With The Name For Their Modern Brokerage Platform?

When Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD co-founders Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt came up with the idea to create a commission-free brokerage platform with a user interface designed for mobile, they knew it was a big idea, but how did they come up with the "Robinhood" name?

The Genesis Of The Robinhood Name: Tenev's wife Celina — his girlfriend at the time — came up with the name as a natural explanation for the business, Tenev said in an interview on the "Earn Your Leisure" show.

"She was trying to explain to her friends what I was doing and she would be like, 'Oh well my boyfriend Vlad he's in finance' and then they'd kind of groan ... they'd think I was some kind of investment banker or something and then she would say 'no, no, no they're kind of the Robin Hood of finance. They're trying to build something new for the little guy.'"

Tenev noted both he and Bhatt had come up with a few other names for the company, but they ultimately decided to go with "Robinhood" because of what it stood for.

"Both of us just kind of liked 'Robinhood.' We thought that it stood for something. You know, something very powerful — a powerful idea."

Robin Hood is one of the most popular tales in English folklore. The term is often used to describe a heroic outlaw. Robin Hood is most commonly associated with taking from the rich and giving to the poor.

See Also: How Steve Jobs Helped Inspire The Founding Of Robinhood

The Last Word: Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos says "the name is probably like 3% of it, but sometimes that 3% is the difference between doing very well and not," Tenev said.

Tenev told the "Earn Your Leisure" hosts he's happy with how everything turned out and that Robinhood aims to represent the idea behind the name with its business practices.

"We're trying very, very hard to stay true to what the name stands for," said Tenev.

According to reports, the average Robinhood customer is 31 years old and has an average account size of about $5,000 versus other brokerages that tend to serve an older age group with much higher account balances on average.

Photo: Arran Bee from Flickr.