Title

BBC article on the origin of the name for Bluetooth technology

Submitted by

Suzanne

Description

Online BBC article by Lindsey Galloway, published on 28 September 2026, entitled ‘The PR guys hated the name’: The 1,000-year-old story behind Bluetooth. The article explores the origins of the name Bluetooth, the wireless communication technology named after the tenth-century Danish king Harald Bluetooth (Haraldr blátǫnn), who is traditionally credited with uniting Denmark and Norway. The name was proposed in the 1990s by Jim Kardach of Intel as a temporary codename for a project intended to unite competing wireless communication technologies, drawing an analogy with Harald’s political achievements. The name was subsequently retained and became one of the world’s most recognisable technology brands. The Bluetooth logo is a bindrune, combining two characters from the Younger Futhark, ᚼ (Hagall) and ᛒ (Bjarkan), representing the initials H and B of Harald Bluetooth.

Identifier

NM-01622

Contributor

Suzanne

Date

2 November 2026

2026-11-02

Temporal Coverage

Modern (Twenty-first Century)

Type

Mythology, Symbolism & Runes

Runes & Inscriptions

Individual runes

Media & StorytellingSee all items with this value

Digital & InteractiveSee all items with this value

Website / AppSee all items with this value

Subject

Bluetooth (symbol)

Harald Bluetooth

Rights

Suzanne

CC BY-SA 4.0

depicts

Harald BluetoothSee all items with this value