[ih] What does TELNET stand for?

[Steve Crocker]

John, et al,

This question caught me by surprise.  I was directly involved in the design
and development of the initial suite of protocols for the Arpanet.  The
initial suite consisted of the Host-Host protocol, the Telnet protocol, and
File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

An aside: The Host-Host Protocol later became known as the Network Control
Protocol (NCP).  The acronym NCP originally meant Network Control Program,
and it referred to the software that had to be added to the operating
system to interact with the IMP and make access to the network available to
user level processes in the time-shared systems.  Eventually, there was no
need for a special term for that software and the term "Host-Host Protocol"
was too bland.  People started referring to the protocol as the Network
Control Protocol, and thus the meaning of "NCP" changed.

 Even though I had been actively involved in the developments of those
protocols, and even though I was first author on the 1972 Sprint Joint
Computer Conference paper, the words "Teletype Network" or
"Telecommunications Network" do not ring a bell for me.  A possible caveat:
The Network Working Group grew from a handful of representatives from the
first four sites in early 1969 to about fifty or so people attending the
Network Working Group meetings in the next two years.  I remember realizing
we needed to split our meetings into two parallel groups, one focused on
the Hot-Host protocol and one focused on the application protocols.  I
concentrated primarily on the Host-Host protocol and stepped back from the
detailed development of the application protocols.

The first mention of "Telnet" in the RFC series is in RFC 97, A First Cut
at a Proposed Telnet Protocol, by John Melvin and Richard Watson.  They
were at SRI in Doug Engelbart's group, i.e.. the second node on the
Arpanet, and hence an intimate part of the Network Working Group.

So far as I can recall, "Telnet" or "TELNET"sprang forth as an easy and
natural designation for the remote terminal access protocol that we
envisioned as one of the two initial application protocols.  I never
thought of it as an acronym for a lengthier phrase.  I'm pretty sure we
used the term "Telnet" in our informal NWG meetings.  By the time Melvin
and Watson wrote RFC 97 in February 1971, the term was in common use within
the group.

It's possible they created the word as an acronym of Terminal Network,
Telephone Network, Telecommunications Network, or something similar.  It's
equally possible they created the word as a nominal but unspecified acronym
of one of those phrases.  To do better than I can, one would have to ask
them.  (I think Watson is no longer with us.  I don't know about Melvin.)

In the 1972 paper, I agree with John Levine.  The phrase
"Telecommunications Network" feels to me as a back formation of an
appositive.  It's even possible I wrote that sentence, though I do not
recall doing so.  Haefner, Metcalfe and Postel were the other co-authors.
Postel is no longer available.  Metcalfe is, and I don't know about Haefner.

Bottom line: I can't say for sure whether "TELNET" was created as an
acronym or as a free-standing word.  I'm inclined to believe it was the
latter.  In any case, as best I can tell, the 1972 paper is the only time
it was associated with "Telecommunications Network."

Steve


On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM John Levine via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> This question came up on another list.
>
> I have seen claims that it's Teletype Network or Telecommunications
> Network, which smells like acronym reverse engineering to me.
>
> Does it stand for anything?  Where did the name come from?
>
> R's,
> John
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