When Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched NEOM in October, many wondered what the name of the mega project meant. The name “NEOM” is derived from two words. The first three letters from the Ancient Greek prefix neo-meaning “new”. The fourth letter is from the abbreviation of Mostaqbal, Arabic for “future.”
However, naming the project “NEOM” has an untold story.
According to NEOM’s website, Crown Prince Mohammed, who also is Chairman of the NEOM Board of Directors, discussed and deliberated with members of the project's Founding Board - in addition to experts and specialists in the field - about an appropriate name for such a project with a global outlook.
When the Board conducted its first meetings to address related topics, among the agenda was the search for a name that represents the identity and symbolism of this dream project, as the Crown Prince saw that the name expresses the cultural and civilizational dimension of the universality of the project.
A series of discussions were held about the significance of the name and how it should reflect the project's global identity, human dimension, and remarkable ambition.
The actual name designation journey began by defining criteria, qualities, and conditions, all of which bear a clear and firm vision for selection; then, sorting and testing the lists of names proposed by the consulting team.
The list included 2,000 names, which was further reduced - as per the standards and requirements - to 150, and then reduced again to five. However, none of them was chosen or agreed upon.
During the Founding Board discussions, some members considered giving the project the name of the Crown Prince, the President of the Founding Board, either directly or by incorporating his name within the project name.
As such, two names were suggested: “NEOVIA MBS” and "NMBS," but the opinions of the members were split.
The team that was not in favor clarified that Crown Prince Mohammed leads major national projects, and him being Chairman of NEOM Board of Directors is sufficient to deliver a message to the world that reflects his direct connection to the project.
They did, however, support the Crown Prince’s principal idea that the name should be neither Eastern nor Western, and not belonging to a specific language or culture, in addition to being neutral and rather open to the entire world.
The Board members then brainstormed words representing the project sectors and its basic pillars.
What followed was choosing the initials of those sectors and merging them to obtain a distinctive name that preserves the identity of the project, and this resulted in the name “NEO MSTACBEL,” whose initials MSTACBEL symbolize the main project sectors, such as Media, Sport, Technology and Energy.
And then the word was abbreviated and symbolized by the letter M, or the letter “Mim” in Arabic as a symbol for two words: It is the first letter of the Arabic word for future (mustaqbal) and also the first letter of the name of the Crown Prince, “Mohammed”.
Then the letter “M” was merged with the word “NEO” from the Greek language to form the name that constitutes the beacon of change in the world.
Thus, the name NEOM was formed with the approval and endorsement of the Founding Board as the official name of the project; a true reflection of NEOM’s vision and the reality that will be achieved to contribute to building a promising future for future generations.
From that moment on, the lights of NEOM have pierced the sky, heralding a luminous dawn, a promising future, and a rich life in a land built by man for the sake of all humanity.
