With the large number of viruses and worms in circuit nowadays, it’s becoming hard to find names for them.

Wired News has a report on the topic.

A virus is usually named by the antivirus researcher who first discovers it. Names may not be those of businesses or brand names and should not be those of celebrities. Some names fall into predictable categories and some, like Klez, seem senseless or whimsical. One virus was named by its discoverer, George Smith, after a childhood memory: “Heevahava”:

bq. “I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country, and a heevahava was the farmhand given the job of holding the bull’s pizzle during the collection of semen,” explained Smith. “Locally, heevahava was used as an insult meaning ‘dolt’ or ‘idiot.'”