It is well known in the ServiceNow Community that releases are named after cities. What is not known is how it is decided what city will be used for the naming.
Investigation
Triggered by the questions and suggestions in both the Community and LinkedIn, this series will investigate possible options to determine the names. Why not "U" for "Utrecht" or a city in India? Hopefully we can figure this out together. If you have any alternate theories you would like to investigate, please leave in the comments. If you know on what basis a city is picked, also please let us know!
Capital cities of countries
Are the version names the capitals of big countries?
Current version/city names
|
Release name |
Country |
Capital |
|
Aspen |
United States |
Washington |
|
Berlin |
Germany |
Berlin |
|
Calgary |
Canada |
Ottawa |
|
Dublin |
Ireland |
Dublin |
|
Eureka |
United States |
Washington |
|
Fuji |
Japan |
Tokyo |
|
Geneva |
Switzerland |
Bern |
|
Helsinki |
Finland |
Helsinki |
|
Istanbul |
Turkey |
Ankara |
|
Jakarta |
Indonesia |
Jakarta |
|
Kingston |
Jamaica |
Kingston |
|
London |
United Kingdom |
London |
|
Madrid |
Spain |
Madrid |
|
New York |
United States |
Washington |
|
Orlando |
United States |
Washington |
|
Paris |
France |
Paris |
|
Quebec |
Canada |
Ottawa |
|
Rome |
Italy |
Rome |
|
San Diego |
United States |
Washington |
|
Tokyo |
Japan |
Tokyo |
|
Utah |
United States |
Washington |
|
Vancouver |
Canada |
Ottawa |
|
Washington |
United States |
Washington |
Although many of the release names match the Capital (47,8%), not all version names are Capitals of countries.
Alternative: Alphabetic city names based on Capital
If we would create an alphabetical list of Capitals and use the Capitals as versions, the list would look like this:
|
City |
First letter |
Country |
|
Abu Dhabi |
A |
Ivory Coast |
|
Baghdad |
B |
Iraq |
|
Cairo |
C |
Egypt |
|
Dakar |
D |
Senegal |
|
El Aaiún |
E |
Western Sahara [c] |
|
Flying Fish Cove |
F |
Christmas Island |
|
Gaborone |
G |
Botswana |
|
Hagåtña |
H |
Guam |
|
Islamabad |
I |
Pakistan |
|
Jakarta |
J |
Indonesia |
|
Kabul |
K |
Afghanistan |
|
La Paz |
L |
Bolivia |
|
Mbabane |
M |
Swaziland |
|
Nairobi |
N |
Kenya |
|
Oranjestad |
O |
Aruba |
|
Pago Pago |
P |
American Samoa |
|
Quito |
Q |
Ecuador |
|
Rabat |
R |
Morocco |
|
Saipan |
S |
Northern Mariana Islands |
|
Taipei |
T |
Taiwan |
|
Ulaanbaatar |
U |
Mongolia |
|
Vaduz |
V |
Liechtenstein |
|
Warsaw |
W |
Poland |
|
Yaoundé |
Y |
Cameroon |
|
Zagreb |
Z |
Croatia |
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_capitals
What do you think? Where do the ServiceNow version names come from? What would you name the versions? What City would definitely need to be on the list?
