Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian explains why he stuck with Reddit's name despite his co-founder & investor 'hating' it

Serena Williams' husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian shared the origins of the name of his forum-style social media website. He had hoped at the time that the name Reddit would be used in lingo as "read it."

Ohanian started the website in June 2005 with co-founders Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz, his roommates at the University of Virginia. He married the 23-time Grand Slam champion in 2017 and later resigned from Reddit in 2020.

In an interaction on X, a fan asked Ohanian about how the name Reddit came to be and if it was indeed originally named 'Rabbit.'

"How did you come up with the name Reddit? Was it you who came up with it? Was it really almost called rabbit?"

Ohanian replied:

"I thought people would say "I read it on reddit" — my cofounder and our investor PG hated the name but I didn't relent."

The fan, surprised at Ohanian's connection, commented:

"Read it. Reddit. Omg I’m an idiot. You’re a genius."

To which Ohanian hilariously replied:

"I don't think anyone has ever said it though."

Ohanian is an entrepreneur and an active investor in the tech world via his venture capital firm Seven Seven Six. He is also a lead investor in the National Women's Soccer League's team Angel City FC.

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Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian shares rare glimpse of old Reddit merchandise

Serena Williams' hisband Alexis Ohanian at the 2025 Fanatics Super Bowl Party. Image: Getty

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian gave a glimpse of old Reddit merchandise that was launched along with the website. Ohanian took to X to share a picture of a T-shirt promoting the website by jokingly comparing Reddit to a rabbit. It showed the website's iconic logo along with the sketch of a rabbit on either side with mock definitions of the two.

The tagline "For finding out what's new on the web reddit.com is the obvious choice" was printed at the bottom of the t-shirt graphic. Ohanian shared a fun trivia in the caption:

"I think we sold literally 3 of this shirt on cafepress back in 2005. This is one of those 3."

A fan commented:

"Haha that’s such weird merch, I love it."

Ohanian lightheartedly replied:

"I'm weird."

Ohanian had stepped down from Reddit's board in 2020, urging the company to fill his seat with an African-American candidate in the light of the protests over George Floyd's death at the time. The company subsequently hired Michael Seibel as a new board member that year.