From Square to Block: Another tech company changes its name

Dr. Greg Werner poses for a picture with his Square credit card reader at his office in New York on Jan. 5, 2015. Square Inc., the San Francisco-based payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, announced Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, that it is changing its name to Block. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There’s a new Silicon Valley corporate name change on the block.

A month after Facebook renamed itself Meta, Square Inc., the payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block Inc.

The San Francisco-based company said Wednesday it's making the change because the Square name has become synonymous with the company’s commerce and payments business. But it has grown since its start in 2009 and now owns the Tidal music streaming service, Cash App and TBD54566975, a financial services platform whose primary focus is Bitcoin.

The move comes just two days after Dorsey resigned as CEO of Twitter. He's still CEO of the newly named Block.

The company said the name change to Block “distinguishes the corporate entity from its businesses, or building blocks.” It said there will be no organizational changes as a result of the name change.

“The name has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome," Block said.