So what does pfSense stand for/mean, anyway?
This question came up on the forum, I thought I would answer it here to a wider audience.
This project ran for a couple months with no name. In fact, the FreeBSD jail that runs our CVS is still called “projectx”.
Scott and I were the only two members of the project at the time, as the founders. We ran through numerous possibilities, with the main difficulty being finding something with domains available. Scott came up with pfSense, pf being the packet filtering software used, as in making sense of pf. My response was less than enthusiastic. But, after a couple weeks and still having nothing better, we went with it. It was even said “eh, we can always change it.”
Others have suggested it stands for things including Plain F…. Sense, but I won’t go there. 
I started a thread on the private developers list sometime last year proposing changing the name of the project. Most people didn’t care one way or the other. A couple said they thought pfSense was fine. There wasn’t any serious interest in changing. We had some extensive lists of options put together, but never really came up with anything compelling enough to change.
Got an idea for a replacement name with domains available? Email me. Think the name is fine as it is? Think we should change? Feel free to leave comments or email me. I don’t think a name change is very likely, but thought I would mention it.
Update: From numerous emails and the comments here, the opinion of the vast majority seems to be “keep the name!” I’m glad our user base thinks it’s good, I’m certainly satisfied with it then.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I’m putting in a vote for keeping it pfsense.
June 21st, 2007 at 3:26 pm
yeah same here plz keeping pfsense
June 21st, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I say keep it… what’d wrong with pfSense?
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
You really should keep that name… many people know it by now… why step back to anonymity ?
June 29th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Well… Packet Filter makes Sense now. My vote is for keeping the name as it is short and easily to remember
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Yes, another vote for pfSense. A name’s just a name’s just a name
and you are on a good way to make it a BRAND. As far as your product does what it promises, and does it very well, you’re on the right path!
Keep walkin’
February 26th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Yeah! There’s nothing wrong with pfSense. Besides, everybody knows this fine product by that name. It doesn’t make too much Sense to me changing it at this stage of evolution.
Oh, btw, congrats on the 1.2 release. It’s awesome!
Cheers.
April 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am
No podría estar mejor, confieso que al principio dije, por qué le habrán puesto por nombre pfSense, pero luego de un año y medio usando pfSense, eh tenido la experiencia de que es un gran producto y su reputación a colocado su nombre en alto!!!
Mi voto es a favor de pfSense!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Keep the name, it makes sense.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:15 am
KEEP THE NAME !!!!
June 24th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I say keep the name, it makes alot of sense
September 11th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Keep the name
September 21st, 2008 at 11:34 am
keep up the good work pfsense!!!! we’re so proud of you. . . .
October 17th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I’m glad to have found the explanation, and I vote for keeping the name intact.
December 26th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
This is the name we all know…it should remain the same so my vote goes to pfSense
January 21st, 2009 at 6:26 am
Who cares how it is called? As long as it works!
And it certainly does work for me!
April 18th, 2009 at 12:29 am
s pf sense makes a good sense.
I would suggest u to keep the name as it is .
July 11th, 2009 at 5:51 am
unfortunately pfsense doesnt convey the meaning as quickly to a casual observer as ‘ipcop’ but that is already taken, and anything like it will seem like a cheap rip off.
including pf is a good thing, maybe borderpf or something might convey the projects product more clearly than pfsense.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Keep the name. Like in other cases, the product is the main thing we search, in this case pfSense is the key to find it, to use it and to recomend it.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 am
just pfSense please.
August 25th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Keep pfSense, its great and a well known name already.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:38 am
[...] 5 years since its inception about 2-3 months ago, living the first part of its life as projectx (some history here) with no website.We’ve come a long [...]
November 6th, 2009 at 10:18 am
keep pfsense – pf-sense – perfect sense
please.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Makes PerFectSense the way it is
December 24th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Keep the name. Its the reason i got a PFSense router.
PFSense
M0n0wall
IPCop
PF Sense was the only one tha made sense to me. Tested them all in VM now spent £200 on a router with it. kicks Ass
Makes Perfect F***** Sense to me
April 9th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
PerFect Sense
September 30th, 2010 at 6:59 am
I’m rather partial to the use of “pf” (note my last name). I like the project name as is.
January 4th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Keep the name! It a good one!
August 4th, 2011 at 12:47 am
im from Belize and use pfsense for load balancing and i liked the name from the inception…keep it up guys!!!
November 6th, 2011 at 12:07 am
[...] years ago today, the name pfSense was settled on, and pfsense.org/com/net domains were registered. It’s grown from the volunteer efforts of a [...]
November 27th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
I realize this is an old post, but wanted to add my input anyway. I am not necessarily against the name pfsense, but do believe a more descriptive name would help break the invisible “stay away” barrier that seems to currently exist with pfsense. Something that implies ease of use yet very powerful and configurable would be ideal.
Having said that, this really isn’t a major concern, just saying that I do see some benefits to changing it.
November 28th, 2011 at 6:48 am
Kamel: apparently there isn’t an “invisible ‘stay away’ barrier”, given the significant installed base of the project. http://blog.pfsense.org/?p=625 and judging by Google Trends analysis as another measure, we’re by far the most popular open source firewall. The only aversion I’ve heard from people is just against open source in general, for those who have engrained in them that “you get what you pay for”, or the “nobody ever got fired for buying” mentality that’s common in very large companies. I generally don’t put a lot of effort into persuading those types of people, as they typically have no interest in seeing things differently. There are more than enough out there that have embraced open source, and those are who we focus our efforts on at least marketing-wise.
July 5th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
yeah….. that name is very interesting, just keep it
cause many people already know and recognize that name
July 5th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
just keep up the good work
September 3rd, 2012 at 4:45 am
Keep the name and put “From Zero to Hero” as slogan. Also keep this great project running.
November 16th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
It’s been pfsense for so long, why change it! I have used this router platform since around 1.2
December 3rd, 2012 at 3:38 am
Great Name! Great Product! No sense in changing the name.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:34 am
I love the Plain F****** Sense name the best …
March 3rd, 2013 at 11:33 pm
Here we are, almost 6 years later, and now pfSense truly is a widely-recognized brand in network security. Even a dope like myself can make sense of its complexity and make use of its brilliance. Taking something as complicated as packet filtering, and making sense of it, is no joke. Keep up the fantastic work.