What is in a name: SARS?

I would argue that the virus behind the current pandemic, i.e. SARS-CoV-2, is a very consequential misnomer! Unfortunately, by choosing this name, this virus was automatically associated with the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pandemic of 2003, which was much more deadlier than the current one (case fatality rate about 11%, see e.g. here, here).

This poor name choice has contributed significantly to the irrational hysteria and alarmism that we witness every day for the past 10 months or so! Or was this name intentionally chosen? Follow the money trail!

""A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" is a popular reference to William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her family's rival house of Montague, that is, that he is named "Montague". The reference is often used to imply that the names of things do not affect what they really are." (Source)

Here is another relevant historical reference to the importance of naming:
"Confucius was asked what he would do if he was a governor. He said he would "rectify the names" to make words correspond to reality. The phrase has now become known as a doctrine of feudal Confucian designations and relationships, behaving accordingly to ensure social harmony. Without such accordance society would essentially crumble and "undertakings would not be completed."" This is known as the Rectification of names from the Analects of Confucius.