Many projects have changed names over the years to avoid confusion and give other projects some space in the realm of ideas. Perl was briefly Pearl, but dropped the 'a' due to such a conflict. Microsoft changed from "Git Virtual File System", abbreviated "GVFS", to "Virtual File System for Git", abbreviated "VFS for Git" because there was already a critical mass of articles and documentation for the GNOME Virtual File System. Where a name causes confusion among users, it's good practice to choose a new name even if there's no trademark.
Lots of other projects have similar names across different types of software projects, which can be a little confusing but not as confusing as the same name in the same sphere. "Sphinx" for example represents at least a documentation generator, a search engine and text indexer, a data collection package for research, materials simulation library (as "SPHInX"), an integrated hardware/software access control package, and a network monitoring system. "Argus" is at least a commercial real estate software package, a network and systems monitoring and alerting system similar to Nagios or Sensu, a museum collection management package, a network activity auditing package, safety case management software from Oracle, a high-tech optical analysis system for the sheet metal forming industry, a secure messaging solution for medical information, a suite of system monitoring and management tools for Windows, and an augmented reality (AR) system for support & troubleshooting in multiple manufacturing industries.
As for "Go" for a language, I don't think confusion was likely. This other language doesn't seem to have been in widespread use or documented broadly outside the one project lead's own pages. It might have been kind to this other creator to change the name, but I don't think it was really necessary to avoid pain in the broader community.
Comments
Many projects have changed names over the years to avoid confusion and give other projects some space in the realm of ideas. Perl was briefly Pearl, but dropped the 'a' due to such a conflict. Microsoft changed from "Git Virtual File System", abbreviated "GVFS", to "Virtual File System for Git", abbreviated "VFS for Git" because there was already a critical mass of articles and documentation for the GNOME Virtual File System. Where a name causes confusion among users, it's good practice to choose a new name even if there's no trademark.
Lots of other projects have similar names across different types of software projects, which can be a little confusing but not as confusing as the same name in the same sphere. "Sphinx" for example represents at least a documentation generator, a search engine and text indexer, a data collection package for research, materials simulation library (as "SPHInX"), an integrated hardware/software access control package, and a network monitoring system. "Argus" is at least a commercial real estate software package, a network and systems monitoring and alerting system similar to Nagios or Sensu, a museum collection management package, a network activity auditing package, safety case management software from Oracle, a high-tech optical analysis system for the sheet metal forming industry, a secure messaging solution for medical information, a suite of system monitoring and management tools for Windows, and an augmented reality (AR) system for support & troubleshooting in multiple manufacturing industries.
As for "Go" for a language, I don't think confusion was likely. This other language doesn't seem to have been in widespread use or documented broadly outside the one project lead's own pages. It might have been kind to this other creator to change the name, but I don't think it was really necessary to avoid pain in the broader community.