Vibram is an Italian company. I've been told that the word in Italian for "toes" is the same as the word for "fingers", and thus they're effectively "FiveFingers" in Italian, and the translation wasn't precise. I don't really buy that, though. I think they chose fingers instead of toes because we view toes as a relatively static thing on the end of our feet, while we view fingers as useful things, and these shoes allow you to use your toes individually (if you have that skill) in a way other shoes don't.