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How did Alcoholics Anonymous get its name? Was "The Way Out" the title?

In short:

  • Until 1939 the fellowship had no name. The name came from the title of its book, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the fellowship "began to be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of its own book" (p. xvii).
  • "The Way Out" was the other leading choice. In Bill W.'s accounts the Akron and New York groups voted, and "The Way Out" won by a narrow majority. Then Fitz M. checked the Library of Congress and found many books already called "The Way Out" and none called "Alcoholics Anonymous," and the members didn't want to be one more "way out." So "The Way Out" was never the book's published title.
  • Bill says nobody knows who first used the words "Alcoholics Anonymous"; he thought the phrase grew out of the New Yorkers calling themselves a "nameless bunch of alcoholics." Later books trace written uses back to mid-1938, and one says as early as 1937.
  • The sources disagree on the details: how many titles were considered, and how many books Fitz found.

The 1939 Big Book

The Foreword to the First Edition already uses the name for the people as well as the book: "We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women" (p. xiii). It asks each member writing or speaking publicly to omit his name, "designating himself instead as 'a member of Alcoholics Anonymous.'" (p. xiii), and it is signed "Alcoholics Anonymous." (p. xiv). The book itself doesn't tell how the name was chosen. See What does the Foreword to the First Edition say A.A. is for?

The 1955 Foreword to the Second Edition: "The fledgling society, which had been nameless, now began to be called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of its own book." (p. xvii).

Bill's first account (1946)

In his 1946 Grapevine article on anonymity, reprinted in P-17, Bill writes that before the book "we had no name" (P-17, 1946). "We must have considered at least two hundred titles." (P-17, 1946). The choice narrowed to "The Way Out" or "Alcoholics Anonymous," and a last-minute vote of the Akron and New York groups went to "The Way Out" by a narrow majority (P-17, 1946). Then Fitz M., "who then lived in Washington," went to the Library of Congress: "He found exactly twelve books already titled 'The Way Out.'" (P-17, 1946). "When this information was passed around, we shivered at the possibility of being the 'Thirteenth Way Out.'" (P-17, 1946). "That's how we got a name for our book of experience, a name for our movement" (P-17, 1946), and, Bill adds, a tradition of anonymity.

Bill's longer account (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957)

Bill had labelled the duplicated loan copies "Alcoholics Anonymous," but many still didn't like the title (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). It had appeared "probably in October, 1938." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "We do not know who first used these words." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). After leaving the Oxford Groups in 1937, the New Yorkers often called themselves a "nameless bunch of alcoholics" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957), and he says the name came from that phrase.

He confesses a temptation: with "The Way Out" he could sign the book himself, and he even thought of calling it "The B. W. Movement" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957) before friends slapped him down. "We considered more than a hundred titles all told." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). New York, encouraged by a writer named Joe W., came to favor "Alcoholics Anonymous"; Akron favored "The Way Out," which had a bare majority overall (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Bill wired Fitz on his farm in Maryland to check the Library of Congress: twelve books were titled "The Way Out," none "Alcoholics Anonymous" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "We sure aren't going to make this book the thirteenth 'Way Out.'" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "That is how we got the title for our book, and that is how our society got its name." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957).

Later accounts (1980, 1984)

  • Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers (1980) says that in Akron, because the Book of James was such a favorite, "'The James Club' was favored by some as a name for the Fellowship." (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). It quotes a June 1938 letter in which Bill asked Dr. Bob: "What would you think about the formation of a charitable organization called, say, Alcoholics Anonymous?" (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). It lists other proposed titles, among them "A Way Out" and "Comes the Dawn," and says the name was already in limited use, "references to it may be found as early as 1937" (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). One Akron wife remembered thinking, "That's the awfulest name I ever heard." (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980).
  • Pass It On (1984) says most people thought Joe W. coined the name (Pass It On, 1984), but that "The first documented use of the name in the A.A. archives is in a letter from Frank Amos to Albert Scott dated June 24, 1938." (Pass It On, 1984), where the book was to be by "Alcoholics Anonymous" rather than a named author (Pass It On, 1984). It lists other titles, including "One Hundred Men," "The Empty Glass" and "Dry Frontiers," and says "One Hundred Men" was dropped after the only woman member objected (Pass It On, 1984). It also says the book's editor, Tom Uzzell, was firm that "Alcoholics Anonymous" was the right title (Pass It On, 1984).

Where the sources differ

  • How many titles. "at least two hundred" (P-17, 1946); "more than a hundred" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957; Pass It On, 1984).
  • What Fitz found. Twelve books called "The Way Out" (P-17, 1946; A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Pass It On says Fitz "is supposed to have replied by telegram" that the Library of Congress had "25 books entitled 'The Way Out,' 12 entitled 'The Way,' and none called 'Alcoholics Anonymous.'" (Pass It On, 1984). Our sources don't have the telegram.
  • Where Fitz was. "then lived in Washington" (P-17, 1946); "on his farm in Maryland" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957); "near Washington, D.C." (Pass It On, 1984).
  • When the name first appears. Bill (1957): probably October 1938 (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). Pass It On: documented June 24, 1938 (Pass It On, 1984). Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers: references as early as 1937 (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980), though it doesn't quote one.
  • Who coined it. Bill says no one knows (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957); Pass It On reports that most credited Joe W. (Pass It On, 1984). Our sources don't settle it.
  • For which group first called itself by the name, see How did the Cleveland group become the first to call itself Alcoholics Anonymous?

Read it yourself

Sources

Source Pages Date
Alcoholics Anonymous, Foreword to the First Edition xiii–xiv 1939
P-17, "Anonymity" (Bill W., Grapevine) — 1946; pamphlet © 2019, article © AA Grapevine
Foreword to the Second Edition xvii 1955
A.A. Comes of Age — 1957
Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers — 1980
Pass It On — 1984

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book, A.A. Comes of Age, Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers and Pass It On are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; P-17's articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc.*

These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.