NYSE Euronext, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, said on Wednesday it was renaming the American Stock Exchange, which it bought last year and where it lists small- and mid-cap companies.

Again.

From the unwieldy NYSE Alternext US, the former Amex, as it was widely known, will now be simply called NYSE Amex.

Presumably, NYSE Euronext wanted some consistency in its branding — its European small- and mid-cap market is called Alternext. But with Amex’s rich history and familiar name, it seems easier to just call it by a name both shorter and closer to its original.

With all the industry consolidation, and the need to show deference to an acquisition, the exchanges have come up with unruly names for the exchanges they buy, much like the names of law firms or accounting firms that get ever longer as they acquire or merge with other firms

For example, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, an options market purchased last year by Nasdaq OMX (does the average Joe even know OMX refers to the Nordic and Baltic exchanges Nasdaq bought a few years ago?) is now known by the hardly catchy name Nasdaq OMX PHLX, and the former Boston Stock Exchange, has been rebaptized Nasdaq OMX BX.

Sooner or later, law firms and accounting firms all drop names to make everyone’s life easier. This could be the beginning of a (name) downsizing at the exchanges.