There were some reasons for selecting such name:
1) All names as TotalEdit, SuperEdit, UltraEdit, EditPlus, EditPad, NotePad, SmartEdit etc were already taken or used by something or domain name was not available or there was no .com domain.
2) When you select some abstract name as UltraEdit it is really difficult to invent some good logo, that would be recognized and not similar to the rest.
3) Abstract name is also much more difficult to remember, then some term (name) which has association.
4) If you already select the name, it is does not matter what is it. People would use it as term without thinking too much about sense.
And now think about a different examples as Emule, eDonkey, FireFox etc. What do you think about them

And which associations you have in your brain

And know something about UltraEdit or TextPad?