Your comment made me curious and I tried looking for an answer. I found this forum post from 2008 asking basically the same thing. https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=17953

The founder Clem answered:

Why the name MINT??

Long story… I was writing articles/tutorials for linuxforums.org for a while and I eventually decided to publish them myself, so I needed a .com and I thought of a name. Mint is cold, it’s short, it’s fresh, it’s easy to type and to remember and in English it even means “cool”, “good condition”, “perfect” etc… I also liked the way Linux was associated with the poles, the penguins, the ice… the way a pristine kernel was called “vanilla”… and so Mint was kind of close to all of that. Great name, no particular meaning… just a series of nice subjective associations I guess.

Clem do you like Mint?

It’s my favorite non-alcoholic drink. If you ever go to Paris on a sunny day do order a “Diabolo Menthe” :wink: I also love the smell of Mint and the flavor (especially with lamb)

Quote from the wonderfully hilarious movie Popstar: Never Stop, Never Stopping.

“Nowadays if you don’t sell out, people will wonder if no one asked you to.”