The name of the university was still unclear; in the three years following its inspection the university bore three different names. The board first approved Eliot Seminary but this title was eventually replaced in favor of the Washington Institute, because of William Eliot's stiff opposition to the name. Not only was Eliot personally uncomfortable with the idea of naming a university after himself, but he also objected to the establishment of a seminary which would inherently be charged with teaching a religious faith, in favor of a purely non-sectarian university. Under pressure from Eliot, the Board of Trustees created a task force charged with naming the university, headed by Samuel Treat. Several months later Treat's committee proposed naming the University the Washington Institute, after the nation's first president George Washington. However, in the midst of finance problems the Board of Trustees, voted to name the university the O'Fallon Institute in order to secure funds from John O'Fallon, the wealthiest individual in St. Louis. Treat felt the name was unsuitable and persuaded the board to drop the name in favor of the Washington Institute. Naming the University after the nation's first president only six years before the American Civil War during a time of bitter national division was no coincidence on the part of Treat. George Washington was universally admired by Americans and hailed as the father of America, and the country's greatest president. Treat felt that the university should be a force of unity in a strongly the divided Missouri. In 1856 the University amended its name to Washington University. The university's only amended its name once more in 1976 when the board of trustees voted to add the suffix in St. Louis to distinguish the university from the nearly two dozen universities bearing Washington's name.
