GLAM was created under contract by xRhino, Inc for Advanced Simulation Technology, Inc (ASTi) during the first part of 2003. ASTi required a user interface that provided an exciting user experience for their visualization application via complex animation and interaction techniques. The name follows the libraries function, to GLAMorize the user interface, or to make the UI more appealing to the user. The name encapsulates many different techniques that GLAM uses, namely complex animation, advanced support of scalable graphics, support for a multitude of UI techniques and flexible rendering functionality.

GLAM really stands for OpenGL American Mother, a moniker jokingly created by Gray Carper as the code-name for the project. It made us laugh, so the code-name stuck... we don't quite know what it means. Perhaps a patriotic homage to the statue of liberty? Probably not.