I believe it was Gruber who suggested the name "iPad Air", but considering that the iPod Mini was, I believe, the best-selling iPod model, using that moniker with the smaller iPad has strong history behind it.
Now if they just renamed the iPod Touch the "iPad Nano".
He he he... You might want to check the timeline on the "iPad Air" thing.
... not really sure on it myself -- you might just run into something interesting ...