No surprise here ... I hate the name. But my reasons are not merely personal - I think Apple made a miserable marketing decision here.
Why? Try these on for size:
California -focus. It's a global company, and frankly, I similarly dislike the "designed by Apple in california" -slogan. It's parochial and self-absorbed in the extreme. Think about the brand: We all look at big cats in the zoo, we all adore/venerate/takeyourpick them - California does not have a competitive brand, especially not against big cats or world national capitals or planets or world rain forests (I actually think even the android naming scheme - appalling as it is - is better than a California-based one).
A Surfing beach? Youhavegottobekidding me. Steve Jobs did not surf. Jony Ive does not surf. And sure as excrement, Apple designers do not surf -they do not have the time for it.
Recognition: As many here have pointed out: Recognition sucks.
Wrong connotations: Tom Cruise in Top Gun being at the mildest end of the spectrum. (although you could see it paying homage to the "here's to the crazy ones" and "think different" -tradition)
No translation possible. Most of the world does not speak american or english, and on all the 3 non-english -speaking apple forums I'm a regular on, people actually regularly translate the big cats to their own language. Say goodbye to that familiarity.
Verbally challenging. For non-natives it is far less easy to spell and nigh impossible to inflect/decline. Quite long also, and can not be abbreviated (unlike Leo, ML or SL).
All in all, a sadly bad decision (IMNSHO).
RGDS,
