Aaron Peckham

ABOUT AARON PECKHAM

Computer scientist and entrepreneur best known for founding the website Urban Dictionary, an internet-based dictionary dedicated to slang terminology, featuring over 12 million definitions written by users around the world. The website gained traction in 2003 after a news article reported that a judge of the High Court of Justice in the U.K. had used Urban Dictionary in a case involving two rappers, to interpret slang lyrics. It remains widely used by linguists to chart the development of slang terms.

He developed Urban Dictionary in 1999 during his freshman year as a computer science major at California Polytechnic State University .

He first started the site in order to compare urban slang used by university students across California. At first, it was created as a parody of traditional dictionaries, which he called "stuffy" and accused of taking themselves too seriously.

He was born and raised in the United States.

He and Weird Al Yankovic are both notable alumni of California Polytechnic State University.