In a recent podcast, I missed any mention of google -- with the same spelling -- predating the number. In 1919 there was a popular newspaper comic character named Barney Google. The character inspired a 1923 hit song "Barney Google With the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes". I still remember my parents singing that song when I was a boy.
It is the eye-popping, staring meaning of google that I associate with the search engine. Is it just me? Did I miss something?
What you wrote confused me a bit about your understanding of googol which is the correct spelling for 10 to the 100th power.
The first time I saw Google I thought of Barney Google and the song.
I don't know which came first, or if one inspired the other, but in the early 1900s, a certain type of breaking ball soccer was called a google.
Men tend to invent words for athletic accomplishments all the time, and they are understood without any explanation. Same with female anatomy. You could say. "Look at those googles on her!" and everyone else wpi;d raise a beer to toast the great googles they'd girl-watched over the decades.