It was in front of the Valachi Senate Hearings in 1963, the feds first named the Families. The feds named the Families after the current bosses at the time (Gambino, Bonanno, Lucchese, Genovese and Magliocco). When Magliocco died in late 1963, newspapermen and the media (with help from confidential FBI reports they apparently had access to) renamed the Magliocco Family to Colombo Family.

Just a thought...what boss would name a secret organisation/Family after him???