Who coined the phrase "Bikini" for the two piece swimsuit design in 1946?

The name for the bikini design was coined in 1946 by Parisian engineer Louis Réard, the designer of the bikini. He named the swimsuit after Bikini Atoll, where testing on the atomic bomb was taking place. Fashion designer Jacques Heim, also from Paris, re-released a similar design earlier that same year, the Atome.

Due to its controversial and revealing design, the bikini was slow to be adopted. In many countries it was banned from beaches and public places. The Vatican declared the design sinful. While still considered risqué, the bikini gradually became a part of popular culture when film stars—Brigitte Bardot, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress and others—began wearing them on public beaches and in film.