(CNN)Is it ISIL, ISIS or Islamic State? Whatever you call the jihadist group known for killing dozens of people at a time, carrying out public executions, beheadings, crucifixions and other brutal acts, there is no denying they have captured the world's attention. On the eve of President Barack Obama's speech outlining Washington's strategy against the group, in which he will likely refer to it as ISIL, we ask: What's in a name? It all started in 2004 when the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi formed an al Qaeda splinter group in Iraq. Within two years, al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq was trying to fuel a sectarian war against the majority Shiite community.
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ISIS is translation of the acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
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U.S. officials, the U.N., some media use ISIL: Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
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Jihadist group prefers "the Islamic State" or just "the State"
In June 2006, al-Zarqawi was killed in a @placeholder strike.