the wiiu disagrees, the name does matter. 

No wonder it failed......

It wasn't because of the name.

It wasn't because of the name, but calling it PSP2 would have at least helped the device recognition by a broader audience. I stopped counting the number of times I talked to someone about my Vita, they said "What is that?"- "The new PSP" - "Oh, OK, didn't know there was one!". For broad audience, simple is best. PS1234 is obvious and clear everytime even for people who know nothing about video games, it's a shame that they didn't follow the same pattern for the handhelds.  

Maybe because PSP failed to beat Nintendo and they wanted another go at it. When it first came out, that was Sony's line. They were going to do to handhelds what they did to home consoles (PS1 destroying N64) because they were using discs instead of carts and bringing a more "adult" and "sophisticated" approach to the whole thing.

Vita was probably just a branding decision.

Playstation is like Final Fantasy. The main will always have the number while the spin offs/side products will have a different name to go with the brand name. :)

its about making money not beating nintendo

Not sure, but honestly, I think they should have called it PSP2 instead. I feel it would have made the device more recognizable and perhaps more successful, while the Vita name doesn't really convey much about it, if anything at all. At least with Nintendo's naming, like DS, Gamecube and Wii, they made sense with their assigned devices.

"Some have said that the PSP is our answer to the (Nintendo) Game Boy. Well, here’s how we view the world: PSP will elevate portable entertainment out of the handheld gaming ghetto and Sony is the only company that can do it. We happily accept this challenge and, dare I say it, the baton has been passed." Kaz 2005

Apparently, Sony felt differently.

apparently the psp sold 80+ million units and a lot of games and was successful as hell

wtf is your logic?