That explains why my ASUS motherboard got a BIOS update “to support upcoming CPU[s]” last month.

They do this with macOS too. For example Lion -> Mountain Lion, or Yosemite -> El Capitan.

I think that macOS releases that focus on “stability” have some permutation of the previous release’s name. For example, Mountain Lion still has “Lion” in the name, and “El Capitan” is a formation within the Yosemite national park.