Why called 4chan?

I'm curious why the community is called 4chan? Can anyone explain or direct me to the "About 4chan" section?

I just know that 4 is synonymous with �� (death) and is avoided where possible. Or is this the reason of the appeal of the name for the community?

Because it's the English 2chan, and 3chan sounds dumb. You can pretend it's a Yotsubato joke if you want.