This is just a thought ,what would have happened if the first crypto coin from satoshi was ethereum ? I'm sure ETH will be the most favoured digital currency just like bitcoin is today.
And ETH would have been the bullrun driver and many altcoins will always favour since ETH is the key ,just imagine if ETH is 11,000$ ? Many altcoins would have been exploding in value presently
It is just like you saying what is bitcoin was another name different from the word BITCOIN, of course that will be the highest valued coin we will have in the market even if it was ETHEREUM they named it, but when it comes to function, Ethereum may still not be the top, because the system being run by both of them is still a little bit different and till date, bitcoin system of technology still remain the best.
I am not sure that we have anyone that is better than bitcoin till date, even when they all come out to claim they have a better system to that of bitcoin. So name is not what matters alone, if the function of Ethereum can tally with that of bitcoin, then it will definitely be the highest valued coin that will be in the market till date, and maybe we might never have known bitcoin.