The Dow Jones industrial average might one day get another name as Dow Jones & Co. is reportedly considering a sale of its stock-index business.

According to a story on The Wall Street Journal Web site yesterday, Dow Jones parent News Corp. has tapped Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of the unit, which includes the 30-stock Dow index as well as other indexes. Also under consideration is a joint venture, the paper said.

Dow Jones is the parent company of the Journal, which, like The Post, is owned by News Corp.

The Dow Jones index was created in 1896 by Journal co-founder Charles Dow.