They don't call the base model 'iPad Neo.' They just call it iPad (https://www.apple.com/ipad-11/). It's the same market segment and even uses the exact same color palette.

They also just established that 'e' is the designator for budget model (https://www.apple.com/iphone-17e/) so best guess is they thought 'MacBook e' looked strange so instead it's 'nEo'. And don't forget the 2004 eMac.