Changing the name of the Craft folder when placed above the webroot?
Yes, you can change the name of the craft folder. In the index.php file in the public folder update the path for the craft folder in the $craftPath variable. I use the following naming scheme for my sites: 

// Path to your craft/ folder
$craftPath = '../craft-domainname';


So my server directory looks something like this:

/(server-root)
  --craft-domain1
  --craft-domain2
  --craft-domain3
  --public_html
    --domain1
    --domain2
    --domain3


I keep the name craft in my folder structure but you don’t need to. I just do so it groups all the Craft installations together.