What do I suggest? Don't ask me. I'm neither a designer, a techy or even that good of a photographer.
I am struggling to think of anything better or more easily understood than "variant", but as I said before, I had not given it any thought until this thread.
Variant is "a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing"
according to the online dictionary I found.
Isn't this exactly what it is describing. The "something" is the raw file and each variant is an interpretation (a form or version) of the same raw file.
I felt the OP found it confusing because he wasn't thinking in terms of the raw file being the original, which is a fairly essential concept for anyone using a raw convertor, and one I think its fair for Phase One to expect from its users.
But I am struggling to follow why you think the term is confusing or inelegant. To me, the term seems particularly apt for what its describing.
Cheers,
Graham