Here's where these famous companies got their famous names

Who knew that "pepsi" is a reference to indigestion?


A rose of any other name feels so sweet? Frankly, no one knows. But did Google become the online search giant today it was still named BackRub? If we had to guess: probably not.

Appointing a company is both an art and a scientific accident, or a happy accident. In fact, something so small that an audial misunderstanding can often be the difference between a household name (Spotify) and something you have never heard about (Deezer). If you are curious about how some of your favorite brands have got their world-renowned names, read it, because here we have stopped the original stories behind the names of some of the most recognizable companies in the world.

1
Apple

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In his biography onSteve Jobs,Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson I revealed that after having returned from a long working time on an Apple orchard, the enigmatic co-founder suggested the name of Apple's computer rang "fun, animated and non-intimidating". Failed to find more efficient ringing names, co-foundersSteve Wozniak In the end, agreed with jobs that the name was "a good fit". According to jobs - an Atari employee at the time - he did not hurt anyone that "had before us atari in the repertoire."

2
Amazon

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Named originally Cadabra - after the magician phrase, "abracadabra" -founderJeff Bezos Savile he needed a new name after a lawyer who cursed him on the phone and thought he was saying "corpse". Deciding the name should start with an "A" in order to obtain a preferred positioning in the directory, Bezos set to the name of a South American River. Not only was it "exotic and different", like his own business, but it was "the largest in the world", as the aspirations he had for his tiny company.

3
Nike

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Originally named Blue Ribbon Sports, the clothing brand apparently crossed more than some iterations before settling on Nike, including "Peregrine", "Bengal" and "Sixth Six". But after an employee,Jeff Johnson, Read an article in an Inflight magazine on the secret behind the big brands such as Kleenex and Xerox, it decided that the name must be less than two syllables and contain "at least one letter or an exotic sound". The next day he woke up with the idea of ​​"Nike", named the mark after the Greek goddess of victory. Although founderPhil knight was lower than enthusiasm, he touched for the moment,saying "I guess we go with the Nike thing for a moment."

4
Google

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Called originally Backrub, the research giantI had his name through a fortunate fault. Although brainstorming names that discuss the indexing of the "huge amount of data", their site would be indexed, a graduate student from Stanford, Sean Anderson, suggested "Googolplex". In response, founderLarry Page Recommended the "Googol" shortened a mathematical term for ten to the hundredth power. However, in the search for the availability of the domain name, Anderson accidentally typed "Google.com". After finding that it was the available page, withSergey strand, recorded the domain name in September 1997.

5
Pepsi

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The beverage now known as Pepsi-Cola was created for the first time by the owner of the pharmacyCaleb Bradham In 1893. Made from sugar, water, caramel, nutmeg and other natural and additive ingredients, the drink, then known as "Brad Beverage", caught as a wild fire. After finding a great success, Bradham sought to rebel the drink in 1898 to use a wider audience, settling on "Pepsi-Cola". The name, which has its roots in the word dyspepsie-mean indigestion - was intended to report to consumers that the drink was more than just refresh, but actually a "healthy" substance that could be used to help digestion.

6
Starbucks

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In an interview of 2008 withSeattle's times,Starbucks co-founderGordon Bowker revealed that, unlike popular opinion, the name has little to do with the first match named identical in MelvilleMoby Dick. Instead, a friend,Terry Heckler, suggested officially as words beginning with "st" were usually "powerful", thus sending both on a hunt to the right names beginning with "ST". After traversing an old mining card when they are looking for and coming to the city of "Stabo," Bowker said he's of course jumped at the first companion of MelvilleMoby Dick"Always," he said, "the character himself" had nothing to do with Starbucks directly. "

7
Detail

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Personally answer a question aboutQuora, Spotify co-founderDaniel EK I revealed that the music dissemination platform has gotten its name from a little bad communication. Brainstorm names for society with his founding colleagueMartin Lorentzon, EK Misheard One of the ideas of Lorentzon - shouted from a separate room in their apartment in Stockholm-likeDetail.

Not finding any hits for the name on Google, the pair recorded the domain "a few minutes later". After reached notoriety, EK said the two were "a little embarrassed" to admit the accidental origins of the name and have rather chosen to tell anyone who requested it was a combination of "spot" and "identify "

8
Kleenex

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According to their website, Kleenex's name goes back to the company's first product, Kotex Women's Towel. Named after its "cotton texture", the name Kotex encountered the requirements of the company to be "short, easy to say, easy to remember and easy to explain". When they then produced tissues conceived as cream solvents, the company employed "Kleen" to explain the product cleaning objectives and adopted "Ex" Kotex to transmit it was the beginning of "a family of products "

9
Twitter

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In an interview with theThat time, Co-founder TwitterJack Dorsey explained that, during the name of the social media platform, his founders wanted something that "captured ... the physical feel you are buzzing your friend's pocket." While "Twitch" initially went to mind, the founders felt that it did not "mounted good imaging". Instead, they traveled the word dictionary around "Twitch", distinguish "Twitter". The definition, Dorsey said: "A short splashing of information without consequence" -was "just perfect".

10
Photocopy

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Initially nicknamed the Haloid photographic company, the company was the first to use a copy method called xerography. Take the Greek rootsXeros for "dry" andgraphia To "write", they named their copy methoddried because no ink or chemicals has been used. After their copying machines have become a great success, the company "optimistically" renamed Xerox as a head of head to its most popular product.

11
Coca Cola

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Invented byDr. John S. Pemberton In 1886, Coca-Cola ostensibly obtained the "Coca" and "Kola" in his name of the punctual use of coca leaves and Kola's walnuts in his formula. The specific formulation, however, with the type of script elaborated, comes from the accountant of Pemberton,Frank M. Robinson, who suggested: "The two c like advertising."

12
Dunkin Donuts

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Founded in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1948, the beloved coffee chain was originally called "Open kettle". After a meeting with leaders, however, in which founderWilliam Rosenberg Reiterated its goal of "doing and serving the coolest coffee and donuts, the most delicious," The chain has been renamed Dunkin 'donuts after only two years of activity. It's stuck since.

13
LEGO

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Founded in 1932 by DanishmanOLE KIRK KRISTIANSEN,LEGO is an abbreviation of the Danish words "godt of the leg", which means "playing well". As the site of the company explains: "It's our name, and it's our ideal."

14
Yahoo!

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Originally named "Guide de Jerry and David on the World Wide Web" -After FoundersJerry Yang andDavid Filo-The company has been registered "Yahoo!" In 1994. Although the name has since been called an acronym for "yet another oracle hierarchical oracle", the founders argue that they chose the name as a nod to "yahoos" inJonathan Swift's Gulliver Travel, a breed of raws known to be "impolite, non-sophisticated, [and] nonstore".

15
Taco Bell

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Surprisingly, the name has nothing to do with real bells. Instead, he is named after the founder and the entrepreneurClothes Glene, Who opened his first taco stand, Taco Tia, in 1954, opening the first Taco Bell of Downey, California, eight years later.

16
Microsoft

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To his founders,Bill Gates andPaul AllenMicrosoft's name was an obvious extension of what their business has done: createsoft, tenderfillmicrophonecomputers. However, they have always kept others, Zanier, options in mind, such as the Expert Inc. file. And unlimited Ltd. In the end, the decision fell between two options, Microsoft or Allen & Gates, with the founders choosing the first in the hope, it would allow Microsoft. "Have an identity beyond its founders", like IBM.

17
Instagram

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Answer personally on quora, Co-founder InstagramKevin Systrom explained that the founders of the platform wanted a name that evoked both the "" "as well as" as well as "the idea of ​​recording something in your life", finally settle on Instagram as a combination ofinstant andtelegram. He said another important consideration, "was whether or not you could tell someone the name and they can spell easily."

18
Scotch

scotch masking tape company name origins

In the 1920s, when the tape was invented, "Scotch" was a racial pejorative signifying cheap or radin. When the founder of Scotch,Richard drew, has allowed a few car painters to test his product then not name, one of them complained about his lack of membership, would have asked Drew, "why scotch with the adhesive?" After receiving the comments and apply a stronger adhesive on the product, attracted apparently with a good sense of the scotch named humor.

19
The north face

north face company name origins

A small basic geography teaches you that in the northern hemisphere, the north face of a mountain is usually the coldest and most brutal part to climb. According to the company's website, the founders of North Face -Douglas Tompkins and his wifeSusie Tompkins Buell- "I thought that the name reflected the mission and dedication of society to the extreme."

20
McDonalds

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Why is he called McDonald's when the name of the founder of society isRay kroc? Before building McDonald's in the Empire, it is today, the name belonged to a small training in San Bernardino, California, operated by brothersTail andMac McDonald. After redesigning the property to focus on burgers, fries and shakes, Kroc took the lead in the company's franchise, keeping his original name in the process.

21
Wendy's

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Founding his first hamburger restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969,Dave Thomas planned to name him after one of his five children. After cycling through the five-names-Melinda, Pam, Lori, Molly and Kenny - and find each unsatisfactory, Thomas finally decided to name him after the nickname of his daughter Melinda: Wendy. Melinda, eight years at the time of the creation of society, had apparently received the name of his relatives because of his inability to say his own name at a young age.

22
Haagen Dazs

haagen-dazs company name origins
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In an interview withTablet magazine, Co-founder Häagen-DazsReuben Mattus Said to have inspired by his Jewish heritage, deciding to name the ice cream in honor of Denmark, "the only country that saved the Jews" during the Second World War. So Mattus continued to set up "a totally fictitious Danish name" that "would attract attention, especially with the umlaut". Ironically, like thenew YorkTimes emphasized in their necology of the woman of Mattus and co-founder Häagen-DazsPink Mattus, the Danish language has no umlaut.

23
The hole

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When the gap was founded in 1969 byDonaldandDoris FisherIt focused on targeting young hungry consumers for new products. To this end, it was one of the first stores to sell everything by Levi Strauss & Co. Its name was supposed to reflect this single consumption base by referring to "the generation gap" between it and its competitors more designated .

24
Kodak

kodak company name origins

Unlike brainstorming sessions, many other companies will decide on a name, Kodak was the result of a man's fantasy. His inventor,George Eastman, explained that the title was alone to do: "The letter" K "had been a favorite of mine," he said, and he tried "a great coordination of letters that made words that begin And ending with "K." "Kodak, he concluded" is the result ".

25
Verizon

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After acquiring the Telecommunications company GTE in 2000, Bell Atlantic renamed Verizon, a combination of LatinVeritas, for the truth and "horizon". According to society, this refers to their "values ​​of veritas" of integrity and respect, as well as their "horizon values" of imagination and passion.

26
Visa

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Previously known as the National Bankamericadard, founderDue hockey Designed the name visa to designate the universal acceptance of the card. Not only is the name destined to remind customers of a travel visa, thus going to foreign access, but it is also, according to the visa website, "a simple and memorable name that is pronounced the same thing in each language ".

27
IKEA

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Founded in 1943 byIngvar Kamprad, IKEA is actually an acronym. The "I" and "K" represent the initials of the founder, while "E" and "A" refer to the farm he grew up in, Elmytard and the small village near Agunnaaryd.

28
Skype

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Co-founderJanus FriisThe service initially was named "Sky Peer-to-Peer", with reference to its peer-to-peer communication method and the fact that it was wireless. Finally, it was bent to "skyper" until the company discovered that the accompanying domain name was already taken. Drop the co-founder "R,"Niklas Zennström discovered an open domain and recorded it. At first, "the name did not make sense of many people," according to Friis, he "seems a little work."

29
Jeep

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When Ford has been put into service to produce a vehicle for the US military at the top of the Second World War, he has identified the resulting automobile, Ford Pygmy, by a two-letter code: GP. After visiting a base of the army in Louisiana to test the vehicles, an American journalist,JO CHAMBERLIN, wrote that the vehicle had acquired "a dozen names of animals such as Jeep, Peep, Blitz-Buggy, jumping Lena and Panzer-Killer", among others. Given the available options, it's not a surprise that the blocked name.

30
Gatorade

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In the summer of 1965, a coach for the University of Florida Football Program asked a group of university doctors to know why so many members of their players were suffering from heat-related illnesses. The researchers, coming to the conclusion that it was due to the failure of the player to reconstruct the lost electrolytes during the workouts, concocted a liquid that they hoped to adequately offset what the players had supervised. Given the university mascot - Le Gator - they decided to name the resulting liquid "Gatorade".


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