25 Name Origins Of The World's Most Famous Companies
Nathan Johnson
Published
09/20/2016
in
wow
You'd be surprised where some of these come from.
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1.
Pepsi. Coined back in 1898, Pepsi derives its name from âdyspepsiaâ, which means indigestion. It was marketed to alleviate digestive problems. -
2.
Blackberry. Oddly enough, the name was coined because the keys on the keyboard resembled the drupelets on a fruit. -
3.
Canon. The company was originally called âKwanonâ, the name of a Buddhist goddess. The name was changed to Canon in 1935 to appeal to a worldwide audience. -
4.
Gatorade. The name comes from the University of Floridaâs football team, the Gators. It was originally called Gator-Aid. -
5.
Google. It might be common knowledge, but Google was named after the mathematical term âgoogolâ, which is the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. -
6.
IKEA. IKEA was named by combining the owner Ingvar Kampradâs initials and the town he grew up in, Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd. -
7.
Lululemon. It literally has no meaning. The owner just wanted to piss off Japanese people by putting a plethora of âLâsâ in the name. Seriously. -
8.
LEGO. The company name LEGO is actually the combination of two words â âleg gotâ and âplay wellâ. -
9.
Adidas. Adidas is a play on the creator of the companyâs name, Adolf Dossler. His nickname was âAdiâ and he took the âDasâ sound from his last name. -
10.
WD-40. The name WD-40 was coined after 39 failed attempts to create the product. How cleverrrr⌠-
11.
Nike. Nike was named after the Greek goddess of victory. -
12.
JC Penney. The company named derives from the ownerâs name â James Cash Penney. -
13.
Panera. The word âPanâ means bread in Spanish. The owners added âeraâ at the end to literally convey that the age of bread is falling upon us. -
14.
Haagen-Dazs. The name was chosen by the owners because it sounds Danish, but it has no meaning within the language. -
15.
GAP. The name was meant to define the culture gap between kids and adults. -
16.
Venmo. âVeno/Vendereâ means âto sellâ in the dead language, so the appâs creators played around with the word for a bit and came up with the unique name. -
17.
Sony. Sony is derived from âsonusâ, the latin word for âsonny boyâ, which in 1950s Japan described a smart, presentable young man. -
18.
Soylent. The company gets its name from a popular 1973 Sci-Fi movie known as Soylent Green. -
19.
Starbucks. Co-founder Gordon Bowker said the name came from discussing Moby Dick in an intense brainstorming session. âSomebody somehow came up with an old mining map of the Cascades and Mount Rainier, and there was an old mining town called Starbo,â he said. âAs soon as I saw Starbo, I, of course, jumped to Melvilleâs first mate [named Starbuck] in Moby-Dick.â -
20.
J. Crew. The name J. Crew was selected to directly compete with Ralph Laurenâs Polo line. -
21.
Under Armour. According to CEO Kevin Plank, the added the âuâ because it gave them an easier phone number. âThe reason we added the âUâ in âArmourâ is that I was skeptical at the time about whether this whole internet thing would stick,â Plank told The Post. âSo I thought the phone number 888-4ARMOUR was much more compelling than 888-44ARMOR. I wish there was a little more science or an entire marketing study behind it, but it was that simple.â -
22.
ASOS. ASOS is an abbreviation for âAs Seen On Screenâ. -
23.
Virgin. The famous company name was suggested by Richard Bransonâs colleague because when the company began, they were âvirgins at businessâ. -
24.
Wawa. Wawa is a Native American word that refers to Canadian Geese. -
25.
Yahoo. Yahoo is actually an acronym for âYet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracleâ, which is an imaginary species in Jonathan Swiftâs âGulliverâs Travelsâ.
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Pepsi. Coined back in 1898, Pepsi derives its name from âdyspepsiaâ, which means indigestion. It was marketed to alleviate digestive problems.
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