Brands are part of our daily life, some of them we know from our early childhood. But, are you wondering why brands are choosing a specific name? do they mean anything?!
Choosing a name for a new business is perhaps the first big decision that the founder has to make, as it is vital is it to pick a good one.
Let’s take a look how famous companies got their brand names…
For example Häagen-Dazs is completely made up, while Reebock is named after a type of African antelope.
Rolex – what it actually means? Truth is – nothing. The name comes from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning “hoROLogical EXcellence”. However, is that its founder Hans Wilsdorf wanted a name that would be easily pronounced in various languages (and probably not meaning anything so that it can be original).
Virgin – according to Richard Branson’s autobiography, an employee suggested the name as they were all ‘new’ at business.
Adobe – the name came from the Adobe creek that ran behind the house of co-founder John Warnock.
Nike – naturally appeals to athletes that have first place in their sights – its name comes from the Ancient Greek goddess of victory.
Fanta – at a brainstorming session, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland told his team to use their Fantasie, which is the German word for imagination. It didn’t take much imagination to come up with Fanta.
Samsung – in Korean sam means three and sung means star, so Samsung literally means tristar or three stars. The number three meanwhile represents something ‘big’ numerous and powerful.
Pandora – In Greek mythology Pandora was given the gift of music from Appollo.
Nivea – Niveus is Latin for snow white – the purity of this image is reflected in the color of the company’s skin cream.
Starbucks – While one story suggests the company was named after Starbuck, the chief mate on the Pequod whaling ship from the classic novel Moby-Dick co-founder Gordon Bowker suggests someone simply saw Starbo on an old mining map and adapted it.
Volkswagen – at a time when German roads were primarily reserved for the rich, Volkswagen, which means ‘People’s Car’ in German, offered something different.
Adidas – contrary to popular belief Adidas does not stand for ‘All Day I Dream About Sport’, but is instead a portmanteau of the founder’s name Adolf (Adi) Dassler.
Kodak – founder George Eastman believed a trademark should be short, incapable of being misspelled, and ‘must mean nothing’. He was also a fan of the letter K. the result: the made up word Kodak.
Volvo – was founded as a subsidiary of a ball bearing company – so its appropriate that the name comes from the Latin word for ‘l roll’.
Etsy – in a Reader’s Digest interview, founder Robert Kalin revealed he wanted a made-up name and watched foreign films for inspiration , during which he misheard the Italian eh, si (‘oh, yes’) as ‘etsi’.
Subaru – means ‘unite’ in Japanese, but it’s also a term for a collection of stars said by Greek mythology to be the daughter of Atlas, the titan of astronomy and navigation.
Lufthansa – Luft is the German word for ‘air’ while ‘Hansa’ comes from the Hanseatic League, a confederation of merchant guilds that existed across Northern Europe from the 14th – 16th century.
Information source: http://wallblog.co.uk/2014/12/08/the-meaning-of-brand-names/