You hear about famous brands, such as Nike, Starbucks, Lego and Reddit, all the time.
These brands are the most popular and highly publicized. Their logos instantly recognizable but do you know how their names came about and what they actually mean?
7 Brands has made an infographic of famous company name etymologies. How many of these ‘fun facts’ did you already know?
Here I’ve listed some brand names explore from this infographic.
Reddit – While the website’s name is obviously a play on ‘read it’, it’s coincidental that a loose Latin translation of reddit means ’render’ (‘to submit for approval’), which is what redditors do.
Sony – Sonus is the Latin word for sound, but the name also comes from the founders’ considering themselves ‘sonny boys’, a borrowed word in Japanese that suggests smart young men.
Lego – Lego comes from a contraction of the Danish phrase Leg godt, which means ‘play well’.
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.
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