Naming Blog

The Story Of Four Brand Names That Had To Be Changed

by boris | Jan 2, 2019 | Naming

The stories of brands that changed their naming are very important, because they give a lot of information about how a brand is perceived before and after a major change. Comparing the periods before and after the name change of big brands gives valuable data to...

The Naming Of Six Countries Explained – Part II

by boris | Oct 12, 2018 | Naming cases

What’s in the name of a country? Often there is a secret meaning behind a country’s name. But we rarely think about it. That’s why we started our series of articles that explain the hidden meaning behind the name of some countries. Who knows? It may inspire you about...

What is the origin of these four countries’ names?

by boris | Sep 25, 2018 | Naming cases

The names of the world’s biggest countries are well known and used in everyday life. People rarely stop to think about the origin of these names. That’s why we decided to dedicate a special series of articles on the subject. In the first one we’ll analyse  the origins...

Origin Of The Names Of The Hottest Dating Apps

by boris | Jul 27, 2018 | Naming

Nowadays, almost everyone has used a dating app. To meet a new friend, find new love, new adventure, or just to find company for a night out. Different people, different stories. The dating apps are now an inseparable part of the digital world. They evolve and change...

What’s in the naming of the Volkswagen car models? – part II

by boris | Apr 27, 2018 | Naming

The interesting naming history of the Volkswagen car models doesn’t play out with just the list posted in our previous article. There are many other models that deserve to be mentioned and have their naming explained. It’s always like that with big brands like VW....

Trends in Brand Naming That Happened in 2017

by boris | Jan 11, 2018 | Naming

Another year is over, a new one just began. But in the world of brand naming 2017 isn’t over, until we discuss the product names that debuted and are definitely here to stay. Some of the trends have deeper roots than others, but they are in our list because 2017 is...

What’s in the naming of the Volkswagen car models?

by boris | Oct 12, 2017 | Naming

Volkswagen is a brand that in recent years achieved major independence for regional decision-making around the world. A good example of this is the naming of VW Atlas which was an effort to mass-appeal to American consumers. Originally the model was supposed to be...

Five interesting facts about the Tesla naming

by boris | Oct 10, 2017 | Naming

Recently Tesla become the 4th most valuable car company in the world. Therefore, we decided to pay close attention to the interesting facts around the company’s name. Who picked the name? How was it chosen? What kind of naming trend has been started? Find out more in...

Blockchain’s meaning and the brand names inspired by it

by boris | Oct 6, 2017 | Naming

Blockchain’s meaning originally comes from “block chain”. It’s a continuously growing list of records called blocks. The blocks are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a hash pointer as a link to a previous block, a timestamp and...

Breaking down the meaning behind 3 popular brand names

by boris | Oct 6, 2017 | Naming

There is a certain category of extremely popular brands that usually are a subject of discussions. This inevitably leads to speculation about the real story behind their names. That’s why we decided to shed light over the real truth behind three popular brand names....

Three Famous Brands That Cut Their Original Names

by boris | Oct 5, 2017 | Naming

The digital revolution motivated many brands to take the decision to cut parts of their naming in order to have their names and logos  look good on multiple platforms, including mobile. If we start categorizing the different topics on brand names, we must definitely...

Do you know that this everyday word is actually a brand name?

by boris | Oct 4, 2017 | Naming

If we start to deconstruct the meaning of the word “surprise” we will inevitably come to the conclusion that it is almost always used to describe situations when we find out something unexpected. Since we love telling stories about brand naming and the meaning of the...

The secret story of 5 famous brand names

by boris | Jul 10, 2017 | Naming

The world of brands is full of stories about naming. We love to collect such stories and present them to you regularly. Today we have a selection of 5 (probably secret) stories, which we bet will be interesting for you to read. So here we go: Panera Panera is a brand...

Iceland vs Iceland, government vs trademark

by boris | Jan 25, 2017 | Naming

One of the most unusual and recent brand battles started when Iceland’s government undertook legal actions against a British supermarket that used its name. The motivation for taking this caution was to ensure the right of Icelandic companies to use the word “Iceland”...

4 everyday words that origin as brand naming

by boris | May 17, 2016 | Naming

Many words that we use in our everyday life were at first used as brand names. Eventually they turned into generic terms and this is probably the dream of every new brand. However, some brands don’t like that their name is used in a broader aspect than...

4 Mash-Up Brand Namings Explained

by boris | May 13, 2016 | Naming

One of the most popular trends in brand naming is mash-up naming. When we have two or three names that describe a brand and combine them together, then we have a mash-up name. The mash-up formula has been a trend in brand naming for the last few years because the pop...

Top 3 of Our Favorite Spanglish Brand Naming

by boris | Mar 29, 2016 | Naming

During our recent naming hunt in the internet we found some really funny Spanglish brand namings. For places like the USA it’s a common practice to name your brand with words, that will relate to both native Americans and immigrants. It’s the same for tourist...

4 Weird Brand Names To Analyze

by boris | Feb 19, 2016 | Naming

The world archive of unusual brand names is thick and we love to dig in it. In our recent hunt for weird brand names, we chose 4 champions that will either inspire you or… depress you :). Depending on your viewpoint. The list starts with: Spotted Dick Spotted Dick is...

“Marlboro M” Is The Name Of 2016’s Most Anticipated Brand*

by boris | Nov 16, 2015 | Naming

2016 is probably going to be the US’s most significant year in the legal marijuana market by far. The world’s largest tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris is about to start producing marijuana cigarettes. The new product is going to be named “Marlboro M”**. We all know...

The Landmarks Based Naming Scheme of Apple’s OS X

by boris | Nov 9, 2015 | Naming

OS X Maverick marks the beginning of a new naming scheme for Apple. El Capitan is the name of the latest OS update and follows the California landmark-based naming trend of the company. The name is highlighting the meaning of improvements and refinements that the...

What does Yamaha mean? Naming explained.

by boris | Oct 28, 2015 | Naming

Yamaha’s name has a couple of meanings. The Japanese origin of the word makes it hard for the foreigner “gaijin” to understand it and be compelled by its meaning. But it is always worth to give an example of a brand name that is held by its founder and at the same...

Honda’s Name Japanese Meaning Explained

by boris | Oct 27, 2015 | Naming

Have you ever heard the name Soichiro Honda? He is the man who a little while after WWII established his own motorbike company, which later turned into the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan. By 1963 the company became the biggest motorcycle...

Human Names is the New Trend in Startups Naming

by boris | Aug 17, 2015 | Naming

The trends in naming startup companies in the last 10 years are very distinguishable from one another and if you follow the trends of your time, you can easy position your company with a good start because of the name. 2015 is like the post -ify era of names...

A is for Alphabet, G is for Google and D is for “Don’t Do That”

by boris | Aug 12, 2015 | Naming

The Monday of August 10th was marked by the name change of Google company. The change is a matter of restructure. Google Company is now Alphabet, but the name of the search engine remains the same, so the phrase “Google it” is going to stay legit. However, the case...

Origin of The “Hello” Phone Greeting and Its Use in Brand Naming

by boris | Jul 14, 2015 | Naming

Have you ever wondered where does the evergreen greeting “Hello” comes from? You have, but you probably haven’t cared enough to check. So lets investigate with the information we have: “Hello” was probably born somewhere around 1800s. Its origin comes from “Hallo” – a...

Of Popular Movies and Brand Renaming

by boris | Jun 9, 2015 | Naming

Do you know what was the first name of Best Buy? Hint: It wasn’t Best Buy. Actually the company was named after one of the popular movies of the 60s. Have you ever watched The Sound of Music? Yeah, the same movie that was awarded with Oscar 50 years ago. Sound of...

The Success of Irrelevant Brand Naming

by boris | May 22, 2015 | Naming

Why on Earth would someone name their brand “Bitch” or “Bastard”? That’s probably the first thing most of the people would wonder when they hear about the rude name of a certain brand that contains such words. The wine brands “Royal Bitch”, “Happy Bitch”, “Sweet...

The curios fail of naming the Ford Motor’s E-car model

by boris | May 21, 2015 | Naming

It’s interesting to dive back in time to see who the corporations have turned to for the naming of their products and services, to see who was responsible for naming fails and who approached this process in an unconventional way. It was not always advertising...

Where does the “meme” name origins from?

by boris | Apr 9, 2015 | Naming

The naming of an idea is an aspect that should be considered when taking about brand naming. As an internet user you have probably noticed the circulation of the so-called “meme” images around the web. Currently memes are a trendy way to express your emotions,...

Why the naming with numbers is a double-edged sword?

by boris | Apr 8, 2015 | Naming

A lot of famous brands have numbers in their names. Some of them even start with such: 21st Century Fox 7Up 7 Eleven 3M The aforementioned are a great example of brands that are remembered even though they have numbers in their names. However, most of  the brand names...

Naming that got lost in translation – Part 3

by boris | Mar 13, 2015 | Naming

Moving on with our Lost in translation series made us realise that car naming is a whole science. Some countries accept the brand’s name, otherс don’t. The significance of Skoda’s name is one of the remarkable cases, since the issue is with the brand’s name...

Brief history of Chupa Chups’ naming

by boris | Feb 23, 2015 | Naming

“Chupa chups” is one of the brands that would make every kiddo around the world smile when they hear it. The most popular Spanish lollipop has a very playful name and it’s internationally recognised. At first Enric Bernat, the man who “invented” the so-called “eating...

“Vodafone” naming origin

by boris | Feb 23, 2015 | Naming

Vodafone is perhaps one of the most valuable brands in UK and the 16th most valuable brand in the world according to the 2014 Brand Finance Global 500. It would be interesting to go back 30 years from now when the Vodafone Telecommunication Service was announced for...

Naming that got “lost in translation” – Part 2

by boris | Feb 12, 2015 | Naming

The “Lost in translation” brands saga continues with new names and their unusual translation in another countries. Thе language range this time goes beyond Spanish speaking countries through West Africa, Germany, and… Germany. But exotic things first. Siri Have you...

Mr. Clean’s strategy to become global brand with name change

by boris | Feb 11, 2015 | Naming

There are numbers of theories about the change of the name of the cleaning brand with the bald guy called Mr Clean if you are a US resident  or Mr. Proper if you’re an Eastern Europe resident for example. The most widespread theory is that the owner of the brand...

Naming that got “lost in translation” – Part 1

by boris | Feb 10, 2015 | Naming

Companies and brands can exist without a logo, but not without a name. The simple reason why you need a good name for your brand is because there is competition. Therefore the companies are looking for a name that will transmit the characteristics of their products...

Visa corporate naming explained

by christa | Mar 27, 2013 | Naming

Visa Inc is one of those corporations that have evolved from the original idea. Launched back in 1958 as Bank Americard by the Bank of America (BofA) the founders obviously didn’t think the credit card program would become as internationally renowned as it has...

What is the name origin of the Ray-Ban brand?

by christa | Mar 22, 2013 | Naming

Let’s talk about accessories.  As with every product there are many companies and brands offering similar products on the market, but some brands are more popular than others. When talking about high-quality sunglasses this is Ray-Ban. This brand is one of the most...

Audi and Volvo – the Latin origin of the car company names

by christa | Mar 20, 2013 | Naming

Let’s get back to the car business. We know a lot of the car companies are named after their founders – the trend was spread worldwide from the earliest electric automobiles. These include Ford (after Henry Ford), Peugeot (after the Peugeot family), also later Bentley...

Zippo lighters – the company name origin

by christa | Mar 16, 2013 | Naming

Do you smoke? No? Well, even if you aren’t, there a big chance at least one of the four people next to you to be a smoker. That’s what the infographic from kick.it states – 1 out of every 5 people smoke. The infographic was published in 2012, so I assume this info may...

Bokeh effect – word origin and meaning

by christa | Mar 13, 2013 | Naming

Bokeh is a very interesting photographic effect that shows up on those parts of a photo that are out-of-focus. Usually, the effect is visible for photos with small Depth of field or shallow focus. When an object is on focus and everything else is not, the part of the...

How do hurricanes get named? Naming system explained here!

by christa | Mar 7, 2013 | Naming

Hurricanes are a bad thing – everyone knows that. But they are also exciting. And they have pretty names. Have you wondered why hurricanes get mostly female names? Just a hint – it has nothing to do with the women’s temper that may be associated with a forthcoming...

Newsflash: Rolls-Royce release new 2013 Wraith model

by christa | Mar 5, 2013 | Naming

I can only assume everyone has heard of Rolls-Royce, right? What is now the Rolls-Royce Group PLC was originally founded as Rolls-Royce Limited back in 1906. Until now I haven’t mentioned the company’s name origin in any of the previous articles because the naming is...

Top 10 – popular dog names and their meaning

by christa | Mar 4, 2013 | Naming

Naming your baby may be the most important naming project of your life but how often do you get the chance to do that? On the other hand, people get new pets all the time and have the freedom to name their pet any way they want. Of course, there are trends in naming...

Naming news: moons of Pluto got names – Vulcan is not fictional anymore!

by christa | Mar 1, 2013 | Naming

You know how there are naming contests for various stuff – company naming, product naming, dog naming, even baby naming? Well, a few days ago, on February 25th, a new naming contest was won. However, it was not an ordinary competition as the naming concerned the two...

Where does the Dom Pérignon brand name come from?

by christa | Feb 27, 2013 | Naming

Everyone has a glass (or bottle?) of bubbly every now and then, right? Today the alcoholic beverage has become a symbol of celebration – you drink it on anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, New Year etc. But don’t confuse sparkling wine with Champagne – as most of...

Just released: New Chromebook Pixel name explained

by christa | Feb 22, 2013 | Naming

Newsflash: Yesterday (21/02/2013) Google announced its latest device from the Chromebook family – the Chromebook Pixel. In case there’s someone who doesn’t know what the Chromebook is – this is Google’s personal computer running on its own operating system – Google...

Name origin of the famous Rolex luxury watches brand

by christa | Feb 21, 2013 | Naming

Rolex is one of the best-known brands for luxurious wristwatches in the world. According to wiki it is also the largest one producing about 2,000 luxury watches per day. But what does rolex actually mean? Truth is – nothing. There is no word rolex in the English...

What does Adobe stand for? Meaning explained

by christa | Feb 19, 2013 | Naming

Adobe Systems is a multinational software company known by everyone – whether you want to create a complex graphic design or just remove your wrinkles or spots from an image. People are most familiar with the company’s flagship product – Adobe Photoshop. However,...

Is Hotmail really hot? The name origin of the webmail

by christa | Feb 15, 2013 | Naming

How many of you know of Hotmail? How many of you are using it? With the advance of the internet, the two top internet searching websites – Google and Yahoo!, their webmail services Gmail and Yahoo! Mail have become preferred online mail services by users around the...