Brand Names- their origin and what they mean

If you were wondering where the famous brands of today got their names!


2. Hyundai- Modernity (Korean)
3. LG- Lucky Goldstar or Lucky Guemsoung.
4. Samsung- Tri-Star or Three Stars (Korean)
5. Daewoo- Great Universe (Korean)
6. Skoda- Damage (Czech)
7. Haeir- The original company was called Qingdao Liebherr, a JV between Qingdao of China and Liebherr of Germany. Haier is basically a short form of Liebherr just to adapt the name to the western market.
8. TCL- Today’s China Lions.
9. Siemens- The founders name was Werner Von Siemens
10. Ericsson- The founders name was Lars Magnus Ericsson
11. Sony- The name Sony is adapted from Sonus (Latin for Sonic), Sunny (English) and Sonny boys (A famous band in Japan at that time)
12. Canon-The founders name was Kwanon.
13. Casio- The founders name was Kashio Tadao.
14. Xerox- The process of copying is actually Electro photography also referred to as Xerography. Hence the company took the name Xerox
15. Fujitsu- The original company was called (Fuji) (Tsu)shinki Seizo, later named Fujitsu
16. JVC- Japan Victor Corporation
17. Kenwood- The original company was called Kasuga Radio Company. Later they transferred their headquarters to Kenwood, USA and hence the name Kenwood.
18. Matsushita- The founders name was Konosuke Matsushita.
19. Mitsubishi- mitsu( three) + bishi ( water chestnut)
20. Nikon- (Ni)ppon + i(kon)
21. Olympus- named after mount olympus
22. Panasonic- international brand of matsushita. Pan (all) + sonic (sound)
23. Ricoh- the original co was called Riken kankoshi Co.
24. Sanyo- Three oceans in Japanese. Coz the guy wanted his products to be sold across the 3 great oceans, Indian, Atlantic and the pacific.
25. Toshiba- the original co was called (To)kyo (Shiba)ura Denki
26. Honda- the guys name was Soichiro Honda
27. Suzuki- the guys name was Michio Suzuki
28. Kawasaki- the guys name was Shozo Kawasaki
29. Brigestone- the guys name was Shojiro Ishibashi. Ishibashi roughly translates to stone bridge in japanese . Hence the name Bridgestone.
30. BNP- banque nationale de paris
31. Kia- ki(arise)+ a (asia).
32. Volvo- translates to "i roll" in Latin
33. Aiwa- yes(arabic)
34. Bata- the guys name was Thomas Bata
35. Mazda- named after ahura mazda( transcend god of Zoroastrianism)
36. Lenovo- le(legend) + novo ( new in latin)
37. Sagem- (S)ociete d' (A)pplication (G)enerales de l' (E)lectricite et de la (M)ecanique ( co for general application of electricity and mechanics)
38. Subaru- Japanese for the starcluster PLEIADES or the 6 stars visible to the naked eye.
39. Daihatsu- hatsu( 1st Japanese word of the term engine manufacturer) + dai ( 1st Japanese word of the term osaka)
40. Nissan- the name of the original co was Nippon sangyo
41. Renault- the name of the guys were Louis, Marcel and fernand Renault
42. Peugeot- the guys name was Armand peugeot
43. Adecco- a co called ecco was merged with adia interim to form adecco.
44. Alcatel- societe (AL)sacienne de (C)onstructions (A)tomique de (T)elecommunications et d (EL)ectronique.
45. Toyota- the guys name was kichiro toyoda
46. Alfa romeo- Alfa stands for (A)nonima (L)ombarda (F)abbrica (A)utomobili which translates to Lombard automobile factory
47. Chevrolet- the guys name was Louis Chevrolet
48. Citroen- the guys name was André Citroen
49. Isuzu- named after the Isuzu river
50. Opel- the guys name was Adam opel
51. Proton- Malaysian co. (per)usahaan (oto)mobil (n)asional
52. Porsche- the guys name was Ferdinand Porsche
53. Unilever- lever brothers (soap manufacturers) merged with margarine unie for EOS in buying palm oil which was a common ingredient in both soap and margarine.
54. Duracell- durable cell
55. Bosch- the guys name was Robert bosch
56. Blaupunkt- blue dot in German
57. Grundig- the guys name was max grundig
58. Braun- the guys name was max Braun
59. Haribo- the guys name was (ha)ns (ri)egel (bo)nn
60. Henkel- the guys name was fritz henkel
61. Knorr- the guys name was carl heinrich knorr
62. Osram- (os)mium+ wolfarm
63. Piaggio- the guys name was rinaldi piaggio
64. Ducati- the guys were the ducati brothers, Adriano, Marcello and Bruno.
65. Pirelli- the guys name was Giovanni Battista Pirelli
66. Goodyear- the guys name was Charles Goodyear
67. Adidas- the guys name was (adi) (das)sler
68. Puma- rival co started by adi dasslers brother Rudolf dassler
69. Nokia- the original co, a saw mill was located on the banks of the river nokianvirta.
70. Motorola- motor+ ola( suffix common in those days). The co was initially into motor electronics and hence the name.
71. Boeing- the guys name was William Boeing
72. Cathay pacific- Cathay is ancient name for china and the owner wanted his flights to one day fly across the pacific and hence the name.
73. Sharp- the original co was into the manufacture of the Eveready sharp mechanical pencil. Later they took the name sharp to adapt to the western market.
74. Nike- named after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.
75. Philips- the guys name was Gerard Philips
76. Thomson-the guys name was elihu Thomson.
77. Harpic- the guys name was (har)ry (pic)kup.
78. BenQ- abbreviation for (B)ringing (EN)joyment and (Q)uality to life
79. Nestle- the guys name was Henry nestle
80. Colgate- the guys name was William Colgate
81. Heinz- the guys name was Henry john Heinz
82. Cadbury- the guys name was John Cadbury
83. Schweppes- the guys name was Johann Jacob Schweppes
84. Red Bull- original Thai company called krating daeng which translated to English is red bull
85. Maggi- the guys name was Julius maggi
86. Vodafone- (vo)ice (da)ta (fone)
87. Pfizer- the guys name was Charles Pfizer
88. Bayer- the guys name was friedrich Bayer
89. Pepsi- or Pepsi cola. Name source disputed. Apparently the founder brought a co named pep kola and renamed it Pepsi cola. Pepsi cola is an anagram for Episcopal the founders church. Since Pepsi coal was originally intended for stomach ailments or dyspepsia, pepsin root used for stomach ailments.
90. Coca cola- original ingredient was coca leaves
91. DHL- founded by (D)allsey, (H)illblom and (L)ynn.
92. Moser baer- started by deepak puri in delhi in 1983
93. Pepe jeans- started by nitin shah, arun shah and Milan shah in west London in 1973. Has Fernando Torres, Kate moss, cristiano ronaldo, Siena miller amongst ambassadors.
94. Bugatti- the guys name was ettore bugatti
95. Buick- the guys name was David Dunbar Buick
96. Revlon- started by Charles revson and his brother Joseph revson. Later Charles lachman joined in and added the L.
97. Ikea- abbreviation for the founder (I)ngvar (K)amprerd and his village (E)lmyatrd (A)gunnaryd.
98. Amway- (am)erican way
99. Reebok- Dutch spelling of rhebok the African antelope.
100. Tissot- the guys name was Charles felicien tissot
101. Maersk- the guys name was peter maersk moller
102. Eastman Kodak- the guys name was George Eastman
103. Mclaren- the guys name was Bruce mclaren
104. Morgan Stanley- started by Henry Morgan and Harold Stanley
105. Sears roebuck- started by Richard sears and alvah roebuck.
106. Larsen and toubro- founded in Mumbai in 1938 by Danes Henning holck Larsen and soren kristian toubro
107. Audi- started by august horch. Horch in German means hark which when translated to Latin is Audi.
108. Bentley- the guys name was Walter Owen Bentley
109. SEAT- (s)ociedad (e)spanola de (a)utomoviles de (t)urismo( spanish corporation of touring cars)
110. Lamborghini- the guys name was ferruccio Lamborghini
111. Ferrari- the guys name was enzo Ferrari
112. Chrysler- the guys name was Walter Chrysler
113. Dodge- the guys names were john Francis dodge and Horace Elgin dodge
114. Pontiac- named after the Indian chief Pontiac who unsuccessfully led an uprising against the British
115. Cadillac- named after Antoine laumet de la mothe sieur de Cadillac, the founder of Detroit Michigan where Cadillac is based.
116. Hummer- High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV or humvee also called hummer
117. Vauxhall- based out of Vauxhall, London.
118. Aramex- (ar)ab (am)erican (ex)press.
119. FedEx- (fed)eral (ex)press.
120. SAAB- svenska aeropaln aktie( swedish aeroplane company)
121. Shell- the founders Marcus Samuel and Samuel Samuel used to export shells to the uk.
122. Castrol- named after castor oil used as an ingredient initially
123. Natwest- merger of (nat)ional provincial bank and (west)minister bank.
124. ABN Amro- (a)lgemene (b)ank (n)ederland(abn) + (am)sterdamsche (ro)tterdamsche bank (amro)
125. Citigroup- (citi)corp + travelers (group).
126. Dupont- the guys name was eleuthere irenee du Pont.
127. Pennzoil- south Penn oil + Zapata petroleum merged to form Pennzoil.
128. Esso- Pronounced S-O derived from its previous name standard oils company.
129. Havoline- havermeyer oil co.
130. Michelin- the guys name was André Michelin.
131. Benetton- started by the Benetton family.
132. MRF- madras rubber factory.
133. BPL- British physical laboratories.
134. Cipla- (C)hemical,(i)ndustrial and (p)harmaceutical (la)boratories.
135. Syntel- started in Michigan by indians bharat desai and neerja sethi. Name derived from the term "systems international".
136. Reuters- the guys name was Paul Julius Reuter.
137. P&G- the guys names were William proctor + James gamble.
138. Vicks- founded by Lunsford Richardson and named Vicks after his brother in law Joshua Vick.
139. Standard Chartered- standard bank of south Africa+ chartered bank of India, china and Australia merged in 1969.
140. ANZ bank- (a)ustralia (n)ew (z)ealand bank.
141. Rothman- the guys name was Louis Rothman.
142. Marlboro- named after great Marlborough Street the place where the original factory was located.
143. Zippo- started by George blaisdell and named after the zipper.
144. Fanta- derived from the term fantasy.
145. Horlicks- the guys name was William horlick and James horlick
146. Glaxosmithklinebeechem- burroughs wellcome and company + glaxo laboratories+ beechem + SmithKline and French.
147. Pricewaterhousecoopers- pricewater house + coopers and Lybrand.
148. Ernst and Young- alwin & Theodore Ernst + Arthur young who founded young and co.
149. KPMG- Piet (K)lynveld + William (P)eat + James (M)arwick + Reinhard (G)oerdeter.
150. Intel-Integrated Electronics.
151. Maytag- the guys name was Frederick Louis Maytag
152. Lego-adapted from the term "leg godt" which is Danish for play well.
153. Rolls royce- Henry royce+C.S rolls
154. Dunlop- the guys name was john Boyd Dunlop
155. Frito-lays- Fritos co + H. W lay & co.
156. Electrolux- Founded in electromekaniska the company later merged with Lux A.B to form electrolux.
157. Kelvinator- named after William Thomson, the 1st baron of kelvin who developed the Kelvin scale.
158. O2 plc- initially called Cellnet later called mmo2 and now known as o2.Named after unbound oxygen.
159. P& O Nedlloyd- Peninsular & Oriental steam navigation co + Nedlloyd container ltd.
160. A.C Nielsen- the guys name was Arthur C Nielsen.
161. Heineken- the guys name was Gerard adriaan Heineken.
162. Carlsberg- started by J. C Jacobsen and named after his son Carl Jacobsen.
163. Fosters- the guys names were William and Ralph foster
164. Johnson & Johnson- Robert Wood Johnson and his brother James wood Johnson started this co along with Edward mead Johnson.
165. Morphy Richards- donal morphy+ Charles Richards
166. Arcelor- aceralia( spain) + usinor ( france) + arbed ( luxembourg) to form arcelor
167. Posco- (po)hang iron nd (s)teel (co)
168. TDK- tokyo kagaku kogyo kabushiko gaisha
169. Vespa- the director of the company on seeing the 1st bike said " sembra una vespa- it looks like a wasp" and hence the name.
170. Parker- the guys name was George parker
171. Pentax- pentakkusu kabushiki gaisha( pentakkusu optical co)
172. Sun- Stanford university networks
173. Compaq- (compa)tibility and (q)uality
174. AMD- advanced micro devices
175. ASUS- named after Pegasus the Greek mythological winged horse
176. Dell- the guys name was Michael dell
177. Hewlett Packard- bill Hewlett + Dave Packard
178. Levis- the guys name was Levi Strauss
179. BWM- bayrische motorenwerks( Bayern motor works)
180. Corus- koninklijke hoogovens N.V + British steel plc merged to form Corus.
181. QANTAS- Queensland and northern territory aerial service
182. Seiko- Japanese for exquisite
183. Mckinsey- the guys name was James o mckinsey.
184. Dominos- tom monagham and his brother James brought Dominick pizza and named it dominos.
185. Samsonite- named after the biblical character Samson.
186. Mattel- Harold (mat)son+ (el)liot handler
187. Hasbro- Henry and helal hassenfeld started a company called (has)senfeld (bro)thers later named Hasbro. Funskool in India is a jv between mrf and hasbro
188. Otis- the guys name was elisha Otis
189. Forbes- the guys name was Bertie Charles Forbes
190. Lipton- the guys name was Thomas Lipton
191. Hapag- (h)amburg (a)merikanische (p)acketfahrt (a)ktien (g)esellschaft company.
192. FIAT- fabbrica italiana automobili torino( Italian car factory of Turin)
193. Daimler- the guys name was gottleib Daimler
194. Benz- the guys name was Karl Benz
195. Bose Corporation; The guys name was Amar Bose.
196. Altec: (Al)l (Tec)hnical Services Company
197. JBL: James Bullough Lansing
198. ACC: Associated Cement Company
199. Sennheiser: The guys name was Fritz Sennheiser.
200. Maybach: The guys name was Wilhelm Maybach.
201. MAN AG: (M)aschinenfabrik (A)ugsburg-(N)ürnberg
202. Carrefour: Cross roads in french.
203. ING: Internationale Nederlanden Groep( International group of Netherland)
204. ENI : Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi
205. Aviva: Spring or revival (Hebrew)
206. Parmalat: Started at Parma in Italy.
207. Tesco: The name came about after Jack Cohen bought a large shipment of tea from T.E. Stockwell. He made new labels by using the first three letters of the supplier's name (TES) and the first two letters of his surname (CO) forming the word "TESCO".
208. Cargill : started by the Cargill-Mcmillan family.
209. KBC: Kredietbank, ABB-insurance and CERA Bank - merged to form the 'KBC Bank and Insurance Holding Company'
210. Mars: the guys name was Frank Clarence Mars
211. Nivea: NIVEA derived from the Latin word niveus/nivea/niveum meaning snow-white.
212. ABB: Asea Brown Boveri.
213. Pears Soap- The founders name was Andrew Pears.
214. TVS- The guys name was T V Sundaram Iyengar.
215. Tetra Pak- The initial cartons were tetrahedron shaped.
216. Lotte- derived from the Eenglish name Charlotte.
217. Sauber- the guys name was peter sauber.
218. Petronas- (Petro)liam (Nas)ional Berhad
219. Williams- the guys name was Sir Frank williams.
220. Diageo- dia( latin for day) + geo( greek for world)
221. WPP- Wire and plastic products. The world’s largerst communication service group that owns companies like JWT, O&M, Bates, Grey etc.
222. Hungry Jacks- The guys name was Jack Cowin.
223. Wendy’s- Started by Dave Thomas in 1969. His 2nd daughter was named Melinda and nicknamed Winda. Wendy is derived from Winda.
224. Kit Kat- Derived from the Kit Cat club.
225. Ferrero- the guys name was pietro ferrero
226. Pillsbury- the guys were charles alfred pillsbury and his uncle john sargent pillsbury.
227. Perrier- the guys name was louis perrier.
228. Milo- named after the famous greek athlete Milo of Crotona.
229. Old Navy- Named after a place called old navy in paris, france.
230. Kraft- the guys name was james kraft.
231. Wyeth- the guys were john and frank wyeth.
232. Danone- started by Isaac Carasso in 1919 in spain. Named after his son daniel. Danone is a catalan version of daniel.
233. Sara Lee- founded by Charles lubin and named Kitchens of Sara Lee after his daughter Sara Lee Lubin. In 1956 consolidated foods acquired the company. The brand itchens of Sara Lee became so famous that Consolidated foods changed its name to Sara Lee.
234. Gatorade- Invented by Dr. Robert Cade of the University of florida for the University football team. The name is derived from the name of the team, Florida Gators.
235. Strepsils- name derived from the bacteria streptococcus bacterius that causes sore throats.
236. Wrigleys- the guys name was William Wrigley Jr.
237. Benson & Hedges- the guys were Richard Benson & William Hedges.
238. Maytag- the guys name was Frederick Louis Maytag.
239. Barings bank- the guys name was Sir francis baring.
240. Chase- Started by John & Samuel Thompson and named after the then chief Justice of America Mr. Salmon Chase.
241. Black & Decker- Duncan Black + Alonzo Decker.
242. Morphy Richards- Donal Morphy + charles richards.
243. Balmer & lawrie- Established in Calcutta in 1867 by scots George Stephen Balmer and Alexander Lawrie.
244. Oakley- named after the founders dog who was called Oakley.
245. DLF-delhi land and finance.
246. bisleri- Originally an Italian company created by Signor Felice Bisleri.
247. AstraZeneca- Astra AB (Sweden)+ Zeneca Group PLC (Britain)
248. Monginis- Originally an bakery started by the Italian Monginis family in mumbai.
249. cipla- chemical,industrial and pharmaceuticals laboratory.
250. Carlsberg- started by JC jacobsen in 1847 and named fater his son Carl jacobsen.
251. Wipro-the original company was called (w)estern (i)ndia vegetable (pro)ducts limited.
252. Perfetti Van melle- Perfetti (Italy) + Van melle (Holland)
253. Spyker- the guys were Jacobus & Hendrik Jan Spijker. The later replaced the ij with y for the american market.
254. Novartis- Ciba Geigy + Sandoz laboratories.
255. Ciba geigy- the guys name was johann rudolf geigy gemaseus.
256. araldite- derived from the alphabets A-R-L( Adhesive Research Laboratories)
257. Kuoni- the guys name was alfred kuoni.
258. Cilag- (C)hemische (I)ndustrie (L)abor (AG) ( chemical industry labor AG)
259. Bausch & Lomb- john jacob bausch + henry lomb.
260. Verizon-(ver)itas+hor(izon)
261. Qwest-Caters mainly to Western US.
262. Havas- the guys name was Charles louis havas
263. Firestone- the guys name was harvey firestone. The company was later sold to bridgestone.
264. Merck- owned by the merck family of Germany.
265. Kyocera- original company was (kyo)to (cera)mic company ltd
266. Oldsmobile- the guys name was Ransom E Olds.
267. Cord cars- the guys name was Errett Lobban Cord
268. Maxell- (Max)imum capacity dry c(ell).
269. Krupp- started by Friedrick krupp.
270. Umbro- Derived from the H(um)phrey (Bro)thers.
271. Saturn cars- named after the saturn rocket that took american astronauts into space.
272. Northern Rock- Merger of Northern counties Permanent building+ Rock building society.
273. JJB Sports- the original store was established by JJ Broughton.
274. Lotto- founded by the Caberlotto family of italy in 1973.
275. FCUK- Stands for (F)rench (C)onnection (U)nited (K)ingdom.
276. Aston Martin- Named after one of the founders Lionel (Martin) and the (Aston) Clinton hill climb event.
277. Copco- (Co)mpagnie (P)neumatique (Co)mmerciali
278. Alfa Laval- Alfa derived from alpha discs and laval was the name of the founder Gustaf De Laval.
279. Sandvik- Founded by Goran Fredrik Goransson in (Sandvik)en , Sweden.
280. Eno- the guys name was James Crossley Eno.
281. Persil(detergent)- Parsley in french..
282. Gillette- the guys name was King E Gillette.
283. Datsun(car)- Derived from the names of the founders, Kenjiro (D)en, Rokuro (A)oyama, and Meitaro (T)okeuchi. Initially called Datson or Son of DAT but later changed to Datsun as Son in japanese stood for “loss.”
284. Maserati(car)- Started by the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo,Carlo,Ettore,Ernesto and Mario.
285. Trabant cars(East germany)- trabant is fellow traveller in german.
286. Austin(car)-the guys name was herbert austin
287. Lincoln(car)- founded by Henry M leland and named after abraham Lincoln.
288. Horch (cars)- the guys name was August horch. He was a design engineer who worked for karl benz.
289. Holden (cars)- the guys name was james alexander holden.
290. Leyland- named fater the place leyland in north west london where the original factory was located.
291. SIMCA(car)- Societe industrielle de mecanique et de carrosserie automobile.
292. Lancia(car) – the guys name was vincenzo lancia.
293. Willys jeeps- the guys name was john north willys.
294. Saatchi & Saatchi( advertising)- the guys were the brothers Sir Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi.
295. NEC- Nippon electric company
296. Iveco( trucks)- Industrial Vehicles Corporation.
297. Studebaker( car)- the guys name was Henry Studebaker.
298. SPA trucks- Studabaker Pierce & arrow.
299. Fila- Fila Brothers in 1911 founded the company.
300. Diadora( Footwear & sports equipments)- stands for “ by means of gifts” in Greek.
301. VF corp- apparel major that owns brands like lee, Wrangler etc. VF is short for Vanity Fair.
302. Jansports(Apparel)- Founded by Jan Lewis, Skip Yowell and Murray Pletz. The company is named after Jan lewis.
303. Lee- the guys name was henry david lee.
304. K-mart- K stands for Kresge. The founder was Sebastian Spering Kresge.
305. Yonex( sports equipments)- - the guys name was Minoru Yoneyama.
306. Converse( sports equipments and apparel)- - the guys name was Marquis M Converse.
307. Slazenger( sports equipments)- - the company was founded by the brothers albert and ralph slazenger.
308. Speedo( sports equipments)- - founded by Alexander Macrae in 1914. Captain Jim Parsons won a slogan contest with “ Speed on in your speedos” and hence the name.
309. Spalding( sports equipments)- the guys name was AG Spalding.
310. GAP-Founded by Donald Fisher in 1969 to fill in the GAP for luxury goods and customer service and hence the name GAP.
311. H&M( retail chain)- Hennes & Mauritz.
312. Lacoste- the guys name was Rene Lacoste.
313. Jordache( apparels)- The company was founded by brothers Joe & Ralph and Avi Nakash who was the investor.
314. Gant( apparel)- the guys name was bernard gant.
315. DKNY- Donna Karan New York.
316. Fossil( watch)- Started by brothers Tom Kartsotis and Kosta Kartsotis. Fossil was the nickname of their grandfather.
317. Mexx( watch & apparel)- Fashion designer Ratan Chadda started two barnds Moustache for men and Emanuele for Women. Later the two companies were merged to form MEXX. XX stands for Two kiss.
318. Macy’s( retail chain)- the guys name was Rowland Hussey macy.
319. Van Heusen- the guys name was John M Van heusen.
320. Burberry( retail chain)- the guys name was Thomas burberry.
321. UPS- united parcel service.
322. NYK( shipping company)- Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
323. UBS- union bank of switzerland.
324. 3M- minnesota mining and manufacturing company.
325. Credit suisse- initially called swiss credit institution. Later merged with people’s bank of switzerland and was renamed Credit suisse.
326. Pringles- named after pringle’s avenue in finneytown, ohio.
327. Oil of olay( cosmetics)- derived from the term Lanolin which was a principal ingredient.
328. Countach( model of lamborghini - translates to wolf whistle in italian.
329. Scuderia toro rosso( F1 team)- Red bull stables in italian.
330. Diablo( model of lamborghini - devil in spanish.
331. Gallardo( model of lamborghini)- famous breed of fighting bulls in spain.
332. Minardi- F1 team started by giancarlo minardi in 1979.
333. BAR- british american racing.
334. Lux( soap)- derived from the term luxury.
335. Murcielago ( lamborghini model)- Bat in spanish.
336. Super Aguri- F1 team started by Aguri suzuki in 2001.
337. Fisher( toys)- the guys name was Avery Fisher.
338. Emerson( electrics)- Started by Charles & Alexander Meston in 1890. The principal investor was John wesley Emerson.
339. Cosworth( sports equipments)- mike costin + keith duckworth.
340. Caterham( racing cars)- based out of Caterham , Surrey. Started by Graham Mearn in 1973.
341. Acer- original company was called multitech which was brought over by Tom Acer and renamed Acer.
342. Seagram- the guys name was joseph seagram.
343. Dell- the guys name is michael dell.
344. Aramco- arab american oil company.
345. El paso corp- named after the place el paso in texas.
346. Deere & Co- the guys name was john deere.
347. Dow- the guys name was herbert henry dow.
348. Goodyear- started by frank Seiberling in 1898. named after charles godyear who invented vulcanised rubber.
349. Ingersoll – the guys name was james ingersoll.
350. Ingersoll-Rand-ingersoll Sargeant drill company+ rand drill company.
351. Lehman brothers- Henry lehman started the company as H Lehman. Later he was joined by his brothers Emanuel & Meyer and renamed Lehman brothers.
352. Amtrak- American+track.
353. Boeing- the guys name was William Edward Boeing.
354. Lockheed martin- Loughead aircraft manufacturing co + martin marietta.
355. Lockheed- started by alan and malcolm loughead. Lockheed is the phonetic pronunciation of Loughead.
356. Dow Jones- the guys name was charles dow.
357. Mcdonald- Dick and Mac Mcdonald.
358. Learjet( airplane)- the guys name was william Powell lear jr.
359. Walmart- the guys name was Sam walton.
360. Bell aircrafts- the guys name was lawrence bell.
361. Embraer( airplane)- Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A.
362. Cessna- the huys name was clyde cessna.
363. Bofors- named after a hammer mill Boofors that was set up in Sweden in 1646.
364. Petrobras- petroleo brasileiro.
365. Hardee’s- the guys name was Wilbur Hardee.
366. Baskin robbins- Burt Baskins+ Irv Robbins.
367. White Castle( burger chain)- The typical white castle restaurant features a white exterior with a crenelated tower at one corner to resemble a medieval castle.
368. Cartier(watch)- the guys name was jacques Theodule Cartier.
369. Antonov- the chief designer was Oleg Antonov.
370. Remington( typewriters)- the guys name was Eliphalit Remington.
371. BAE- the co that manufactures airbus. Was formed as a result of the merger of British aerospace and Marconi electronics systems.
372. Cadbury- the guys name was john cadbury.
373. Starbucks- named after the firstmate Starbucks in the novel Moby Dick.
374. Holland &Holland( guns)- started by Harris Holland and later his nephew Henry holland joined in to rename the Co Holland & Holland.
375. Tiffanys( retail chain)- Charles Lewis Tiffany + John B young.
376. Subway- Fred Deluca and Peter Buck started a co Pete’s submarines which sounds like pizza marines. So the name was changed to Pete’s subway and later Subway.
377. Smith & Wesson(guns)- Horace Smith + Daniel Weston.
378. Stroh’s( beer)- the guys name was Sebastian stroh.
379. Harrods- the guys name was Charles Henry Harrod.
380. Longines(watch)- named after a place called Les Longines in france.
381. Baume et Mercier- The company was started by the Baume Family.
382. Carling- the guys name was Thomas Carling.
383. Deloitte,Touche,Tohmatsu( renamed Deloitte)- William Welch Deloitte+ George Touche+Nobuzo Kosmas Tohmatsu.
384. Zeiss- Carl Zeiss + Ernst Abbe+Otto Schott.
385. Harpers- Started by the Harper brothers James, John,Joseph & Fletcher Harper.
386. HarperCollins- Harpers + William Collins &Co.
387. McDonnell Douglas( airplane)- James Smith McDonnell + Donald Wills Douglas.
388. Selfridges( retail chain)- the guys name was Harry Gordon Selfridges.
389. SAB Miller- South african Breweries.
390. De Havilland Comet( airplane)- the guys name was Geoffrey De Havilland.
391. MontBlanc- named after the mountain Mont Blanc in france.
392. Parker- the guys name was George Safford Parker.
393. Pilot Pens- Started in 1918 . was originally called the Namiki Manufacturing Co.
394. Swatch- SSIH( Omega +Tissot) merged with ASUAG (Rado+Longines ) to form the Swatch group.
395. Shaeffer(pens)- the guys name was W A Shaeffer.
396. Waterman( Pens)- the guys name was Lewis Edson Waterman.
397. Tupolev- the chief designer was Alexei Tupolev.
398. Rotring- Red Ring in German. All Rotring pens have a red ring near the tip.
399. Bunge - the guys name was Johann Peter Gotlieb Bunge. Bunge owns dalda in India.
400. Faber Castell- the guys name was Kaspar Faber.
401. Amdocs- Was spun off from the Aurec Group set up by Morris Kahn.
402. Bang & Olufsen( music systems)- Peter Bang + Svend Olufsen.
403. Barnes & Nobles- The company was started by Charles Barnes. Later his son William Barnes started the first B&N book store along with Clifford Noble.
404. Walls- the guys name was Thomas Walls.
405. DTC- Diamond trading company is the marketing wing of De Beers.
406. LVMH- Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy.
407. Fendi- started in 1918 by Adele Casagrande. She married Edoardo Fendi and hence the name.
408. Hennessy- the guys name was richard Hennessy.
409. Mohan Meakins- Started by Edward Dyer in Himachal Pradesh in 1855 and named dyer breweries. Later merged with Meakins & Co. The brewery was finally brought over by Mohan & Co and hence the name.
410. Prada- the guys name was Mario Prada.
411. Givenchy- the guys name was Hubert de Givenchy.
412. Bvlgari- read bulgari and named after the founder Sotirios Bulgari.
413. D&G- Domenico dolce + Stefano Gabbana.
414. Chanel- the guys name was Gabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel.
415. Ritz –Carlton- the guys name was Cesar Ritz.
416. Maglite- the guys name was anthony Maglica.
417. Missoni- Rosita & Ottavio Missoni.
418. Saks Fifth Avenue- the guys name was Andrew Saks.
419. Band-Aid – invented in 1920 by Earle Dickson an employee of Johnson & Johnson.
420. Brooke Bond- the guys name was arthur rooke.
421. Lakme- named after the french opera called lakme.
422. Ponds- the guys name was Theron T Pond.
423. Church & Dwight(FMCG)- John Dwight + Austin Church.
424. Hush Puppies- Named after the traditional fried cornballs of Southern US. These were also used by farmers to throw at dogs to quiet them. The idea was to convey the message that these new shoes were so comfortable that they could quiet a barking dog. Hush Puppies is one of the most recognisable brand names in the world.]
425. Royal Enfield- the original company was started by Albert Eadie and RW Smith in 1890.
426. Florsheim(shoes)- started by the father son duo of Sigmund Florsheim & Milton florsheim.
427. Tag Heuer- the guys name was Edouard Heuer.
428. New Holland AG( tractors)- the original company was founded by Abe Zimmerman in New Holland, Pennsylvania.
429. LML- Lohia Machines Limited.
430. Amstel beer- Named after the Amstel river in amsterdam.
431. Delsey( suitcase manufacturers)- Delahaye & Co + Seynheave Brothers.
432. IBP- Indo Burma petroleum.
433. Dr. Reddys- The guys name was Dr. K Anj Reddy.
434. ITC- Imperial Tobacco Company.
435. Keltron- kerala state electronic development corporation limited.
436. STAR- satellite television asia region.
437. Sasken- Silicon automation systems(SAS) + ken ( scottish for knowledge)
438. Essilor- Essel + Silor ( ophthalmic firms)
439. CAPGemini-IT service provider CAP merged with Gemini computer systems.
440. Lafarge(cement)- the guys name was Joseph Auguste Pavin De Lafarge.
441. Sodexho- (So)ciete (d’ Ex)ploitation (Ho)teliere.
442. Seagate- started as shugart technologies by alan shugart.
443. Sanofi aventis- Sanofi Synthelabo + Aventis.
444. Kanbay- started in 1989 by Raymond spencer, Dileep nath & John patterson.
445. S&P’s- Poors publishing ( henry william poor) + standard statistics( luther lee blake)
446. Moody’s- The guys name was John Moody.
447. Ducati- started by brothers adriano, marcello & bruno ducati.
448. Bristol-myers: william mclaren bristol + john ripley myers.
449. AXA( insurance)- is not an acronym but a random name that can be easily pronounced by ppl who speak any language. It does not mean anything in any language. The companys original name was Ancienne Mutuelle.
450. Mcgraw-Hill: James Mcgraw + john Hill
451. L’Oreal- In1907 Eugene Scvhueller developed a hair color formula which he named Aureole. L’Oreal is derived from aureole.
452. DBS- Development bank of singapore.
453. BMG- bertelsmann music group.
454. KLM- Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappi ( royal aviation company)
455. Alsthom(construction major)-Societe Alsacienne de construction mecanique + compagnie generale d’ electricite + thomson houston.
456. Blackstone- peter peterson + stephen schwarzman. Schwarz is german for black and peter or petros is greek for stone.
457. Horlicks- the guys name was william horlick.
458. Evian( bottled water)- the water comes from several sources near Evian-les-bains on the south shore of lake geneva.
459. Mirinda- Mirinda is wonderful or admirable in esperanto. It was originally made in spain.
460. Minute maid- the name basically implies that the juice is easy and quick to prepare.
461. Arm & Hammer- the arm & hammer logo of Dwight & Church represents Vulcan the Roamn god of fire & metalworks.
462. Sunlight( detergent)- named after the place Port sunlight in England.
463. PZ Cussons- Paterson Zachonis + Cusson & Co ( Thomas Cusson). Owns the brand of saop, imperial leather.
464. Faberge( cosmetics)- the guys name was Gustav Faberge.
465. Barbie- vreated by ruth handler and named after his daughter Barbara.
466. Victoria’s secret- the company was started in 1979 by roy raymond. He ensured that most of his stores had victorian details and hence the name.
467. Lizol- lysol in the western market. It stands for lysosome+ solvent.
468. Vim- literally means force, energy ,vigor. Vim brand is known as Cif in most markets.
469. Cox & Kings- The guys name was Richard Cox.
470. Lufthansa- Luft ( german for air) + hansa (hanseatic league)
471. Legal & General- the idea of having this name was to imply that even though policies were to be made available to the general public the share ownership would be restricted only to people in the legal profession.
472. Ansett Australia- The guys name was Sir Reginald Miles ansett.
473. Lloyds TSB- Lloyds bank + Trustees Savings Bank.
474. EMI (music)- Electric & Music Industries limited.
475. Bradford & Bingley- Bradford equitable building society + Bingley permanent building society.
476. 3i- Investors in Industry.
477. Telenor- the original company was called Telegrafverket. Later the company took the name Telenor. Nor is for Norway.
478. Schenker(logistics)- The guys name was Gottfried Schenker.
479. MTR( packaged food)- Mavalli Tiffin Room.
480. CBS- Columbia Broadcasting System.
481. BAX( logistics)- Burlington Air Expres.
482. Mercury(car) – Named after the messenger of the gods, mercury in roman mythology.
483. PVR- priya village roadshow. ( priya cinema + village roadshow)
484. Victorinox- founded by Karl Elsener in 1884. Named after his mother Victoria and Inox ( stainless steel in french)
485. Mercedes- Named after Mercedes Jellinek, the daughter of Emil Jellinek.
486. Sulzer- started by the Sulzer brothers in 1834.
487. MIRC Electronics- MIRC owns the Onida brand. The company was started by Gulu Mirchandani & Vijay Mansukhani.
488. Holcim( cement)- the company was started in 1912 in the village of Holderbank in switzerland and was known as Holderbank cement till 2001.
489. Singer - the guys name was Isaac Merritt Singer.
490. Roche- The guys name was Fritz Hoffman la Roche.
491. VISA- Visa International Service association.
492. Sampo( Insurance)- Named after the mystical machine of Finn folklore that creates food, salt & flour out of nothing.
493. Nortel – (Nor)thern (Tel)ecom limited.
494. Carrier(Air Conditioners)- The guys name was Willis Carrier.
495. TNT (logistics)- Thomas Nationwide Transport.
496. SAP AG- System, Application & Products.
497. Village Roadshow- Was one of the first drive-in theatres of Australia at a place called Croydon adjacent to a mall called the Croydon Village. Hence the name.
498. Telstra- (Tel)ecom Au(stra)lia.
499. Cisco- San Fran (Cisco).
500. Google. Is actually a misspelling of googal which refers to 10 raised to 100.
501. Adobe- named after a creek called adobe creek that ran behind the founders house.
502. Fosters- William & Ralph Foster.
503. Woolworth’s- Frank Winfield Woolworth.
504. Orkut- The guys name was Orkut Buyukkokten.
505. McAfee- The guys name was John McAfee.
506. Victoria Bitter- Named after the Victoria Brewery where it was first made.
507. BHP Billiton- Broken Hill Proprietory Company + Billiton Company.
508. Conoco- (Con)tinental (O)il & Transportation (Co)mpany.
509. Phillips (Phillips 66)- The guys names were L E Phillips & Frank Phillips.
510. Statoil- Norwegian Oil Company. The name is short for State’s Oil.
511. Aon( Insurers)- Gaelic for oneness.
512. Hyatt- The Hyatt Corporation was born upon purchase of the Hyatt house at the LA international airport. The Hyatt house was owned by Hyatt R Von Dehn.
513. Goldman Sachs- Marcus Goldman + Samuel Sachs.
514. Radisson- Named after the French explorer Pierre Esprit Radisson.
515. Sheraton- Ernest Henderson & Robert Lowell Moore acquired a hotel that had a lighted sign on the roof saying “Sheraton Hotel”. Since the sign was very expensive to change they decided to name their chain of hotels Sheraton.
516. Hilton- The guys name was Conrad Hilton.
517. Phillips Van Heusen- The guys name was Isaac Phillips and John Van Heusen.
518. Kores-the guys name was Wilhelm Koreska.
519. Merrill lynch-Charles E Merrill + Edmund Lynch.
520. Nomura- the guys name was Tokushichi Nomura
521. Yamaha- the guys name was Torakusu Yamaha.
522. Harley- Davidson-William Harley + Arthur Davidson + Walter Davidson.
523. ABC Television- American Broadcasting Company
524. Linux-the guys name was Linus Torvalds.
525. Ipod- In the movie 2001: A space odyssey there is a phrase “Open the pod bay door”. The EVA pod is a fictional spacecraft in the movie. The “I” was added as the trademark “pod” was already taken.
526. SUN Microsystems- Stanford University Networks.
527. Novell- Named after Nouvelle which is French for new.
528. RIM- Research in Motion. The co that makes blackberry.
529. T-Mobile- Telekom Mobile.
530. AT&T- American Telegraph & Telecommunication.
531. Yellowpages.com- started by Ronald Oister , Bill Povondra & Dane Madsen in 1996 in USA.
532. BCBG- Bon chic Bon Genre. Max Azria’s fashion wear.
533. Sanford- is the largest writing instruments manufacturer in the world. Owns brands like Reynolds, Parker, Waterman, Uni-ball etc. Was started by Frederick Redington & William Sanford.
534. Gimbels- the guys name was Adam Gimbel
535. Staedtler- the guys name was Friedrich Staedtler.
536. Karmann- the guys name was Wilhelm Karmann.
537. Tchibo- Started by Carl Tchilling –Hiryan & Max Herz. Tchibo is derived from Tchilling and Bohnen (German for beans or coffee beans).
538. Chery- In Chinese the company is named Qirui & the English translation was to be cherry but there was a mistake in transliteration and the company decided to not rectify the error.
539. First automobile- it is actually china’s first automobile manufacturer and hence the name.
540. Harman Kardon- Sydney Harman +Bernard Kardon.
541. Chopard- the guys name is Louis Ulysse Chopard.
542. Davidoff- the guys name was Zino Davidoff.
543. Swarovski- the guys name was Daniel Swarovski.
544. Chiclets- derived from the word “Chicle” which is chewing gum in Spanish.
545. NYNEX- New York/New England/X= unknown.
546. Timex- started in 1854 as the Waterbury clock co. Later during WW 2 changed its name to US Time company. In 1950 the co introduced a watch called Timex made famous by the punch line “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. The Timex watch was a huge success and the company decided to change its name to the Times corporation.
547. Lays- the guys name was Herman lay.
548. Black & White- Was originally known as the House of Commons. Later took the name B&W which is the nickname of the House of Commons.
549. Touareg (VW Touareg)- named after the tuareg tribe.
550. Romanov- named after the House of Romanov, the last imperial dynasty of Russia.
551. Whyte & Mackay- James Whyte + Charles Mackay.
552. Nescafe- Nestle + café.
553. Polo- derived from the word polar to symbolize cool and fresh feeling.
554. Rooh Afza- Soul + Tempts. Basically refers to that which tempts your soul.
555. RC Cola- Royal Crown Cola.
556. Citra- 1996 citrus flavored drink introduced by Coca Cola. Citra name is with reference to the citrus flavor.
557. United Biscuits- McVitie & Price Company merged with Macfarlane Lang to form United Biscuits.
558. Toblerone- Theodor Tuber +Emil Baumann.
559. Norton- The guys name was Peter Norton.
560. Akamai- Hawaiian for Intelligent or Smart.
561. Amazon.com- Named after the most voluminous river in the world.
562. Palm Inc- The name basically refers to the fact that it is small enough to be easily held in the palm of the hand.
563. HTC- (H)i- (T)ech (C)omputer Corporation.
564. NCR- (N) ational (C) ash (R) egister Company.
565. Huawei Technologies- Huawei is achievement in Chinese.
566. Comcast- (Com) munications & Broad (cast) ing.
567. EBay- Echo Bay. Echo Bay Technologies group was the name of the company owned by the founder of EBay, Pierre Omidyar.
568. Wikipedia- Wiki (collaborative website) + encyclopedia.
569. Segway PT- Derived from the word “Segue” which is Italian for Follows. PT stands for Personal Transporter.
570. CMC Ltd- Computer Maintenance Corporation Pvt Ltd.
571. 3 Com- (Com)puters, (Com)munication, (Com)patibility.
572. HCL- Hindustan Computers Limited.
573. AltaVista- the company is based out of Palo Alto.
574. Stella Artois (lager) - Stella is Latin for star and the guys name was Sebastian Artois.
575. Beck’s (beer)- the guys were Luder Rutenberg, Heinrich Beck & Thomas May.
576. Jack Daniel’s- the guys name was Jasper Newton Jack Daniel.
577. KFC- colonel Harland Sanders opened a restaurant called Sanders court & café in Kentucky. This place became so famous that the governor gave him the nickname Kentucky colonel. Later the name of the company was changed to Kentucky Fried Chicken.
578. Anheuser –Busch. 3rd largest brewery in the world after Inbev & SABmiller. Eberhard Anheuser + Adolphus Busch.
579. Castlemaine (Beer) - Started by the Fitzgerald brothers who were originally from Castlemaine, Victoria in Australia.
580. InBev- largest beer company in the world. Formed as a result of the merger of Interbrew and AmBev.
581. Hoechst AG- Became Aventis after merger with Rhone Poulenc SA. The original company was set up at Hochst near Frankfurt and hence the name.
582. Patek Philippe- Considered by many to be the best watch makers in the world. Antoni Patek + Adrien Philippe.
583. Fiskars- the original company was started at a place called Fiskars Bruk in Pohja, Finland.
584. HBOS- though it does not stand for anything it is widely recognized as Halifax bank of Scotland.
585. Jawa Motors- The founder (Ja)necek brought a company called (Wa)nderer and named it Jawa.Jawa motors used to make the Yezdi bikes.
586. Wells-Fargo- Henry Wells +William Fargo.
587. Puch (mopeds)- The guys name was Johann Puch.
588. JCB- the guys name was Joseph Cyril Bramford.
589. CavinKare- Cavin is Beauty in a certain dialect of Tamil.
590. Tupperware- The guys name was Earl Tupper.
591. Dial- Dial was originally a soap manufactured by armour & co. The product was named dial was chosen because the soap advertised round the clock protection against odor caused by perspiration. Later the company changed its name to Dial.
592. Avon- The Company is named after Stratford upon Avon the birth place of William Shakespeare.