May 4, 2007

Friday fun: Corporate etymology

Fascinating list on Wikipedia of the etymology of company names. For instance:

  • Kinko's — from the college nickname of founder, Paul Orfalea. He was called Kinko because he had curly red hair. The company was bought by FedEx for $2.4 billion in 2004.
  • Nabisco — formerly The National Biscuit Company, changed in 1971 to Nabisco.
  • Reebok — alternate spelling of rhebok, an African antelope.
  • Starbucks — named after Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.
  • Williams-Sonoma — founded by Chuck Williams in Sonoma, California.
  • Yoplait — from the merger of Yola and Coplait in 1965.

Who knew?

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