Quaker

Brand Name:

  • Quaker

Etymology | Origin:

  • The Quaker Oats Company is a descendant of the Quaker Mill Company, whose name was inspired by The Religious Society of Friends, popularly known as the Quakers.

Trivia:

  • “The trademark was registered with the U.S. Patent Office as a figure of a man in ‘Quaker garb.’ Both former owners, Henry Seymour and William Heston, claimed to have selected the Quaker name as a symbol of good quality and honest value.”

3 Musketeers

Brand Name:

  • 3 Musketeers

Preferred Etymology | Origin:

  • Named after the three heroes of Les Trois Mousquetaires, a novel by Alexandre Dumas.

Trivia:

  • “The 3 MUSKETEERS® Bar takes its name from the original design of the product, which was three pieces and three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.”

 

Under Armour

Brand Name:

  • Under Armour

Etymology | Origin:

  • Created by founder Kevin Plank’s older brother, Bill Plank
  • Inspired by the phrase ‘body armor’

Trivia:

  • “Plank wanted to name the company Heart, but that was too common. Then he thought of Body Armour. Finally, Plank’s oldest brother, Bill, mistakenly asked how Under Armour was coming along. ‘I thought, That’s it,’ Plank says.'”

Kodak

Brand Name:

  • Kodak

Etymology | Origin:

  • Coined by George Eastman

Trivia:

  • “Philologically, the word Kodak is as meaningless as a child’s first ‘goo’ — terse, abrupt to the point of rudeness, literally bitten off by firm and unyielding consonants at both ends, it snaps like a camera shutter in your face. What more would one ask!”
  • “I devised the name myself. The letter “K” had been a favourite with me — it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with ‘K.’ The word ‘Kodak’ is the result.” (System Magazine 1920s)
  • “He and his mother devised the name Kodak with an anagram set. He said that there were three principal concepts he used in creating the name: it must be short, you can not mispronounce it, and it could not resemble anything or be associated with anything but Kodak.”
  • Places with similar names include Kodak, Tennessee; Kodiak, Alaska; Kodok, Sudan; and NoDak (North Dakota)