Why is it called that?

Where a name actually came from, what it does in the mouth, and why it stays in your head. Researched one brand at a time, and written so a reader who came for the answer gets it in the first paragraph.

Every claim on every page carries its source, marked as a verified fact, a linguistic fact, or our own reading of the evidence.

46 names

• 23andMeThe short answer is that 23andMe refers to the 23 pairs of human chromosomes, plus "me," the person taking the test.
• 47 BrandThe '47' in 47 Brand refers to 1947, the year twin brothers Arthur and Henry D'Angelo turned pennant sales outside Fenway Park into a street-cart business in Boston.
• 5.11 Tactical5.11 is a borrowed number, not an invented word.
• ArduinoArduino is named after Bar di Re Arduino, a bar in Ivrea, Italy, and the founder who picked the name has described the moment on the record.
• Aviation GinAviation Gin takes its name from the Aviation cocktail, a drink credited to bartender Hugo Ensslin and published in his 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks.
• BalenciagaBalenciaga is named after Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Spanish couturier who opened his first business in San Sebastián in 1919 and, later, a couture house in Paris in 1937.
• Banana RepublicBanana Republic borrowed its name from a political and economic term.
• CeraVeCeraVe splits into two parts.
• Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is named for two of its original ingredients, the coca leaf and the kola nut.
• CrocsCrocs is named after crocodiles.
• Death Wish CoffeeDeath Wish Coffee got its name from founder Mike Brown.
• DecathlonDecathlon was named by founder Michel Leclercq's team, according to co-founder Stanislas Ernoult's own account of the company's founding.
• Dollar Shave ClubThe name splits into two claims, and both trace to Michael Dubin's own account.
• Draper JamesDraper James honors two people, not one design tradition.
• Drunk ElephantThe name Drunk Elephant is rooted in a myth about elephants getting drunk on fermented marula fruit.
• DuolingoDuolingo is built from two ordinary pieces, 'duo' and 'lingo,' set side by side with no hyphen or space.
• Fenty BeautyFenty Beauty is named after Rihanna's real surname.
• Forever 21Forever 21 did not start with that name.
• Gentle MonsterGentle Monster reads as two halves in tension.
• H&MH&M is short for Hennes & Mauritz.
• Holo TacoHolo Taco's own About page gives a two-part account of the name.
• HuelHuel is a blend of "Human" and "Fuel." Huel's own Help Centre states this directly, and its About page writes the name as "Huel (Human + Fuel)" alongside its description of the product.
• JellycatJellycat is named after a suggestion from a seven-year-old.
• LegoLEGO comes from the Danish phrase "leg godt," meaning "play well." Founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen coined it by joining the two words into one.
• Liquid DeathLiquid Death is canned water.
• Louis VuittonLouis Vuitton is named after its founder, a French malletier named Louis Vuitton, who lived from 1821 to 1892.
• LululemonLululemon is an invented word.
• MoroccanoilMoroccanoil is built from two plain words fused together.
• NoomAsked directly by the Associated Press why the company is called Noom, co-founder and CEO Saeju Jeong gave a simple answer.
• October's Very OwnOctober's Very Own is named for founder Drake's birth month.
• Old NavyOld Navy started life as Gap Warehouse, opened in existing Gap outlet stores in 1993.
• OlipopOlipop compresses two ideas into one invented word.
• OshKosh B'GoshThe name did not arrive whole.
• OtterboxOtterBox is named after the otter, specifically the way its fur sheds water.
• PatagoniaPatagonia the clothing brand was named in 1973, when Chouinard Equipment picked the word for a new clothing line the company was launching.
• Radio FlyerThe most repeated answer to this question is that Antonio Pasin, the Italian immigrant who built the company, named his new steel wagon Radio Flyer around 1927 to 1930 as a double tribute.
• Rag & BoneRag & Bone borrows its name from the rag-and-bone man, a Victorian street tradesman in Britain who walked or rode a cart through neighborhoods collecting old cloth and animal bones for resale.
• Rare BeautyRare Beauty's own about page ties the name to a philosophy of self-acceptance, not to an album.
• Raspberry PiRaspberry Pi carries two separate reasons, both from founder Eben Upton, and neither is a metaphor for speed.
• Ray-BanRay-Ban's documented history starts with a pilot's problem.
• RhodeRhode is Hailey Bieber's middle name.
• SamsungSamsung means "three stars" in Korean, written 三星.
• Scrub DaddyScrub Daddy's name traces to an office moment around 2011, after the sponge's smiling face had already taken shape.
• SheinShein is a 2015 shortening of the earlier name Sheinside, which itself was a rebrand of the company's original 2008 name, ZZKKO.
• SwatchThe common answer is that Swatch is a blend of "second watch." That is the version most sites repeat, and it is the version Swatch Group's own history page gives.
• TargetTarget was named in 1962 by Stewart K. Widdess, Dayton's then-director of publicity, and his staff.