Here’s what 24 of the most popular brand names really mean
You're wearing your favorite Nike sneakers and Lululemon pants when you head to the mall to do some shopping at the Gap. On your way there you grab a latte at Starbucks.
After a few good hours of shopping, you head to Panera to meet a friend for lunch. You Venmo her for the meal and then you both decide dessert is in the cards: Next stop, Häagen-Dazs.
All these brands are staples in our lives. But do you have any idea what their names actually mean? We're here to help.
Pepsi was named after the medical term for indigestion.
Pepsi
The inventor of Pepsi, Caleb Davis Bradham, originally wanted to be a doctor, but a family crisis meant that he left medical school and became a pharmacist instead, according to the company website.
His original invention, known as “Brad’s Drink,” was made from a mix of sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, and nutmeg. Three years later, Bradham renamed his drink, which he believed aided digestion, to “Pepsi-Cola," taken from the word dyspepsia, meaning indigestion.
Panera is a portmanteau of the words "pan" and "era."
According to Panera's Facebook page, the sandwich chain's name "has Latin and Spanish roots."
In Spanish, "pan" means bread and "era" means age or time. So put together, Panera means "age of bread."
Ron Shaich, the founder of Panera, also told Fortune the name comes from the Latin word for breadbasket.
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