Company Names That Have Secret Meanings

¡¡¡¡Cofounder Larry Page was at a brainstorming session at Stanford for a new massive data indexing website.Someone suggested “googolplex” — one of the largest describable numbers.Page shortened it to “googol”£®When he later checked for the availability of the domain name, he made a mistake and typed in “google” instead.But he liked the name and registered it for himself and cofounder Sergey Brin.

¡¡¡¡This luxury car maker combined elements from the Ford and Oldsmobile companies when it was started in 1902 and later became known for its innovation and high quality.The company was named for the French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded the city of Detroit in 1701.

¡¡¡¡Company cofounder Gordon Bowker has said that while brainstorming names, someone brought out a map that featured the old mining town of Starbo.That may have led him to think of Starbuck, the first mate in Herman Melville's famous novel, Moby Dick.Not only the company name but also the origin of its logo has aroused great curiosity.

¡¡¡¡The inventor of Rolex, Hans Wilsdorf, was looking to make an elegant, yet precise, wristwatch.He wanted a name that was easy to say, worked in different languages, and looked good on the watches.He settled on Rolex in 1908.