It’s hard to deny that brand- name products dominate our lives and store’s shelves. What we don’t know is the many background stories behind the products and how they got their names.

Joel Geske, associate professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, said there are several factors companies consider in coming up with a name.

“There are many different routes,” Geske said. “It could be a family name, such as Wendy’s. Dave Thomas’ daughter was named Wendy. Eli & Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, and John Deere are a couple others.”

Other company names are random names.

“It could be a manufactured name, like Xerox or Kodak – those are both names that have no meaning but just sound good,” Geske said. “The other common one is descriptive ones, like UPS, which stands for the United Postal Service.”

Geske said it usually takes up to a year to come up with a name to make sure the name isn’t already in use.

Geske cited a case that dealt with Surge, a soda company that is now discontinued, and another product called Surge that is used by a company to produce dairy products.

“The pop company Surge didn’t make sure that the name wasn’t already in use, so they ended up getting sued by the dairy product company,” he said. “It didn’t help their case that the pop and the cleaner had the same greenish-yellow appearance so people might get them confused.”

James Pusey, junior in journalism and mass communication, relies on brand reputation rather than just the product name.

“As far as brand names go, its more about tradition,” Pusey said.

“If I had to decide between a product that was made by Sony and another company that maybe sounds cooler, I’m going to go with Sony because it’s a brand name I’ve heard of before and am familiar with.”

Justin Teubert, freshman in aerospace engineering, has a similar belief.

“If it’s something that I know about, I’m already going to have my preferences, but if I’m buying something that I don’t usually buy I would say the brand name makes a big difference,” Teubert said.

Here are some interesting brand name stories:

Food

Wonder Bread – According to the company’s Web site, vice president of the Taggart Baking Company was attending the International Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Speedway. The sky filled with colorful balloons, filling him with a sense of “wonder.” As well, the logo for Wonder bread represents numerous hot-air balloons.

Pringles – According to the company’s Web site, Pringles is named after a street in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, where the company’s headquarters is, called Pringles Drive.

Clothes

Abercrombie and Fitch – According to the company’s Web site it was originally started as an outdoor clothing store by David Abercrombie, in 1892 in New York City. Then, his best customer, Ezra Fitch, bought some shares in the company in 1900.

It was officially coined Abercrombie and Fitch in 1904. The partners parted ways in 1907 over a dispute involving the direction of the store. Fitch took over the store at that point, until he retired in 1928.