What’s in a name?

In the spirit of “the story always matters,” here’s a few company names with an interesting story.

adidas - Derived from the name Adolf Dassler. Adi was the son of German shoemaker Christoph Dassler. Adi and his brother Rudolf were partners in a another shoe company prior to his forming of Adidas, but the two had a falling out. Adi started Adidas, and Rudolf started his own shoe company, which he called Puma.

Guiness -In 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Brewery (yep, the beer Guinness), was out hunting and became involved in an argument over which game bird was the fastest in Europe - the golden plover or the grouse? He concocted the idea for a book that would keep track of these sorts of records, and the Guinness Book of World Records was born. Beer and records.

Don Loper - The name of Josh Steimle’s blog. Loper was was an American costume and necktie designer, as well as a screenwriter, choreographer, Associate Producer, actor, and assistant to MGM musicals producer Arthur Freed. (via Wikipedia). Steimle wore Don Loper ties on his LDS misson. As far as I know, this is just a blog and not a company.

Gap - Actually derives it’s name from “generation gap.” Founders Donald and Doris Fisher opened their first Gap store in 1969 during the hippie age when there were growing differences between children and adults, resulting in a “generation gap.”