Whatâs in a name? Not too much if youâre a person - but if you happen to be one of these fifteen megacompanies, a name invokes far more than just a brand label - some of these iconic names have stood for decades and will probably continue on for several more. 

Company founders usually find a name somewhere between clever hidden meanings, plain functionality and often, just dumb luck. Today, navigating through legal restrictions makes it a lot harder - so hereâs a list charting through some of the more unique, interesting names youâll find on stock markets today.

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The central idea is pretty straightforward - Nike refers to the Greek goddess of victory, usually depicted with outstretched wings and laurels as a sign of triumph - the ancient Greeks would be proud today. Lesser known in Nikeâs story however, is the brandâs original name - the much less catchy âBlue Ribbon Sportsâ.

The catalyst for the name change was Blue Ribbonâs first full-time employee, Jeff Johnson, who convinced his team that successful brand names had two essential qualities. First, they were short. Second, they contained an âexoticâ letter, such as an X, K or Z. Soon, Nike took off the ground - and it all came from advice Johnson read in an airplane magazine.

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Some meetings were just destined to happen - such as when Stanford university prospective Larry Page met Sergey Brin on the campus grounds in 1997. Soon, Google was officially registered as a domain in the same year - instead of hunting for an iconic or thoughtful word, the pair decided that one of the most obscure words in the English language would serve as their companyâs inspiration - googol, or the mathematical term for the value of 1 followed by 100 zeroes.

Whatâs amusing is that before Google, the pair had initially settled on the much cosier sounding name of âBackrubâ. Imagine - an entire universe of awkward jokes and moments missed out on, where weâd spend countless hours âbackrubbingâ instead of googling stuff.

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While most of us are content with ordering a quick latte and rushing out the door, you might want to take a look at the Starbucks branding next time youâre looking for a caffeine fix. The coffee chain originated from Seattle - a city well-known for its prolific ports and history of rugged seafaring. 

Match that heritage to the mermaid character and her 19th-century woodcut design⦠but what about the name? For that, you need to look no further than the legendary novel Moby Dick - the whale-obsessed captain Ishmael happens to have a first mate named - you guessed it - Starbuck.

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Sometimes, naming a brand is less inspiration and more of working with the limitations youâve got. In the case of mega-pizza chain Pizza Hut, the story began way back in 1950 - long before the Italian favourite permeated every layer of American food culture.

While attending the University of Kansas, brothers Frank and Dan Carney launched the first Pizza Hut with a $600 loan from their mother. The name was easy to remember and naturally became quite famous, but there were actually just two reasons as to why the name was chosen. First, the pizzas were made in a literal brick hut - even in 1950, not a lot you can get from $600. Second, the cramped sign only had enough space for nine letters - the rest is history.

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Itâs no surprise that when it came to finally naming Apple, absolutely no one would take on the duty other than marketing genius, eccentric CEO and perhaps one of the most famous late men of the 21st century, Steve Jobs.

Thereâs a whole set of rumours about the name Apple - one says that Jobs took inspiration from the story of how Sir Issac Newton observed a falling apple before devising the laws of universal gravitation. The true answer is much simpler - during the time, Jobs happened to be living on an all-fruit diet. The name simply came to him while visiting an apple farm.

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Serving as one of the great faces of modern capitalism, right alongside McDonalds and more, Coca-Cola is a pretty ancient company - almost 130 years old. Back in the early days, the drink was promoted as a headache cure, and two of the most important additives were cocaine and caffeine - both obtained from the âcocaâ leaf and the âcolaâ nut. If youâre curious, each bottle contained some 9 milligrams of cocaine - a standard âlineâ of the substance contains 50-60 milligrams.

Soon after in 1903, the dope was removed, and the world began to move on to everyoneâs favourite carbonated sugary drink, as we know it.

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Ever seen Aaron Sorkinâs film, The Social Network? If you have, youâll know that before the tech giant had its name, it also had a common prefix as âThe Facebookâ. 

Originally, the website was a networking tool inspired by Harvardâs annual paper guide  distributed to first-year students, which profiled staff and students. Launched in 2004, Mark Zuckerbergâs original site was intended solely for Harvard students but quickly spread to other U.S. universities. By 2005, Zuckerberg dropped the âtheâ and Facebook was born.

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An icon of both Indian riders and classic British motorcycling heritage, the Royal Enfield name has absolute cult status in the country - even though its origins were far more colonial. 

Whatâs interesting about the Enfield marquee is that the name has changed twice - back over into Royal Enfield once again. It began in 1890, when the British crown cleared licenses for the brand. Soon after, the motorcycles made a reputation for themselves, especially in World War II.

By 1955, the brand had a decent following in India as well, where the government ordered a massive 800 units of the motorcycles for its police and army forces. Soon after, Madras Motors were looped into a deal and Enfield India was born. It wasnât until 1990 that Enfield India merged with the Eicher Group, forming the Royal Enfield we know and love today.

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Before he created Amazon in 1996, founder Jeff Bezos christened his company Cadabra. That was short for Abracadabra, or the word he felt best conjured the idea that a book would magically appear âAbracadabra! â on a customerâs doorstep.

After Bezosâ lawyer thought âcadabraâ sounded like âcadaver,â and Bezos reconsidered. His perfect name would begin with an A, thus appearing first in the alphabetical listing of a web search. As the largest river in the world â strong, swift and exotic â the Amazon proved to be his ultimate inspiration.

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