# Brand names that changed in everyday usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-changed-in-everyday-usage/998123 "2024-02-26T22:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-changed-in-everyday-usage/998123/6 "2024-02-26T22:12:38Z")
Exxon used to be Esso (and some other names): > **[History of ExxonMobil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ExxonMobil)** > > ExxonMobil, an American multinational oil and gas corporation presently based out of Texas, has had one of the longest histories of any company in its industry. A direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the company traces its roots as far back as 1886 to the founding of the Vacuum Oil Company, which would become part of ExxonMobil through its own merger with Mobil during the 1930s. The present name of the company comes from a 1999 merger of Standard Oil's New Jersey and New York ... And older thread: > [@Why do companies change their names?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214): > > I have noticed lately that a lot of companies keep changing their names. Audio King is now Ultimate Electronics, Verizon is a relatively new name, Dayton’s decided to be Marshall Field’s, Accenture used to be another name (some accounting firm, I think). Those are the only examples I can think of off the top of my head, but I am curious as to why it seems so frequent lately. Is it because they have no clearly defined corporate identity, or is there usually a legal reason behind it? --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brand-names-that-changed-in-everyday-usage/998123)._