# How di 7-up get its name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539 "2005-12-21T00:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/1 "2005-12-21T00:05:06Z")
Probably been asked a hundered times, but here goes. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/2 "2005-12-21T00:08:00Z")
Wow, what is with my spelling. Sorry guys. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/3 "2005-12-21T00:12:23Z")
It probably has zero chance of being correct, but my dad told me when I was a little kid that it had to do with the Ph scale and was an indicator of its acidity (or lack thereof). Upper 10 was another lemon-lime drink in the South that had similar naming issues. I’m curious to find if others have better explanations. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/4 "2005-12-21T00:16:04Z")
Because “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda” just didn’t cut it, and it had 7 flavors blended into it. From Cadbury-Schweppes history pages: > [@](#): > > Grigg introduced his new soft drink in October 1929, just two weeks before the Wall Street stock market crash. It carried the burden of an unwieldy name “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”. Competing against more than 600 lemon-lime soft drinks already in the marketplace, the drink also cost more. But in spite of all the obstacles, the new brand drink sold well. Shortly afterwards, Grigg changed the brand’s name to 7 Up. Earliest advertising featured a winged 7 Up logo and described the soft drink as “A glorified drink in bottles only. Seven natural flavours blended into a savoury, flavoury drink with a real wallop”. From [http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/EN/Brands/About/Beverages/factsheet\_sevenup.htm](http://www.cadburyschweppes.com/EN/Brands/About/Beverages/factsheet_sevenup.htm) ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/5 "2005-12-21T00:17:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Today’s Question: > > Mystery drink --\> What does the “7” in “7-Up” stand for or mean? > > The Answer: > Unfortunately, nobody seems to know the exact origin of name 7-Up. > > The popular lemon-lime flavored soft drink was created by Charles Leiper Grigg in 1929. > > His first name for the new soda was “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda.” That became “7-Up Lithiated Lemon-Lime,” before Grigg settled on simply “7-Up.” > > According to the official web site of 7-Up, which has been a product of the Cadbury Schweppes Company since 1995, there are several theories about how Grigg came up with the unusual name. > > Here are the most plausible stories. > > 1. He named it after a cattle brand he saw that looked like a “7 Up.” > 2. He thought of it while rooting for sevens during a game of craps. > 3. 7-Up has seven ingredients. > 4. The words “seven up” have seven letters. > 5. The original 7-Up bottle held seven ounces. … ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/6 "2005-12-21T00:33:59Z")
OK, I didn’t go all the way to the bottom of the page. BTW, “What is Bib-Label Lithiated blah blah” is a standard trivia contest question. As soon as you hear that much, you can answer “7 Up”. They took the lithium citrate out in 1950, as it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-di-7-up-get-its-name/336539/7 "2005-12-21T00:45:14Z")
Snopes has a good page on it, too, confirming the “undetermined” status: > **[Origins of the 7Up Soft Drink Name](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/7up/)** > > Was the soft drink 7Up named for the number of its ingredients?