# Why do companies change their names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214 "2003-11-14T08:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/21 "2003-11-14T19:50:00Z")
The best one is all the money US Air spent to be told that they should change to US Airways. Sheesh. And they were happy with the money they spent! One of the Target stores here is called Target Greatland. Is that a specific division of Target? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/22 "2003-11-14T20:02:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slipster \* > \*\*The town of Darren, Massachusetts had a negative image after a series of trials there which the town fathers hoped people would forget, so it changed its name–and people have spoken of the Salem Witch Trials ever since. > \*\* I’m pretty sure Salem has been Salem since 1629 (when it changed its name from Naumkeag), and was Salem during the witch trials. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/23 "2003-11-14T20:06:12Z")
In fact, here’s a description of Salem, using the name, from 1629-1630 [http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD1626.html](http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/NativeAmericans&Blacks/MainStreet/MMD1626.html) > [@](#): > > Four miles northeast from Saugus lieth Salem, which stands on the middle of a neck of land very pleasantly, having a south river on the one side and a north river on the other side. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/24 "2003-11-14T20:18:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*The best one is all the money US Air spent to be told that they should change to US Airways. Sheesh. And they were happy with the money they spent! > > One of the Target stores here is called Target Greatland. Is that a specific division of Target? \*\* US Air used to be “Alleghany”, commonly referred to as “Agony Airlines”. I’m sure they would tell you that that name change was made to reflect that they were no longer a regional airline. The story persists that they took a survey of people’s satisfaction with various airlines, and came out dead last, even rating less favorably than the then-fictitous “US Air” which they included on the survey. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/25 "2003-11-14T20:43:05Z")
You’re missing something here, **Yabob**. Alleghany changed its name to US Air in the late 1970s or so. Just about three or four years ago, as noted in the Salon article, US Air paid a shitload of money to a consultant (during another bout of re-image making), whose only recommendation was to change the brand from US Air to US Airways, _which was already its legal corporate name_. And they were pleased with their investment. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/26 "2003-11-14T20:47:29Z")
BP is no longer British Petroleum, its actual name is now just the letters bp. It changed because it is now no longer mostly British and it sells a whole lot more than petroleum now. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/27 "2003-11-14T20:51:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*You’re missing something here, **Yabob**. Alleghany changed its name to US Air in the late 1970s or so. Just about three or four years ago, as noted in the Salon article, US Air paid a shitload of money to a consultant (during another bout of re-image making), whose only recommendation was to change the brand from US Air to US Airways, _which was already its legal corporate name_. And they were pleased with their investment. \*\* I’m not missing that. I just intended to supplement it with an anecdote about an earlier name change. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/28 "2003-11-14T20:54:35Z")
Oh. Okay. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/29 "2003-11-14T21:08:37Z")
Honeywell was bought up by Allied Signal, which was a much bigger company. However, they decided to change the company name to Honeywell because it was better known. Honeywell, yah, it’s a good company ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/30 "2003-11-14T21:29:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*1 - They merge with another company > 2 - To create a new corporate identity or brand image > 3 - They spin off from a larger company \*\* 4 - To hide executive screwups when caught. 🙂 IIRC, after Worldcom went belly up, they are now resurrecting themselves under the MCI brand they bought out years ago, killed, and now bringing back. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/31 "2003-11-14T21:46:56Z")
Exxon was originally one of the regional SO corporations created by the early trust-busting breakup of Standard Oil. Each of the regional SOs had local rights to the SO name. Exxon had been using the brand name Esso (=SO) for their retail business, wanted to expand nationally in the US, and anticipated legal problems with use of the Esso name outside their own region. The solution was a name change, the potential business expansion outweighing the hit to accrued goodwill. The Esso name is still used in Canada, where the legal problem didn’t exist. Does anyone else still remember the MAD magazine back page that came out at the time with the big NiXXon sign on the White House, and the slogan “NiXXon, still the same old gas”? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/32 "2003-11-14T22:08:10Z")
Regarding Exxon, from a book on trademarks I read a long time ago: it was reported that, name wise, everything did go well then for Exxon. That is until the Exxon Valdez spill, then it was impossible to ignore that Exxon was getting the moniker of “the double cross” company! I see now their name is Exxon/Mobil, I expect yet another name change in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/33 "2003-11-14T22:45:03Z")
Relatedly, I’ve been wondering if KFC’s new efforts to convince us that eating fried (!!!) chicken is healthy is the consummation of the transformation it began by changing it’s name from Kentucky Fried Chicken. (God, I must be channeling Al Sharpton or something: “The consummation of the transformation of our stratification leads to reparation, and, of course, satiation. Can I get an amen form the brethren?”) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/34 "2003-11-14T23:01:50Z")
I’ve always thought that Navistar was one of the most interesting and creative corporate name changes. The intention was to sound more modern and also to get away from the image of farm equipment. But instead of having a computer randomly generate a cool sounding name, they just mashed portions of their old name together: Inter **na** tional Har **vester** = navester = Navistar. At least it’s easily recognizable to me. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/35 "2003-11-14T23:11:39Z")
\*\*Posted by Tamex: It is very strange, though. We used to have Dayton’s and Norwest Bank and USWest, and now we have Marshall Field’s and Wells Fargo and Qwest…it’s all the fun of moving to a new part of the country without the hassle of packing, I guess.\*\* A few years ago, a large bank based in Minnesota named Norwest bought a fairly small bank based in California called Wells Fargo. Logic would dictate that Wells Fargo be swallowed up and change its name to Norwest. However… Outside of their home turf, it was “Nor-what?” And in the musical “The Music Man” the song isn’t “The Norwest Wagon is a-coming round the bend.” The execs at Norwest decided to go with a name that’s been etched into everybody’s minds for the past gazillion years, even if it was the name of what they were buying. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/36 "2003-11-14T23:18:21Z")
This kind of thing is fairly common in the banking world. Cincinnati-based Star Bank swallowed up Firstar Bank, but changed its name to Firstar and moved its headquarters to Milwaukee. Then Firstar Bank swallowed up US Bank, but then changed its name to US Bank and moved its headquarters to Minneapolis (or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/37 "2003-11-15T03:17:12Z")
I’d just like to highlight how a lot of these name changes come about from the usual “Well, we paid the consultant millions, so we have to implement their ideas.” weirdness that just floats around in Big Business. It’s been made fun of lot’s of times in Dilbert, but just like “paradigm”, they still use it. So if the consultant says change the name, they change the name. United Parcel Service, moved its HQ to Atlanta for no good reason. Then changed its name to just UPS and dropped the old box logo for a shield shaped one. A shield? “We do more than ship boxes.” So you ship shields now??? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/38 "2003-11-15T03:42:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \* > \*\*\*\*Posted by Tamex: > > It is very strange, though. We used to have Dayton’s and Norwest Bank and USWest, and now we have Marshall Field’s and Wells Fargo and Qwest…it’s all the fun of moving to a new part of the country without the hassle of packing, I guess.\*\* > > A few years ago, a large bank based in Minnesota named Norwest bought a fairly small bank based in California called Wells Fargo. Logic would dictate that Wells Fargo be swallowed up and change its name to Norwest. > > However… Outside of their home turf, it was “Nor-what?” And in the musical “The Music Man” the song isn’t “The Norwest Wagon is a-coming round the bend.” The execs at Norwest decided to go with a name that’s been etched into everybody’s minds for the past gazillion years, even if it was the name of what they were buying. \*\* And they came to regret this later! They went with the Wells Fargo name, because their consultants’ research told them that name was much more known than Norwest. Alas, they eventually learned it was well known to people because so many had had bad experiences with Wells Fargo. So the name was not just famous, it was infamous! Turns out that Wells Fargo was rather known in the banking industry for regularily showing up on surveys as near the bottom in ranking on customer service. (With all they paid to consultants, you’d think that might have been mentioned…) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/39 "2003-11-15T03:46:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \* > \*\*\*\*Posted by Tamex: > A few years ago, a large bank based in Minnesota named Norwest bought a fairly small bank based in California called Wells Fargo. \*\* Wells Fargo isn’t all that small: [http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/COHN/largest\_commercial\_banks.htm](http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/COHN/largest_commercial_banks.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214/40 "2003-11-15T06:43:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*One of the Target stores here is called Target Greatland. Is that a specific division of Target? \*\* It just means it’s a bigger Target store. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-companies-change-their-names/213214.md?page=3)