List of company name etymologies (I,J,K)

Hey there, here we are presenting List of company name etymologies (I,J,K) for preparation of biz and tech quizzes.

I

IBM – named by Tom (Thomas John) Watson Sr, an ex-employee of National Cash Register (NCR Corporation). To one-up them in all respects, he called his company International Business Machines.

ICL – abbreviation for International Computers Limited, once the UK's largest computer company but now a service arm of Fujitsu, of Japan.

IG Farben – Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG was so named because the constituent German companies produced dyestuffs among many other chemical compounds. The consortium is most known today for its central participation in the World War II Holocaust, as it made the Zyklon B gas used in the gas chambers.

IGN Entertainment – IGN Entertainment is an online entertainment media outlet. Its name comes from its origin as a spin-off of Imagine Media and used to stand for Imagine Games Network.

Iiyama – manufacturer of monitors and TVs named after the Japanese city, Iiyama.
Imdad logistics – Imdad is a Saudi Arabia registered Logistics company. Imdad is an Arabic word meaning supply.

IKEA – a composite of the first letters in the Swedish founder Ingvar Kamprad's name in addition to the first letters of the names of the property and the village in which he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.

IMI – Imperial Metal Industries. Split off from Imperial Chemical Industries.

InBev – the name was created after the merger of the Belgian company Interbrew with Brazilian Ambev

Inditex – a Spanish group named from Industria de Diseño Textil (Textile Design Industry).
Infineon Technologies – derived from Infinity and Aeon. The name was given to Siemens's Semiconductor branch (called Siemens HL or Siemens SC/SSC) when it was spun off.

Infosys – An Indian software major. "Information Systems"

Ingenico – electronic payment device manufacturer based in Paris and named from the French Ingenieux Compagnie (Ingenious Company).

Inktomi – an internet search engine, acquired by Yahoo! in 2002, was named after Iktomi, a spider-trickster spirit from Lakota Indian legends.

Intel – Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore initially incorporated their company as N M Electronics. Someone suggested Moore Noyce Electronics but it sounded too close to "more noise". Later, Integrated Electronics was proposed but it had already been taken, so they used the initial syllables (INTegrated ELectronics). To avoid potential conflicts with other companies with similar names, Intel purchased the name rights for $15,000 from a company called Intelco. (Source: Intel 15 Years Corporate Anniversary Brochure)
Ittiam Systems – an Indian company named from the famous philosophical dictum: "I think therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum).

J

J2TV – from television and film production company formed by Malcolm in the Middle actor Justin Berfield and producer Jason Felts.

JAL – from Japan Airlines

Jat Airways – founded in 1927 as "Aeroput" (Airway in Serbian). From 1947, it was known as JAT (Jugoslovenski Aero Transport). After the break-up of the former Yugoslavia (and after Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro), the company kept the name, Jat, but not as an abbreviation.

Jawa Motors – from Janeček (the owner) and Wanderer (the motorcycle product).

JBL – from James B Lansing, an electronics designer

J. C. Penney – from James Cash Penney, founder of the department store chain.
Johnson & Johnson – Originally a partnership between brothers James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson in 1885, the addition of brother Robert Wood Johnson I led to formal incorporation as Johnson & Johnson in 1887.

Jordache – from the first names of the Nakash brothers who founded the company: Joe, Ralph, David (Ralph's first son), Avi, plus che, after the second syllable of "Nakash."[55]
JVC – Japan Victor Company (Victor Company of Japan, Ltd) was founded in 1927 as a US subsidiary, The Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, Limited. JVC developed the VHS video cassette format.

K

Kalev – after Kalev, the character from Estonian mythology and national epic Kalevipoeg.

Kawasaki – from the name of its founder, Shozo Kawasaki

KFC – short for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Kenvelo - Clothing retailer founded in the Czech Republic by Israel-born owner Dany Himi. Various names were proposed to managers, but some said "yes" and some "no". David Dahan came up with yesandno or Ken (yes), ve (and) lo (no) in Hebrew (כן ולא).[56]

Kenwood Limited – named after Kenneth (Ken) Wood, who founded this kitchenware company as Woodlau Industries in the UK in 1947. It is not related to Kenwood Electronics, which started as Kasuga Radio Co in Japan in 1946 and became Trio Corporation in 1960.

Kenwood Electronics – Bill Kasuga was a partner in a firm that imported Japanese-made audio products from Trio Corporation to the United States. Kasuga wanted to create a trustworthy and Western-sounding name for products sold by his importing company as he was confident of the quality of Trio's products in a period when Japanese-made goods were considered subpar. He came up with the Kenwood name inspired by the term "Ken," which had meaning in Japanese and English, also echoing the consumer resonance of Kenmore Appliances and "wood", a reference to the durable substance as well as Hollywood, suggesting entertainment and durability. Trio Corporation would rename itself Kenwood in 1986.

Kenworth Truck Company – Kenworth Truck Company was formed in 1923 and is named after the two principal stockholders Harry Kent and Edgar Worthington.

Kia Motors – the name "Kia" (起亞) roughly translates as "Rising from Asia" in Hanja.

Kinko's – from the college nickname of founder, Paul Orfalea. He was called Kinko because he had curly red hair. The company was bought by FedEx for $2.4 billion in 2004.

Kmart – Named for Sebastian S. Kresge, who opened the first Kmart in 1962 as a division of his S. S. Kresge Company. The company became Kmart Corporation in 1977. After purchasing Sears, Roebuck & Company in 2005, the merged company became Sears Holdings Corporation, with Kmart continuing as a discount store chain within the new structure.

Kodak – Both the Kodak camera and the name were the invention of founder George Eastman. The letter "K" was a favorite with Eastman; he felt it a strong and incisive letter. He tried out various combinations of words starting and ending with "K". He saw three advantages in the name. It had the merits of a trademark word, would not be mis-pronounced and the name did not resemble anything in the art. There is a misconception that the name was chosen because of its similarity to the sound produced by the shutter of the camera.

Komatsu – Japanese construction vehicle manufacturer named from the city of Komatsu, Ishikawa, where it was founded in 1917.

Konica – it was earlier known as Konishiroku Kogaku. Konishiroku in turn is the short for Konishiya Rokubeiten which was the first name of the company established by Rokusaburo Sugiura in the 1850s.

Korg – named from the surnames of the founders, Tsutomu Katoh and Tadashi Osanai, combined with the letters "rg" from the word organ.

KPMG – from the last names of the founders of the firms which combined to form the cooperative: Piet Klijnveld, William Barclay Peat, James Marwick, and Reinhard Goerdeler.

Kroger – American supermarket chain named after its founder, Barney Kroger

KUKA – founded in 1898 in Augsburg, Germany as Keller Und Knappich Augsburg, it shortened its name to KUKA. Today, it is a manufacturer of industrial robots and automation systems.

Kyocera – from Kyoto Ceramics, after Kyoto in Japan.