List of Company Name Etymologies - 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).

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