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How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

The product names of IKEA may sound strange even to us Swedish speakers. In other parts of the world, they are basically incomprehensible, but fun! Here you will learn the most about how we name our products and the two rules that must always be followed – because there is a method in the madness.

Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, had a hard time remembering numbers and numbers, so instead he decided to name his products. Naming products started as a practical solution, but over time it has become an important part of our identity and expression at IKEA.

Our naming method

To ensure consistent use of names

We work purposefully to create a strong and unique identity for IKEA. Everything we do – including naming our products – helps us build and strengthen IKEA as a brand. That's why we follow two simple rules:
  1. We use Swedish names for our products.
The product names reflect our Swedish identity, Småland's heritage and our values. They make IKEA unique and contribute to a sense of playfulness. The names are real words and often inspired by Swedish places, nature, emotions or everyday expressions – and follow a clear categorization system. For instance:
Sofas → Swedish place names
Bookshelves → men's names
Children's products → animals and nature
To be used as a product name, it must:
  • be a real word
  • contain between 4 and 12 letters
  • preferably contain the letters Å, Ä or Ö
  • feels good to say
  • Never be trademarked or be a surname
Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
  1. For everything else, we use descriptive names in the local language of the country in which we operate.
This applies, for example, to services, functions and communication, which must be clear and easy to understand for all customers, regardless of market.
An exception to these two rules are some carefully selected Swedish words (Hello, bye, welcome, welcome back and coffee), they are used to express aspects of the culture and traditions we have at IKEA.
Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
 

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