Camry only foreign to foreigners
For a long time I have documented the best selling Camry as an example of a coined name. More than that, a well-accepted coined word even by many who would never dream of naming their company or product line with a coined word.
But, as Bob Seawright now informs me, Camry is really a phonetic translation of the Japanese word Kamuri which means Crown. Back in the 1950′s, one of Toyota’s first car lines was called the Crown (and it still exists today in Japan). So from this parentage, we have Camry, Corona and Corolla – three different ways to say Crown! Because of the different American pronunciation, I still believe most of us will see it as an abstract, coined word. Either way it works fine… and shows how much more unique and special a name is when it stands for your product line and nothing else!
While Toyota is obviously very big, even small companies can use this style of naming for their products to stand out from the crowd. No one has heard of you anyway before you announce the name… if they make a small hesitation, then an effort, to remember the name, they are much more likely to remember it.
PS Now if anyone could tell me the real story behind the name Oreo I would be be in cookie heaven.
1 Comment to Camry only foreign to foreigners
Hi Athol,
I’ve been reading your blog for about 3 month now. And just wanna say “I LOVE IT!” Thank you so much for sharing all that information with us.
I came across printing company located in California called FOFFI.COM and I really liked their name! It’s sounds interesting and unusual for print shops. All I can see this days is “Jerald Printshop”, “Prints4U”, “CopyCenter” .. all of those are boring! what do you think? Do you think it’s a good idea call company something like FOFFI.COM?
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November 18, 2008