alt Hacker NewsHow does IKEA come up with names for its products?
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> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages
This procedure does not always work: https://adland.tv/whats-name-case-2351-ikeas-gutvik-bunk-bed
My favorite is `fejka` for the artificial plant/flower.
I think "being as widely-understandable pun as possible" is definitely one of their naming priorities.
> Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
I find this surprisingly high; I guess it’s _products_ and not _names_, meaning that five colors of the same product count as five new products but only one name.
The door mats are mostly named after places in Denmark, as they should be.
Fun Dutch observation: IKEA’s ANTILOP high chair sounds like “anti lopen” in Dutch. “lopen” = “to walk” So the name can be interpreted as “anti walking” or “prevents your baby from walking away.” I know it’s actually named after the animal (antelope), but the accidental Dutch wordplay is perfect for a baby chair.
IKEA is the new "fast fashion", but for furniture.
You buy something one day, and it starts to deteriorate and become janky after a year, and you'll have a buy a new one. All products have gone through spreadsheet cost optimizations.
It wasn't always like that. If you're lucky to get your hands on an old IKEA bookshelf (Billy), it's sturdy and will last forever.
For a Swede it must seem kind of strange to understand the product names. You see an ACORN toy, a NIGEL bookshelf, and the CROYDON sofa... which sounds like it belongs in a council estate flat.
Definately more fun would be the Polish version. How many people can pronounce the BYDGOSZCZ sofa, the PRZEMYSŁAW bookcase and the PSZCZOŁA soft toy?
> In other parts of the world, they are basically incomprehensible, but fun!
For some reason unknown to either of us it really pisses off my wife when I refer to our IKEA furniture by the Swedish names. I think it stems from a deep seated disdain she has for flat pack furniture.
Me: where’s the thing?
Wife: in the white cupboard
Me: which white cupboard? There are 6
Wife: the white cupboard opposite the piano
Me: the Brimnes?
Wife: >.<
They are so hard to pronounce and remember to me that might as well be UUIDs
> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
I love the JERKER desk that I bought 26 years ago, so I assume this rule must be younger than that.
It is funny how those name often sound differently than intended in other languages while still remaining memetic. My best example is "Knorrig" as it sounds like a fun name for a pig since "knur" is a male ping in Polish.
> Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
If that's true, I wonder how many years it will take to use up the remaining unused Swedish words.
The $50USD Bluetooth speakers "NATTBAD" gave us a good chuckle.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/nattbad-bluetooth-speaker-yello...
> Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
It's more likely that the whole product catalog contains 2-3k products. [1][2][3] So no, you don't.
[1] https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/products-products [2] https://lar5.com/ikea (~ 2200) [3] https://namingschemes.com/Ikea_Product_Names (~ 1300)
Chiming in for the Ikea fans - you should definitely listen to the Acquired episode about it! It was fantastic and covered this and other fun facts https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/ikea
> Sofas → Swedish place names
Looks like some of these place names have been overpowered in search results by their named-for sofa counterparts! When searching Finnala, Sweden, I essentially only get search results for the sofa, and even the Google AI overview, while admitting it's a locality in Sweden, shows me a picture of the sofa!
About 25 years ago, one rule was that everything related to the toilets was in Danish. He said it was the Swedish Danish rivalry.
As a Swede in London, it's annoying that IKEA staff don't understand you when you pronounce the names correctly.
You have to change letters (e.g. å is not a with an accent. It's a different letter) and read it like you don't know the language.
The Fräck mirror was named after the commonly used faux swear word on Battlestar Galactica, where one of the characters used a similar mirror:
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/fraeck-mirror-stainless-steel-3...
Amazing. A post asks a question in the title that I actually want answered, and then goes on to answer that question clearly and succinctly. Maybe the best corporate content I've seen this year.
This comic used to be viral in Russia in the 2010s: https://m.vk.ru/wall-28208003_16956.
(The dialogue goes, "Somewhere deep inside Ikea HQ: How shall we name the lamp?" "GNVÖERK.")
I remember that in Dutch product catalogs, IKEA often used the name Gammelgaard (referring to Niels Gammelgaard, a Danish product designer). In Dutch, "gammel" means "rickety. "
Sofas → Swedish place names
Bookshelves → men's names
For Swedes it must be weird to be able to find a product named after yourself and your place!
I’d have guessed they used names that Swedes were less likely to identify with than names of places and people.
The product names have made me chuckle quite a few times in the past. Such an easy way to make your products more likeable.
Also, maybe semi-relevant: I made a small guessing game about the IKEA product catalogue in case someone wants to be lightly entertainment for two minutes [1].
This is so random. I had just pulled this exact page up this morning to settle a debate with coworkers over whether the product names were real Swedish words or not. I thought they were all made up!
Was very surprised to find things like “bookshelves are all men’s names”, “all names must have ä, å, or ö”, etc.
Complete coincidence that this is #2 today. Had to check that ’NaOH’ wasn’t one of my coworkers
> preferably contain the letters Å, Ä or Ö
Yes, but why prefer these letters?
I don’t know Swedish. Is it because these diacritics make the names seem more exotic?
I always assumed the names were mostly random Swedish words picked for the vibe. The fact that there's a taxonomy behind them makes it much funnier somehow
One of my go-to dad jokes is to see Ikea furniture at someone's house and ask "Is that a möstliglü [table|cabinet|etc]?"
This comments section was one of the most entertaining (and weirdly instructive!) I ever read.
I learned (some) Swedish at age of 35 and it was quite a moment when IKEA product names became meaningful to me. Plate PLATE, fun!
Pretty much like when as a kid I learned enough of English to realize all those songs around actually have lyrics, pretty dumb sometimes
> preferably contain the letters Å, Ä or Ö
I always thought it's just a natural consequence of using Swedish language, turns out it's on purpose!
Ever since I heard this song, it now always plays in my head whenever IKEA comes up - have a listen while reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4si8w8WMFc
(Rob Paravonian - Particle Board) - of Dr. Demento, etc., fame.
If you ever find yourself in southern Sweden (or Copenhagen and fancy a train ride across a cool bridge) the IKEA museum at Älmhult is well worth a visit: https://ikeamuseum.com/en/
My Swedish friend told me they make the more expensive things to sound more Swedish and the cheaper stuff to sound Norwegian.
Any speakers of either language able to confirm or deny?
Not with AI that's for sure
Hoven means Excrements in Czech (in 2nd case)
So when IKEA had Hoven sale - Doprodej Hoven (Excrements sale), people were amused
https://www.lidovky.cz/byznys/ikea-narazila-s-nazvy-vyrobku-...
so much for "Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages"
Bedroom and living room furniture is named after Norwegian places
Nice, How to use that strategy for software? But first It makes sense?
As someone named after an IKEA chair, I can testify I took no offense while assembling myself. https://manuall.co.uk/ikea-bertil-chair/
https://zagge.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/13333008.jpg
Translation:
Somewhere inside IKEA.
- How do we call the table lamp?
- GNVOERKI had assumed it involved a dartboard.
I love how the chose Verde, which means value, for their long time retired kitchen furniture. They were so good that they still sell above their original retail prices now.
> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
Hey Donna [1]...
> Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, had a hard time remembering numbers and numbers
And also numbers I assume. Does it mean something like “endless stream of numbers”?
I’m very surprised that they have 2000-3000 new products every year. Checking every name against every language of countries they operate in to avoid “bad” names must be a pain.
I figured they just let a Dala horse walk around on top of a bunch of keyboards and whatever string comes out is the new name?
Sometimes it works and name are weird, nice and fun. But sometimes, quite a lot, I think that it is counter productive because the name is hard to remember, spell or say if local language.
So in the end, hard to say to a seller or type on the part screen the name of what you want. Most of the time you will not be able to remember what was the name of the thing and have to look around and find by categories to find again what you are looking for. And forgot the name already 3 days after. And actually i was multiple time annoyed by that. For example, look at the baby changing table name: ÄLSKVÄRD.
Also, hard to remember/pronounce name make it that often you are lost and confused between multiple names that doesn't make any sense to you like HFEREZR versus HORCRUX.
One case that frustrated me a lot is: good luck finding which white cabinet door you need to buy between VEDDINGE and VALLSTENA that are 99,9% the same, and have the same description on ikea website and shops... In the warehouse you are looking for it, you look for the thing starting with the V, like VA...VII... something, and you find VEDDINGE. Was it this one i needed to be or another name similar?
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> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile
If I remember correctly, they had a desk named "JERKER" in early 2000s.
> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
I present to you "Svalka" wine glasses. Dump", rubbish heap", or easy, promiscuous woman of ill repute in informal Baltic (and Slavic?) slang.