In an era where fast food has become as American as apple pie, the stories behind these culinary empires reveal more than just business acumen — they showcase the delicious intersection of family dreams, creative wordplay, and pure serendipity.
From humble hot dog stands to global restaurant chains, these names that now roll off our tongues so easily each carry a fascinating origin story that’s as unique as their signature dishes. To that effect, let’s look at how some of America’s most beloved fast-food brands got their memorable monikers:
Wendy’s
Wendy’s, founded by Dave Thomas, opened its doors to the public in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. Dave named the restaurant after his eight-year-old daughter Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas, whose nickname came from her siblings’ inability to pronounce “Melinda.” The first restaurant cost $12,900 to open. Thomas chose his daughter’s name because it sounded friendly and welcoming, making it perfect for the family-friendly restaurant he envisioned.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s began in 1940 in San Bernardino, California when brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened their first restaurant at 1398 North E Street. The McDonald brothers — as they were called, revolutionized fast food in 1948 with their ‘Speedee Service System.’
Ray Kroc discovered their operation in 1954, joined as a franchise agent in 1955, and subsequently bought the company for $2.7 million in 1961 after fighting for control over it, subsequently transforming a family name into a global empire. Ray, of course, retained the name, recognizing the powerful legacy of a business that had already redefined the quick-service restaurant industry.
Arby’s
Arby’s was founded in a Township known as the Boardman in Ohio in 1964 by two brothers, Leroy and Forrest Raffel. While it is true that the fast food chain is an expansion of RB, it most definitely is not a play on ‘Roast Beef’ or American Roast Beef, which many customers to this day believe to be the case. The founders chose this moniker since it’s a phonetic pronunciation of the initials R and B, which actually stands for ‘Raffel Brothers.’
Starbucks
Starbucks opened on March 30, 1971, in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, founded by three University of San Francisco friends — Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. The coffee giant’s name emerged through an interesting sequence of events. While brainstorming names, Bowker mentioned how one of his business partners believed that words beginning with ‘st’ were powerful, so they started off with that. During their research, the founders discovered a mining town called Starbo on an old Mount Rainier map, reminding them of the character Starbuck from Moby-Dick.
Though the company’s marketing now claims the name was chosen to evoke “the romance of the high seas and the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders,” Bowker has stated that the Moby-Dick connection was purely coincidental. The founders almost named the company Pequod after the ship in Moby-Dick but decided against it when they realized how unappealing “a cup of Pee-kwod” would sound.
Subway
Subway started as ‘Pete’s Super Submarines’ in Bridgeport, Connecticut, back in 1965. Founder Fred DeLuca borrowed $1,000 from physicist and family friend Peter Buck, who convinced DeLuca that opening a sandwich shop would be the best way to pay for his medical school education. The duo named the fast-food restaurant after Buck, who became co-founder and helped DeLuca oversee operations at the restaurant. They shortened the name to ‘Subway’ in 1968, allegedly to improve radio advertising effectiveness.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell was founded in 1962 in Downey, California, by Glen Bell, who started with hot dog stands in San Bernardino in 1946. Bell spent years reverse-engineering hard-shell tacos from a Mexican restaurant across the street, eventually opening his first Taco Bell with his savings. The restaurant’s moniker is an ingenious yet simple combination of the restaurant’s signature menu item and Glen’s surname. The original menu items included tacos, burritos, tostadas, Chili burgers, and frijoles, all priced at 19 cents. The chain’s first franchise opened in 1964.
Burger King
Burger King started off as Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953. Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns founded it after they visited the original McDonald’s in San Bernardino. The duo were impressed by the innovative assembly-line production system and quick-service concept developed by the McDonald brothers and decided to create their own fast-food competitor.
The appellation came from their signature, ‘Insta-Broiler’ cooking device, which would allow them to cook burgers quickly and efficiently — their own take on McDonald’s speed-focused service model. When Miami franchisees James McLamore and David Edgerton bought the company in 1959, they dropped ‘Insta’ from the name, creating the simpler ‘Burger King’ that we know today.
Popeyes
Popeyes began as ‘Chicken on the Run’ in New Orleans in 1972 as a competitor to KFC. After poor performance, founder Alvin Copeland closed it down and reopened it days later with a rebranded moniker: Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken. Alvin named it after Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle from the 1971 film ‘The French Connection,’ not the spinach-eating sailor like many folks believe.
However, Popeye (the comic strip character) was too big a cultural icon for the fast food chain to ignore and featured in the fast food chain’s early iconography through a licensing deal. It even served as the brand’s mascot until 2012. The restaurant’s name went through several iterations, including ‘Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken’ and ‘Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits,’ before settling on ‘Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen’.
KFC
KFC started in 1930 in North Corbin, Kentucky, when Harland Sanders began serving his signature fried chicken and other dishes from his service station during the Great Depression. After purchasing a larger filling station in 1936, Sanders was granted the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel by the state’s governor, which is when he decided to brand himself Colonel Sanders. Finally, in 1937, after upgrading his restaurant to 142 seats, the place had a name – Sanders Court & Café.
In 1952, Sanders sold his first franchise to Pete Harman in Salt Lake City for a handshake and a 4-cent royalty per chicken. That same year, the original ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ name was adopted (coined by Don Anderson, a sign painter hired by Pete Harman) to distinguish it from regular Southern fried chicken and to honor its state of origin, but the abbreviated ‘KFC’ name was only adopted in 1991.
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A originated in 1946 in Hapeville, Georgia, when S. Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill (later Dwarf House). The first Chick-fil-A opened in 1967 in Atlanta’s Greenbriar Shopping Center.
The creation of the chicken sandwich came after Cathy discovered a pressure fryer in 1961 that could cook chicken as quickly as a hamburger. The name development occurred when Cathy tried to trademark what was initially called the ‘Chicken Steak Sandwich’ but was denied. His attorney advised him to find a unique name, which led to the creation of ‘Chick-fil-A.’ He played with the word ‘fillet,’ replacing ‘et’ with ‘A’ to represent the Grade-A quality chicken he used.
Shake Shack
Shake Shack began in 2001 as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park, New York City. The cart became so popular by 2004 that founder Danny Meyer ended up opening a permanent kiosk in that same park and expanded his menu to include burgers, fries and milkshakes with its moniker.
Shake Shack drew its name from an unlikely source — the movie Grease (1978). Danny was inspired by watching the film multiple times, specifically the scene where John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John sing You’re the One That I Want on a ride called the Shake Shack. Before settling on this name, Meyer had considered other options like ‘Custard’s First Stand’ and ‘Dog Park.’