These days brands like Google, Nike, and Pepsi are known the world over as leading companies that produce worthwhile products. But have you ever wondered how much of their success is "in the name" so-to-speak? It turns out that a lot of incredibly famous businesses didn't start out with their now famous names, instead they had to transition from a far daggier name before they achieved success. Learn more about the fascinating history of famous companies and their logos and names below.

4) Firefox used to be Firebird

We've all seen the popular Mozilla Firefox browser, in fact many of you might be using it to browse the Cubic Promote website right now! But did you know that it didn't start life being called Firefox, instead it was Firebird (and before that, very briefly, Phoenix) and it had a totally different logo brand to go along with the name.

The company were looking for a name that was easy to say and memorable, but in the end Firefox worked better than Firebird and the name was changed. The Firebird logo as seen here was far more complex than the Firefox logo and featured a flaming bird, but lacked the blue "world" seen in the final Firefox design.

3) Nike used to be Blue Ribbon Sports

You'd think with such a memorable name and promotional logo Nike would have been born as, well, Nike! The truth is, however, that the brand started life as Blue Ribbon Sports before the founders opted to change the name for something catchier. What could be catchier than the very average sounding Blue Ribbon Sports? The name of the Greek goddess of victory (Nike) of course! Soon followed a total rebranding and the Nike swoosh we know today was crafted. We detail the history of the logo and brand here.

 2) Pepsi was named Brad's Drink (Yes, Really)

It might seem hard to believe but Pepsi Cola, one of the most popular drinks in the world, was once known as simply "Brad's Drink". The name came from the drink's creator, Caleb Bradham, who thought up his recipe in the 1890's before the brand grew astronomically and he found himself needing to change the name to something a bit catchier - thus, Pepsi was born. Understandably the promotional logo has changed a lot over the years. Could you imagine grabbing a stylish glass bottle with Brad's Drink written on it? No thanks!

1) Google was once Backrub (Seriously)

Finally, we've saved the most bizarre until last -- did you know that Google was originally a company named BackRub? Their original logo featured one of the founder's hands in a "backrub" pose and everything. Backrub was the name used when the original algorithim was developed at Stanford University. However, by the time it grew too large for the university servers its creators were already thinking of a different name. Google was born from the word 'googol' which is a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100. These days Google is synonymous with searching the web and general online life. To think it could have been called BackRub! Would you have searched for information using "BackRub"?

First spotted here: https://www.boredpanda.com/different-original-names-titles-brands-tv-shows-movies-music-bands/