Things That Had Completely Different Names In The Beginning

Imagine coming home after a long day of work. All you want to do is curl up and listen to some Smile while watching Lenny, Penny, and Kenny. Then, you get a Pictaboo from a friend that says to come over for Super Bowl 100.

I bet you $20 you think I'm crazy for saying that. However, there have been a ton of name changes that will throw you off guard. From Pink Floyd to Sony, there are some interesting details behind the original names of bands, sitcoms, and brands.

Marufuku Company

Blog.BeforeMario.com
Blog.BeforeMario.com

There's a fascinating history behind the company. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi began manufacturing Japenese playing cards in Kyoto. In 1947, he started a distribution company called Marufuku Co.

Four years later, the company renamed themselves Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. Then, to Nintendo Co., Ltd in 1963.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jerry And David's Guide To The World Wide Web

ADVERTISEMENT
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Yahoo wouldn't be successful with the original name, and nobody would say the whole thing. It's too long, and it seems a bit unnecessary. JDGWWWW is no match for Yahoo. But, did you know that the website has an acronym behind their name?

ADVERTISEMENT

It stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.

ADVERTISEMENT

Screaming Abdabs

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

"Screaming abdabs" is an old English saying that means to "induce an attack of extreme anxiety or irritation in someone." When the iconic band was only starting, four young students formed the group after the quote.

ADVERTISEMENT

Years later, they had names like The Tea Set before settling on Pink Floyd.

ADVERTISEMENT

Best Buy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Logos.wikia.com
Logos.wikia.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Back in 1981, a tornado tore down the Sound of Music's most profitable store, so they decided to have a big sale selling all damaged goods.

ADVERTISEMENT

To encourage people to make a purchase, they advertised "best buys" on their products. Funny enough, the company renamed themselves to 'Best Buy.'

ADVERTISEMENT

Spongeboy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Spongebob.wikia.com
Spongebob.wikia.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Yelling "Spongeboy Squarepants!" at the beginning of each episode is cringy. Stephen Hillenburg came out and said it wasn't supposed to be the name, due to copyright infringement.

ADVERTISEMENT

The original title was Spongeboy, but it couldn't be used thanks to a mop company having it copyrighted. Eventually, SpongeBob was born, and the rest is history.

ADVERTISEMENT

Smile

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
RB/Redferns/Getty Images
RB/Redferns/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Yeah, Smile sounds terrible, but as it turns out, Freddie Mercury suggested the name. After he was invited to join the band, Mercury came up with the idea to be regal and majestic, just like the Queen.

ADVERTISEMENT

See, it was nothing but a touching tribute to her majesty.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
@SONYUK/Twitter
@SONYUK/Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

There is clearly a ton of history behind this electronics company we all know and love. It wasn't until 1959 when Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo changed its name to Sony. It was inspired by the Latin word for the sound 'sonus'.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's not a bad name, but it sounds a little difficult to pronounce. Sony is nice and simple.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pictaboo

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Techcrunch.com
Techcrunch.com
ADVERTISEMENT

Snapchats original name was Pictaboo. The creators of the social media app received a letter from a photography company with the same name. Eventually, it was changed to Snapchat. To make the app popular, one of the original creators suggested to advertise it as a sexting app.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now the logo makes sense.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sweet Children

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Sweet Children was a band created by Billie Joe Armstrong. The group would switch their name to Green Day after being confused with a California rock outfit Sweet Baby. Also, Sweet Children doesn't sound nearly as epic as Green Day.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's a name that refers to a day when all you do is smoke.

ADVERTISEMENT

Stag Party

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

It's every stag's dream to enter the Playboy Mansion. The now infamous magazine would have been named Stag Party. According to Hugh Hefner, he was influenced by a cartoon book that he had. Before publishing their magazine, Stag sent them a letter that the name was an infringement.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hefner quickly changed it to Playboy.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lenny, Penny, and Kenny

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Warner Bros. Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
Warner Bros. Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
ADVERTISEMENT

You may not know this, but Sheldon's name was initially Kenny. But, the executives decided to rename the character to Sheldon after the pilot. Lenny, Penny, and Kenny came off like a cheesy name that was drawn out of a hat.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, at least we can thank the universe for small favors.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blood Fart

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Chiaki Nozu/WireImage/Getty Images
Chiaki Nozu/WireImage/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

On an Ask Reddit, Fred Durst revealed something interesting. The vocalist shared that his band's name was almost Blood Fart. The name Limp Bizkit came during a riff session when deciding to name the group.

ADVERTISEMENT

Plus, they never took Blood Fart very seriously considering the chance to succeed was slim at the time.

ADVERTISEMENT

Reginald The Red Nose Reindeer

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NBCUniversal Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
NBCUniversal Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
ADVERTISEMENT

A Montgomery Ward department store was selling coloring books about a reindeer, written by Robert May. The reindeer's character was based on May, and the author initially named him Reginald and not Rudolph. Yeah, it's weird picturing kids singing about Reginald, the Red Nose Reindeer.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's just not the same at all.

ADVERTISEMENT

Backrub

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The search engine is known for having a bizarre name. Interestingly enough, it was supposed to be named 'Backrub.' Now, can you imagine back-rubbing something on the internet? Me neither, but that was the company's original name in 1996.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thank goodness we can Google anything instead of rubbing for information.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kara's Flowers

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images
Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Before Maroon 5, they were known as Kara's Flowers. The name was a reference to a groupie was had a major crush on all of the band members. After releasing two albums under the original title, the group would do something different for the third one.

ADVERTISEMENT

They renamed themselves Maroon 5.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hermione Puckle

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Warner Bros. Pictures/MovieStillsDb
Warner Bros. Pictures/MovieStillsDb
ADVERTISEMENT

J.K. Rowling has said that even though Hermione comes from Shakespeare's Winters Tale, the character has minimal relation to this character.

ADVERTISEMENT

The author also said that the name was chosen because it's something a pair of intellectual dentists would pick to show how smart they are.

ADVERTISEMENT

Confinity

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Back in June 2001, this large worldwide company Confinity renamed themselves to Paypal. At first, the name was a merge of the word confidence and infinity. However, it seems as though the people involved weren't confident about the original title.

ADVERTISEMENT

Today, Paypal continues to be a valuable service for online shoppers.

ADVERTISEMENT

Touch

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Dave Hogan/Getty Images
Dave Hogan/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Last minute changes played a big part in the story of The Spice Girls. First, another member, The Smart Spice, would get the ax. Also, the group's name was initially Touch.

ADVERTISEMENT

But, that shouldn't stop a masterpiece like "Wannabe" being jammed out by girls in pigtails at karaoke nights or office parties.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blue Ribbon Sports

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Logos.wikia.com
Logos.wikia.com
ADVERTISEMENT

The blue ribbon logo instead of the swoosh on your gym shorts could have happened. Nike was known for its name change back in 1971. The well-known name was based on the Greek goddess of victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

The famous logo symbolizes the wing of the goddess, and it's known as the swoosh.

ADVERTISEMENT

Six Of One

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Warner Bros. Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
Warner Bros. Television Distribution/MovieStillsDb
ADVERTISEMENT

You never know what one little decision can do for a television show. Like The Big Bang Theory, Friends had a different name. And, if it weren't for Kauffman and Crane, fans would have been stuck watching Six of One on NBC.

ADVERTISEMENT

That was the original name of the show.