Starbucks founders reveal truth behind how coffee chain got its name — and here’s what it was almost called

It’s a whale of an origin tale.

Starbucks might be one of the most recognizable coffee chains on the planet, but many aficionados still don’t know how the legendary brand got its name.

Now, however, the iconic caffeine purveyor’s origin story has come to light after a curious user posted a query on Reddit, writing: “Where did the name ‘Starbucks’ come from?”

The question sparked some dubious responses regarding the naming of the chain, which opened its first location in 1971 in Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market.

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One Redditor incorrectly declared that “the founder Robert K. Johnson” (Starbucks was actually founded by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl) was inspired by the childhood deer hunting trips he took with his grandfather.

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“Johnson didn’t particularly like the idea of killing animals, however he did love spending time with his grandfather and watching the animals,” they wrote. “In particular, he loved how the bigger males (bucks) would move around. He referred to them as his ‘star bucks’.”

They added, “When he opened the first shop, his wife suggested Starbucks and as Johnson had fond memories of the times spent sitting around watching the deer, he thought it suited a place he hoped would become some place where people could come and relax.”

As it turns out, that was far from how Starbucks came to be named.

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In fact, the coffee hawker’s founders arrived at its name rather circuitously, according to the website.

The real founders, Baldwin, Bowker and Siegel set out to define their brand in 1971 with artist Terry Sheckler.

They wanted the “company’s name to suggest a sense of adventure, a connection to the Northwest and a link to the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders.”

In accordance, Bowker, a writer, proposed naming the coffee shop “Pequod,” after the ship in Herman Melville‘s iconic book “Moby-Dick.”

This didn’t fly with his collaborators: “Terry objected – would a cup of “Pee-kwod” appeal to anyone?” the site writes, adding that the artist decided to go a different route.

Ironically this brought them back to their original literary inspiration.

“While researching names of mining camps on Mt. Rainier, one of the best known landmarks near Seattle, Terry came across ‘Starbo,’ which eventually led the team back to where they’d started,” they wrote. “In ‘Moby-Dick,’ the name of the first mate on the Pequod was, you guessed it, Starbuck. A brand was born.”

Keeping with the company’s maritime theme, Sheckler decided to make the mascot a topless mermaid after getting inspired by an old wood carving of a sea siren.

While the company was bought by Howard Shultz in 1987, the new owners decided to keep the logo, but redesigned it to be far less risqué than the original design (hence the G-rated logo of today).