The Origin Of Iconic ‘Mercedes-Benz’ Name: CEO Reveals The Story

The brand name is an essential and well-recognized element of any product, with many iconic brands having intriguing origins. A recent viral social media clip highlighted how the well-known car brand Mercedes-Benz got its name.

Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Cabrio: The first variant of the Mercedes-Benz W111 Cabriolet to be introduced was the 220SE. It debuted in 1961, the 220 SE cabriolet was powered by Mercedes’ M127.984 engine. 

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Mercedes Benz W113 280SL Roadster:  The Mercedes-Benz W 113 is a two-seat roadster/coupé, introduced at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show and produced from 1963 through 1971. 

 

Gottlieb Daimler (L): Founder of  car company Daimler

Wilhelm Maybach (R):  Daimler’s chief engineer

In a conversation with American lawyer and businessman David Rubenstein, Mercedes-Benz CEO Sten Ola Kallenius recounted the story behind the brand’s name. Initially, the car company was called Daimler, founded by Gottlieb Daimler in 1886. Wilhelm Maybach was Daimler’s chief engineer at the time.

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Fifteen years later, Austrian industrialist Emil Jellinek commissioned Daimler and Maybach to create an engine for racing. Jellinek aimed to compete in and win a race in Nice, France.

Daimler and Maybach fulfilled Jellinek’s request by providing him with a vehicle equipped with a powerful engine. Jellinek won the race and imposed one condition: the car had to be named after his daughter, ‘Mercedes’.

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As a result, Daimler liked the name and chose to name the car ‘Mercedes,’ although the company retained its original name. According to Kallenius, Daimler’s personal preference for the name led to it becoming associated with the globally renowned brand, Mercedes-Benz.

‘Mercedes’ as a name of a brand

According to the Mercedes-Benz website, ‘Mercedes’ was officially registered as a brand name on June 23, 1902, and received legal protection on September 26 of the same year.

Emil Jellinek

In June 1903, Emil Jellinek was granted permission to use the name Jellinek-Mercedes from then on. “This is probably the first time a father has borne the name of his daughter,” the successful businessman said at the time.

In 1907, Jellinek was appointed Austro-Hungarian Consul General and later became the Mexican Consul. By 1909, he withdrew from the automotive industry to focus on his role as the head of the Austro-Hungarian consulate in Monaco. Emil Jellinek continued to be an interested observer of automotive engineering until his death on January 21, 1918.

Mercedes-Benz logo

The Mercedes logo (Mercedes-Benz) features a straightforward three-pointed star symbolizing the company’s ambition to dominate land, air, and sea. However, its design wasn’t always as recognizable.

In 1901, when Mercedes Jellinek was only 11 years old, her father, Emil Jellinek, insisted that her name be used for a batch of 36 cars he planned to purchase from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft.

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft used the Mercedes name for most of its cars and registered it as a trademark in 1902. The iconic three-pointed star was introduced later, in 1909. Emil Jellinek also had his name legally changed to Emil Jellinek-Mercedes.

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