People flabbergasted after learning what Starbucks actually means after 53 years

It's the world's largest coffeehouse chain - but many people have no idea how the company Starbucks got its name. Founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the American multinational chain opened its first store at Seattle's Pike Place Market.

As of November 2022, the company had 35,711 stores across 80 countries - and has become an instantly-recognised brand name to most Americans. However, some coffee drinkers have started to question how the business got its name in the first place - wondering whether it has any connection to its founders' names as many companies do.

One puzzled Reddit user asked: "Where did the name Starbucks come from?" According to the Starbucks, its iconic name came from a brainstorming session with artist Terry Heckler as they worked together to "define their new brand".

A statement on Starbucks's website reads: "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. Co-founder Gordon Bowker, a writer, initially proposed calling the company Pequod, after the ship in Herman Melville's classic novel Moby-Dick. But Terry objected would a cup o Pee-kwod appeal to anyone?"

"The brainstorming continued. 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. In Moby-Dick, the name of the first mate on the Pequod was, you guessed it, Starbuck. A brand was born."

Opening under the name Starbucks in 1971, their store in Seattle's Pike Place Market was 1,000-square-foot and manned by a single employee. However, the store boasted more than 30 varieties of whole-bean coffee - and tried to entice customers into its doors with its Siren logo in the window.

Today, this store remains open with its 53-year-old sign and often has a large queue outside it from tourists visiting the area. On Starbucks's website, a store manager said: "In my five years as manager of 1912 Pike Staff, there was never a day without The Line. I doubt there ever will be. It winds out the door. Stretches down the street. Plows past the stop sign on the corner and just keeps on going.

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"It also keeps on moving, because our baristas are as good as any on the planet. But people don't come to 1912 Pike for just for a cup of coffee. They come to experience the place where it all began. The place for which Howard still keeps a small key in his jacket pocket, just in case. The place that was kind enough to give me a brilliant opportunity."

Commenting on the revelation about Starbucks's name, one Reddit user said: "No freaking way. A few days ago I walked in on my dad watching Moby Dick, and Ahab called to his first mate Starbuck. I immediately thought that that's where they got their name but I didn't know it was actually true." Another user added: "And the first Starbucks us on pike right by the fish market place by the water which makes sense." A third user said: "That's awesome."

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