This paper examines company names from a pragmatic point of view and focuses on their functions in different local and socio-cultural contexts. A company name has to fulfil many functions, among them identification, distinction, protection and promotion. The latter function is of special relevance, since the world of today is a consumer culture, where many activities in business and even in personal contexts have to some extent been influenced by promotional concerns. The promotional function of company names can be realised by different naming strategies, including linguistic form and graphic design. In recent years, however, studies of cultural, social or emotional values of names have gained in importance. The name is seen as reflecting sets of common values that are connected with the environment in people’s minds, thus maintaining a certain ‘we-feeling’. This can, for example be achieved by the inclusion of locations as elements of company names. The name is linked to a particular region and thus connotes the company’s origin, traditions and scope of business or personal attachment to a certain place. Based on the 2007 lists of the top 100 companies, ranked by revenues, in Central Germany (Mitteldeutschland) and Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), the present study aims at a more systematic description of regional connotations of company names, which are especially frequent in the eastern part of Germany. Possible explanations for this situation will be offered and discussed with respect to factors such as economic motivation, historical background, local culture and global competition.

This paper examines company names from a pragmatic point of view and focuses on their functions in different local and socio-cultural contexts. A company name has to fulfil many functions, among them identification, distinction, protection and promotion. The latter function is of special relevance, since the world of today is a consumer culture, where many activities in business and even in personal contexts have to some extent been influenced by promotional concerns. The promotional function of company names can be realised by different naming strategies, including linguistic form and graphic design. In recent years, however, studies of cultural, social or emotional values of names have gained in importance. The name is seen as reflecting sets of common values that are connected with the environment in people’s minds, thus maintaining a certain ‘we-feeling’. This can, for example be achieved by the inclusion of locations as elements of company names. The name is linked to a particular region and thus connotes the company’s origin, traditions and scope of business or personal attachment to a certain place. Based on the 2007 lists of the top 100 companies, ranked by revenues, in Central Germany (Mitteldeutschland) and Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), the present study aims at a more systematic description of regional connotations of company names, which are especially frequent in the eastern part of Germany. Possible explanations for this situation will be offered and discussed with respect to factors such as economic motivation, historical background, local culture and global competition.