How IKEA Comes Up With Its Product Names

There is more to IKEA’s product naming system than non-Swedish people might think. Swedophones are familiar with the furniture store’s oddly specific conventions, but for most of us, Malm is just a line of bedroom furniture. IKEA’s product lines are named according to a set of guidelines from which the company rarely deviates.

According to Quartz, the company's product naming process is the result of IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad's struggle with dyslexia. Kamprad found that nouns helped him remember and visualize products better than using code numbers, so he created a series of unusual naming conventions that the company still uses today.

A bookcase, for instance, is probably always going to be named after a profession, if it doesn’t have a boy’s name like Billy. Rugs tend to be named after cities in Denmark and Sweden, while outdoor furniture is named after islands in Scandinavia, like Kuggö, an outdoor umbrella named after an island about 125 miles west of Helsinki. Expedit, the beloved, discontinued shelving unit, means “salesclerk,” while its replacement, Kallax, is named after a town in northern Sweden. Curtains are named for mathematical terms.

Some of the other products have more descriptive names. Lack, IKEA's shiny living room furniture line, means “lacquer.” Sockerkaka, a bakeware line, means “sponge cake.” Bathroom products are named after rivers and lakes.

Some of the translations serve as little corporate jokes. The name of the toy line Duktig means “clever.” Storsint, a wine glass series, is the word for “magnanimous.”

Here’s Quartz’s list of IKEA taxonomy:

Bathroom articles = Names of Swedish lakes and bodies of water Bed textiles = Flowers and plants Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture = Norwegian place names Bookcases = Professions, Scandinavian boy’s names Bowls, vases, candles and candle holders = Swedish place names, adjectives, spices, herbs, fruits and berries Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks = Swedish slang expressions, Swedish place names Children’s products = Mammals, birds, adjectives Desks, chairs and swivel chairs = Scandinavian boy’s names Fabrics, curtains = Scandinavian girl’s names Garden furniture = Scandinavian islands Kitchen accessories = Fish, mushrooms and adjectives Lighting = Units of measurement, seasons, months, days, shipping and nautical terms, Swedish place names Rugs = Danish place names Sofas, armchairs, chairs and dining tables = Swedish place names

Sadly, if a Swedish name sounds too much like a dirty word in another language, the product name will be changed in that country. Which is why you can’t buy a bench called Fartfull in an English-speaking country. At least, not anymore.