Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?


Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?

Why does everything have weird names? Every container, shelf, cabinet or appliance had some odd name, as if people from Planet Sweden anthropomorphized these objects, naming each one they encountered as best they could: Besta, Hedda, Bjarnum, Lerberg, Inreda, Ektorp, Grundton, Berta, Karna…

According to Wikipedia, it turns out IKEA follows a certain naming convention based on Scandinavian words:

Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish placenames

Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names

Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names

Bookcase ranges: Occupations

Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays

Kitchens: grammatical terms, sometimes also other names

Chairs, desks: men’s names

Materials, curtains: women’s names

Garden furniture: Swedish islands

Carpets: Danish place names

Lighting: terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms

Bedlinen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: flowers, plants, precious stones; words related to sleep, comfort, and cuddling

Children’s items: mammals, birds, adjectives

Curtain accessories: mathematical and geometrical terms

Kitchen utensils: foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions

Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: colloquial expressions, also Swedish placenames

Continue reading about IKEA’s naming convention on wikipedia


5 responses to “Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?”

  1. FILZA says:

    Thats very intresting thing that u brought up Boo
    I used to wonder about these strange names my self.

  2. Boo Radley says:

    you’re welcome Filza 🙂

  3. bug says:

    I guess some of the names are only strange to us because we are not Scandinavian.

    Very interesting read. Thanks.

  4. Jonny says:

    I always thought those were the swedish words for the things they are selling hahha

  5. amycanada77 says:

    Me too!!
    I’ve learned something today
    THANKS BOO!

Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?


Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?


9 responses to “Why does IKEA Furniture have Weird Names?”

  1. Philippe says:

    This post has good and valuable information, thank you.

  2. Sbobet says:

    We agree with and support the proposal to name Gus Dur a national hero.

  3. Sofie says:

    As a Swede I don’t find the names strange at all:D I actually think it’s really funny and charming that the city I grew up is a resting chair, the island my first real boyfriend lived is a pillow and my father is a chair. Kind of interesting to know that all around the world people are trying to pronounce my origin while panicking to get a couch group into a miniature car:D

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  7. Sure they can be strange to you if you are say. North American, but if you are from their particular culture then I am sure that the names will make a heck of a lot more sense.

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