As more and more foreign companies enter Chinese market due to increasing popularity of luxury brands from overseas, the need for renaming a world widely known brands into Chinese characters is increasing. It allows international companies to target more Chinese consumers and get recognition in the local market. Here are some examples … 

 

 

1. 路易威登 (Lùyì Wēidēng) — Louis Vuitton

 

路易威登 is a very close phonetic imitation to Louis Vuitton. 威 means power, as in 威力 (wēilì). 登 refers to ascending to great heights, as in 登山 (dēngshàng), which means climbing a mountain.
 

2. 古琦 (Gǔqí) — Gucci 

 

Gucci’s Chinese name is also a phonetic imitation, although 古 means ancient. Think: 古代 (gǔdài), ancient, or 古典 (gǔdiǎn), classical.

琦 can be a kind of valuable stone, such a jade. So Gucci in Chinese alludes to ancient fine jade.
 

3. 阿迪达斯 (Ādídásī) — Adidas
 

The Chinese name for Adidas does not have a particularly strong Chinese meaning.

 

4. 可口可乐 (Kěkǒukělè) — Coca-Cola

 

Coca-Cola has an awesome Chinese name that suggests both joy (乐) and great taste (可口).

 

5. 麦当劳 (Màidāngláo) — McDonald’s

 

McDonald’s phonetically similar Chinese name doesn’t have a particularly meaningful translation, unless you want to point out that 麦 is wheat, and hamburger buns are made from wheat. One could note that 劳 means hard-working, and the staff at McDonald’s do work hard for their minimum wage.

 

6. 喜力 (Xǐlì) — Heineken

 

Heineken, sometimes also called 海尼根 (Hǎinígēn), has chosen words of strength and happiness to represent its beers in China. 喜 comes from 欢喜 (huānxǐ), or happiness. 力 is strength, as in 努力 (nǔlì), to work hard or put in great effort, and 能力 (nénglì), meaning strength or power. 
 

7. 保时捷 (Bǎoshíjié) — Porsche

 

捷 means quick, and it is also used in the names of Jaguar, which is 捷豹 (Jiébào) and Volkswagen’s Jetta, which is 捷达 (Jiédá).

 

8. 宜家 (Yíjiā) — IKEA

 

宜 comes from 便宜 (biànyí), convenient. Also, 便宜 (piányi), cheap. And 适宜 (shìyí), suitable.