Learn What IKEA Product Names Actually Mean With This Dictionary

IKEA products have a wide variety of interesting names. Some are Swedish words, others are named after places, and some are just made-up names made from mixing other words. This dictionary lists them all.

The IKEA Dictionary is a project by Lars Petrus Petrus, and he says most IKEA names are actually pretty funny or clever, so he wanted to share the joy with others. The project isn’t affiliated with the brand at all, and it’s a lot of fun to poke around.

According to Petrus, most IKEA product names fall into a few main groups that include proper Swedish words, improper Swedish words, first names, geographical names, and some weird ones that just don’t seem to fit in any category. Here are a few examples:

• TORSBY: Literally “Thor’s Village.” Swedish town in the forests near Norway.
• AMON: A version of the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra.
• BAGIS: Slang for one Krona ($0.14). Also slang for the Stockholm suburb of Bagarmossen.
• ZITA: The patron saint of maids. Also Stockholm’s oldest movie theater.
• BITIG: A strangely constructed joke word. Means ‘bite-y’, or conducive to biting.
• MAJBY: Nine people in Sweden have this last name. Nothing else seems to.

Out of all 1,362 IKEA product names, Petrus is only missing 130 or so. Check out the full dictionary at the link below.

The IKEA Dictionary via Kottke.org

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