How did Nike get its name?

Nike, a sportswear company, gets its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike was a winged goddess, and the Nike logo also features wings.

The Nike logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson, who earned $35 dollars for her logo. According to the DailyMail, she was also given 500 shares of stock, which is worth over $500,000 as of June 2014.

Nike was initially founded as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964. It officially became Nike Inc. in 1971 following a break from Onitsuka Co., a Japanese shoe manufacturer. Blue Ribbon Sports was initially a distributor of Onitsuka athletic shoes, and it moved to the new Nike brand as it broke from Onitsuka and began to manufacture its own shoes.