Answer: Record Players

Motorola began life in Chicago, Illinois as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation–named after founder Paul Galvin. One of their earliest products was a car radio designed by Galvin and Bill Lear. Galvin and Lear ironed out the design relatively quickly but mulled over a catchy name for some time.

During a cross country trip the two came up with what would go on to become one of the best-known technology firm names of the 20th century: Motorola. They named the little radio after the very thing it was attached to (the motor inside a car) and added the suffix -ola so that people would associate it with well-known musical devices such as the Victrola record player.

Galvin Manufacturing Corporation’s car radio proved to be such a massive success that they changed the company name to Motorola.