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Starbucks is named after a character in which novel?
Starbuck is the first mate on the whaling ship.
Starbuck is the first mate of the whaling ship Pequod in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick (1851), and Britannica describes him as scrupulous and steadfast. Starbucks, which opened in Seattle in 1971, says its name was chosen with that character in mind, though the company's sea-themed branding and its mermaid logo are of separate origin and tied to coffee's trade by ship.
According to the widely told account of the founding, one of the early partners thought of the name Pequod, which was rejected, and the group moved to Starbuck as a sound that evoked the sea and the history of the early coffee traders. This detail comes from retellings and could not be confirmed on the company's page, so it should be treated with caution. Starbucks says the name was meant to evoke the romance of the high seas.
A common misconception is that the coffee chain was named for the character's love of coffee. In the book, Starbuck is an earnest Quaker sailor and is not especially associated with coffee. The company also grew far beyond its original single store selling beans, especially after Howard Schultz bought the brand in 1987 and developed the cafe model inspired by Italian espresso bars.