Vol. 72 No. 4 (2024): NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics
Articles

From Veronal to Quviviq: A Lexicological Analysis of Trade Names for Prescription Sleeping Pills from 1903 to 2022

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  • Pascaline Faure
Pascaline Faure
Sorbonne University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5195/names.2024.2578

Published 2024-12-02

Keywords

  • trade names,
  • sleeping pills,
  • history of medicine,
  • pharmaceutical industry,
  • onomastics

Copyright (c) 2024 Pascaline FAURE

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Since the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution, insomnia has become a major public health issue. Attracted by the financial potential, the pharmaceutical industry quickly turned its attention to this emerging market. However, in a competitive market, pharmaceutical manufacturers had to create distinct product identities. One determining factor when creating an identity is trade name choice. This study investigates changes in trade names for insomnia medicines, from Veronal in 1903 to Quviviq, the latest drug launched in 2022. The lexicological analysis reveals that names have shifted from associative to abstract names. While older trade names had symbolic meaning, newer names were found to place the emphasis on phonetically pleasing onomastic patterns.

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