Lingolib is not affiliated with IKEA. IKEA and product names are trademarks of Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
How IKEA names its products
IKEA explains that its founder, Ingvar Kamprad, had trouble remembering product numbers, so he gave products names instead. The company still uses Swedish names, and according to its own description a new name should:
- be a real word,
- have between 4 and 12 letters,
- preferably contain å, ä or ö,
- feel good to say,
- never be a surname or already trademarked.
Names are checked so they don't mean something unfortunate in another language. Which kind of name a product gets depends on what it is. IKEA itself gives a few examples, and Wikipedia's summary adds more:
| Products | Named after | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sofas, armchairs | Swedish places | KLIPPAN, EKTORP, KIVIK, SÖDERHAMN | IKEA |
| Bookcases, shelving | Men's names | BILLY, IVAR, GORM | IKEA |
| Children's products | Animals and nature | BLÅHAJ, DJUNGELSKOG, SNIGLAR | IKEA |
| Beds | Norwegian places | HEMNES, TARVA, NORDLI | Wikipedia |
| Textiles, rugs | Danish places | LOHALS, TOFTLUND, ÅDUM | Wikipedia |
| Outdoor furniture | Islands | TÄRNÖ, ÄPPLARÖ, SOLLERÖN | Wikipedia |
These are patterns, not laws: plenty of names break them (BOLMEN, a lake, is a toilet brush), and IKEA reuses and retires names. Our list gives the product type each name is best known for.
Places that became products
Because so many names are real places, some Swedish villages and lakes are better known abroad as furniture. In 2021 Visit Sweden, the country's official tourism organisation, ran a campaign called Discover the Originals that presented 21 of these places. They are in our list with Visit Sweden as the source: ASKERSUND, BJÖRKSTA, BODVIKEN, BOLMEN, EKTORP, HEMSJÖ, HIMLEÅN, HÖLJES, INGATORP, JÄRVFJÄLLET, KALLAX, LAXVIKEN, MISTERHULT, MÄSTERBY, NORBERG, RIMFORSA, SKÄRHAMN, STUBBARP, TOFTAN, VOXNAN, VRENA.
Why å, ä and ö matter
Swedish has three extra vowels, and they are letters in their own right, sorted after z in the dictionary. Drop the dots and you get a different sound, and often a different word.
| Letter | Sounds like | In an IKEA name |
|---|---|---|
| å | "oh" (long) or "o" in hot (short) | BESTÅ: beh-STOH |
| ä | e in bed, "air" before r | POÄNG: poo-ENG |
| ö | the vowel in fur, lips rounded | HEMSJÖ: HEM-shur |
Outside Sweden, IKEA's websites and labels usually keep the letters, which is why your receipt says POÄNG. To type them yourself, use our Swedish keyboard, which also lists the shortcuts for Windows, Mac and phones.
How to read the respellings
The respellings are a rough guide for English speakers, not a strict phonetic transcription. Capital letters mark the stressed syllable. Where Wiktionary has an IPA transcription for the exact word, the name's own page shows it too.
| We write | Say it like | Swedish letters |
|---|---|---|
| ah | father | a |
| ay | say, without the glide | long e |
| ee | see | i |
| oo | food | long o |
| oh | go, without the glide | å |
| eh / e | bed | short e, ä |
| air | air, without the r | ä before r |
| ur | fur, without the r | ö |
| ew | "ee" with tightly rounded lips | y, long u |
| sh | ship (softer) | sj, skj, tj, k before e/i/y/ä/ö |
| y | yes | j, g before e/i/y/ä/ö |
Swedish also has a pitch accent: many two-syllable words have a two-peaked melody that respellings can't show. The Listen button uses your device's Swedish voice, which gets most of it right. For Norwegian and Danish place names it gives a Swedish reading, which can differ from how locals say them. For the full picture, read our guide to Swedish pronunciation, and look up everyday words in the Swedish dictionary.
Sources
Naming rules: IKEA, How IKEA names its products, and Wikipedia, IKEA (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places: Visit Sweden, Discover the Originals, and the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish Wikipedias (CC BY-SA 4.0). Word meanings: Folkets lexikon (CC BY-SA 2.5) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0). Each name's page lists its own sources. Where IKEA hasn't said which place a name comes from, we say the product shares its name with the place. Last checked 7 October 2026.
Lingolib is not affiliated with IKEA. IKEA and product names are trademarks of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Product names are used here only to identify the products and explain the Swedish words.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce IKEA in Swedish?
Roughly "ee-KAY-ah", with the stress on the second syllable and a long, clear e (the Swedish e is close to the vowel in English "say", without the glide). English speakers usually say "eye-KEE-ah", which Swedes will understand perfectly well.
What does IKEA stand for?
It is an acronym of the founder's name and where he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm) and Agunnaryd (the village nearby), in Småland in southern Sweden.
What does KALLAX mean?
Nothing, as a word: Kallax is a village just outside Luleå in northern Sweden, next to the airport. Visit Sweden named it as the place behind the shelf in its 2021 campaign about IKEA place names. It is said "KAHL-lahks".
Why are IKEA products named that way?
IKEA says its founder, Ingvar Kamprad, found names easier to remember than product codes. Names are Swedish (or Nordic) words, places and first names, chosen by product type: sofas get Swedish place names, bookcases men's names, children's products animals and nature words.
Are IKEA names real Swedish words?
Most are. IKEA's own rules say a name must be a real word, 4 to 12 letters long, preferably with å, ä or ö, and never a surname. Some are everyday words (MALM is ore, LACK is lacquer), some are places (KALLAX, KLIPPAN), some are first names (BILLY, IVAR).
Why do the Swedish letters å, ä and ö matter?
They are separate letters with their own sounds, not decorated a's and o's: POÄNG is "poo-ENG", not "po-ang". Swedish dictionaries sort them last, after z, and leaving the dots off can change the word completely: får means sheep, far means father.