In 1948, the McDonald brothers renamed their restaurant McDonald’s after simplifying its menu and service system.
Before the change, the San Bernardino business was known as McDonald’s Bar-B-Q and offered a broad barbecue-oriented menu. The brothers closed the restaurant temporarily, redesigned the operation around a limited menu, and reopened with hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, and fast counter service.
The shorter name matched the new emphasis on speed and standardization. It also became the foundation for the brand that Ray Kroc later expanded through franchising. The name was not originally created by Kroc; it came from Richard and Maurice McDonald.
A common mix-up is treating the 1948 change as the start of the corporation itself. It was instead a major restaurant and branding transition. McDonald’s Corporation was incorporated later, in 1955, after Kroc became involved in the business.