Dunkin' opened its first shop under the Dunkin' Donuts name in 1950.
William Rosenberg founded the business in Quincy, Massachusetts. He initially operated a food-service company called Industrial Luncheon Services, then opened a doughnut shop named Open Kettle in 1948. The name changed to Dunkin' Donuts in 1950.
The new name emphasized the chain's coffee-and-doughnut identity and helped distinguish it from the founder's earlier food-service operations. Dunkin' later expanded through franchising, becoming one of the most recognizable coffee and doughnut chains in the United States.
A common mix-up is treating 1948 as the founding year of Dunkin' Donuts itself. That is the year associated with the earlier Open Kettle shop; the Dunkin' Donuts name dates from 1950.