McDonald’s became the company’s official name in 1960.
The business had been incorporated as McDonald’s System, Inc., reflecting the operating and franchising system developed by the McDonald brothers and Ray Kroc. In 1960, the company changed its name to McDonald’s Corporation.
That change helped align the corporate identity with the restaurant brand already familiar to customers. The name McDonald’s had been used prominently on restaurant signs and in advertising before it became the formal corporate name.
The corporate rename is distinct from the earlier opening of the brothers’ restaurant and from Kroc’s later expansion. It marked a clearer connection between the legal company and the consumer-facing McDonald’s identity.