McDonald’s changed its corporate name to McDonald’s Corporation in 1960.
The company had operated as McDonald’s System, Inc. after Ray Kroc began building a franchised organization around the McDonald brothers’ restaurant methods. The 1960 name change reflected the company’s growing scale and provided the corporate identity still used today.
This change occurred during a formative branding period. McDonald’s was expanding its restaurant network, strengthening its visual identity, and moving toward the Golden Arches as a distinctive symbol. The name “McDonald’s Corporation” also separated the legal corporate identity from individual franchise restaurants.
The change should not be confused with the opening of the first Kroc-operated McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, which occurred in 1955. Nor should it be confused with the 1961 purchase of the business from the McDonald brothers, another major milestone in the company’s history.